Aggression refers to acting in a manner that intends to hurt other people to whom the behavior is directed. These kinds of actions that demonstrate aggression can be verbal or physical and they take place without any good reason or they can come about owing to a frustrating situation. Aggressive behavior and violence is precipitated by psychological and social risk factors. Besides, a number of theoretical perspectives on aggression such as cognitive models, environmental factors and the effect of mass media, try to explain how violence and aggression come into existence. This paper will examine the differences between psychological and social risk factors of aggression and violence in humans.
Risk factors help in identifying the root cause of an issue that causes a person to have an aggressive or violent behavior. Risk factors are the contributing circumstances that bring about aggression behavior and violence. Social risk factors refer to relationships circumstances that heighten the probability of developing aggression and violence. Some of the examples include the effect of mass media and environmental factors. Psychological risk factors on the other hand are personality traits, thoughts, emotions and attitudes which contribute to aggression and violence ( Liu, Lewis & Evans, 2013) . Aggression behavior and violence is linked to many psychiatric disorders and can manifest in the entire lifespan of a person.
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Three theories explain aggression behavior and violence. One of these theories is the instinct theory of aggression. Put forth in 1927 by Sigmund Freud, the theory states that “all human behavior originates either directly or indirectly from ‘EROS’, the life instinct, which helps in reproduction of life ( Sharma, 2016). ” Aggression was therefore, not an automatic or inevitable part of life since it was considered that it was simply a reaction to the blocking of libidinal impulses. After years of further learning from life experiences, Freud learned that aggression stems from the “redirection of self-destructive death instinct away from the person towards others.” Psychologically, the death instinct is the force which destroys organic life and takes the organic matter back to its inorganic state ( Sharma, 2016) . Thus, the death instinct is what gives birth to the violent, hostile and aggressive behavior, aggressive sexual activity, self and race destruction. According to Freud, aggression is a global instinctive which is inevitable for self-defense and reproduction. Furthermore, the instinct theory holds that aggression is biological in nature and can be inherited ( Sharma, 2016) . However, saying that aggression is biological in nature has sparked further debate.
The Frustration Aggression Hypothesis also explains aggression behavior. According to this theory, aggression stems from frustration and frustration is the sum of all conditions whose outcome interferes with a desired individual goal ( Sharma, 2016) . Frustration arises when someone has been disappointed I different ways. For instance, when a person fails to marry his beloved person because of parental interference; the person gets overly frustrated and may end up becoming aggressive. According to this theory, blocking a person’s effort to attain a certain goal induces an aggressive behavior which in turn triggers the ability to cause injury or destruction to the person who caused the frustration. Furthermore, when aggression is expressed, the desire for it is reduced. Thus, this theory clearly reveals that aggression behavior is not born but rather a learned behavior. More so, aggression behavior is the response someone gives to frustration. In fact, human beings have the ability to control their actions when they get aroused since aggression is a learned behavior ( Sharma, 2016) . However, it is important to note that since aggression behavior and violence results from frustration, the reactions might be temporarily compressed but will eventually come to the limelight in the long-run.
The third theory that explains aggression behavior is the social learning theory. The social learning theory holds that arousals resulting from frustration do not lead to aggression, but engineers a condition which enables a person to cope up with the threatening situation. Different kinds of responses can be elicited by the social learning theory but this depends on the type of responses a person has learned to cope up with a s a result of frustration. As a result, the person can become aggressive, or become aggressive and cry, or totally withdraw from the situation, become silent, or portray his aggression on other people. Studies show that a response which has been most successful in the past in relieving the frustration is the most likely to repeat. Aggressive responses can be learned or imitated from other people. In one study on nursery school children, it was shown that when an adult showed an aggressive response to a doll, a child would also give a similar response by imitating. Furthermore, when these children were shown film version of aggressive modeling using dolls as cartoons, children who had observed cartoon characters demonstrated greater levels of aggression. Follow up studies also indicated that children could remember these aggressive responses for more than 8 months. Aggressive behavior and violence now a day’s has increased owing to the crime and violence shown in TV and films. This is a sure proof that aggressive behavior can be learnt or imitated from the environment one leaves. The learning theory heavily relies on the role played by modeling, human interactions and identification. A person can learn by imitating another persons’ behavior. At the same time, personal factor also help in playing a major role in the identity of a person and imitation of others.
The role of mass media cannot be overlooked in promoting aggressive behavior and violence ( Huesmann & Taylor, 2006) . As noted earlier on, there is much violence and crime which we watch on television and films on daily basis. When children watch these, the pictures and events stay in their minds for longer periods of time. Eventually, they are able to elicit such responses when faced with similar situations and circumstances. Media works in support of the social learning theory since it occurs through observation. Observation and imitation models human behavior that is learnt. For instance, exposing children to “Spiderman” and other TV serials enables children learn the aggressive responses elicited by the characters in the film. As a result, they can also portray such behaviors when triggered. Because of hero-worship, many boys have been found to be fond of running, jumping, kicking and beating ( Huesmann & Taylor, 2006) . The same responses are elicited when children and adults are exposed to violent video games.
Environmental factors play a critical role in enhancing aggression behavior and violence. Since aggression behavior is not in-built but a learnt behavior, we learn from the environment. Exposure to violence from the environment can highly trigger violence within a person. For instance, living in a high-crime neighborhood or exposure to domestic violence can lead someone to eliciting aggressive behavior ( Liu, Lewis & Evans, 2013) . A child, whose father mistreats every time, may become aggressive towards his mother since he has learnt it from the father. Exposure to violence makes a person become more violent or look at violence as a means of earning a living by becoming thugs. Research shows that children that have been mistreated by their parents have often shown aggressive behavior and violence when they grow up. Another environmental factor relates to peer influence. Walking with wrong peers can lead to drug abuse and other forms of criminal behaviors. Since aggression is learned, a person can easily learn from their peers and begin acting in like manner.
Other factors like negative thoughts are associated with aggression. People who get obsessed over negative thoughts are found to elicit high instances of violence and aggression since such thoughts cause depression ( Bjørkly, 2006) . Excessive worry and anxiety brings about mental disorders which impairs thinking capabilities. Cognitive distortions can therefore result in violence since a person seems to hallucinate and build castles in the air over what is not there. Mental illness affects mood and behavior ( Bjørkly, 2006) . A person may become aggressive because of the stress brought about by the illness. Therefore, negative thought which trigger mental health problems is directly associated with aggression.
When the blood chemistry is tampered with, it results in aggressive behavior. Blood chemistry can change owing to drug and substance abuse. Alcohol, for example, encourages a person to act aggressively. A person on the influence of drugs is unable to think normally. His decision making and critical thinking is impaired. Drugs weaken the normal functioning of the brain by weakening the mechanism of the brain to act normally ( Bjørkly, 2006) . As a result, back impulses such as aggression are held back making the person more aggressive. Furthermore, low blood sugar levels can prompt aggressiveness.
In conclusion, aggression is acting in a manner that intends to hurt other people to whom the behavior is directed. It is a state of mind which is hard to measure and control which makes it even more difficult to explain the causes. The factors contributing to aggression are psychological social risk factors. All these factors trigger something in the mind that leads to aggressive behavior. In as much as aggression is difficult to control, the fact that it is a learned behavior brings several options for a person to choose from.
References
Bjørkly, S. (2006). Psychological theories of aggression: principles and application to practice. In Violence in Mental Health Settings (pp. 27-46). Springer, New York, NY.
Huesmann, L. R., & Taylor, L. D. (2006). The role of media violence in violent behavior. Annu. Rev. Public Health , 27 , 393-415.
Liu, J., Lewis, G., & Evans, L. (2013). Understanding aggressive behaviour across the lifespan. Journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing , 20 (2), 156-168.
Sharma, T. (2016, June 10). Top 3 Theories of Aggression. Retrieved from http://www.psychologydiscussion.net/social-psychology-2/aggression/top-3-theories-of-aggression/1734
