Psychological Models of Violence - Essay Example

Psychological Models of Violence   Essay 1784 words   Introduction A lot of people experience or witness different kinds of violent behaviours in the society or in their homes, which normally range from mild forms to extreme cases. Violence can be termed as an act of aggression perpetrated with the intention to harm another human being. All cases of violence involve aggression, although many cases of aggression are not violent. Violence is complicated and usually involves extreme acts of physical aggression that emanate from a series of factors. Psychologists concentrate on these factors and attempt to explain how an individual’s traits and characteristics interact with the environment to develop violent behaviour. Psychologists examine individuals’ mental processes rather than the biological aspects and assess why and how tendencies for violence are developed. According to many psychologists, violence can be linked to an individual’s personality, intelligence and the learning process.1 This paper will attempt to explain human violence by discussing two psychological models of violence, which are social learning and psychodynamic models. Psychological theories of violence mainly argue that human beings are violent either because they learn and get conditioned to the behaviour or they develop personalities that give them violence tendencies. Many believe that the two aspects play a significant role in explaining violence in human beings. Others believe that aggression has always been part of human nature and due to competition for various resources, despair and suffering arise leading to violence. The models discussed in this paper concentrate on conditioning or learning, personalities, social forces, and childhood issues, as the main aspects that lead to violence in human beings.2 Social learning model By frequently watching others, many people are able to assimilate and learn how to successfully repeat the observed actions. This process of acquiring the observed behaviour can be explained using the social learning theory. Behavioural theorists like Bandura, Miller and Dollard suggested that human behaviours can be learned. Psychologists claim that the social learning theory can be used to explain how people acquire violent behaviours. They claim that violent behaviours can be learned through the same processes involved in developing other forms of human behaviours. The theory implies that violence can be acquired by observing others as they engage in violent acts, imitating them or experiencing violence.3 The person whose behaviour is observed and imitated is referred to as a model. That is why some people who have undesirable behaviours are called bad role models. People are warned against associating or constantly interacting with them as one might acquire the unacceptable behaviour. Certain individuals bearing unique characteristics are more likely to become models for a particular person. These may include the people that one has the same interests with, powerful people for example relatives, teachers and celebrities, and caring people like parents or partners. If a person’s model engages in violent behaviours, one is likely to learn the behaviour and imitate it. For instance, a man who spends his evenings with a friend, who frequently engages in fights, will eventually learn the violent behaviour through observation. He may imitate the friend’s behaviour; therefore, engage in a fight, which would prove that he has learned the behaviour.4 Social learning theory suggests that behaviour can be reinforced if it is followed by pleasant consequences or approval. This is referred to as vicarious reinforcement. After learning the violent behaviour and finding it worth imitating, the observer may repeat the act of violence again in order to seek the rewards. These rewards may range from approval, ego boost, and financial gains among others. The rewards are forms of positive reinforcements and they influence an individual to repeatedly engage in violence so as to gain the benefits. Bandura conducted a research that showed that behaviour can be learned but not necessarily executed. This may be influenced by social factors or the environment surrounding an individual. Negative consequences play an important role in case of a similar event. Individuals may learn how to perpetrate acts of violence but due to the negative consequences attached to the behaviour, they may choose to refrain from violent behaviours.5 For instance, a young teenager may have an older brother who is involved in a gang that robs people off their possessions by engaging them in violent behaviours. Assuming that the older brother is the sole provider in the family, the teenager may view him as a role model. The teenager may also easily learn the brother’s violent behaviours by watching him but he may be scared to imitate him. The teenager may be afraid of the consequences as he knows that the act is socially unacceptable and can get him to juvenile court. However, the teenager may engage in violence at school since the environment and the circumstances are different. School environment may have fewer negative consequences compared to the streets. The teenager may engage in violent behaviour in order to gain approval from friends or even steal a fellow student’s item. In this case, the teenager assimilated and learned his brother’s violent behaviour by watching him and even though the environment is not conducive in the outside world, the teenager continues to practice the observed behaviour in school. Social learning theory is used to demonstrate why violence is more prevalent in some families and areas than others. Since people become violent by observing, assimilating and imitating violent behaviour displayed by others, this theory can be used to explain why there are violent behaviours in some families. As children grow up in families marred by violence, they learn the violent behaviours demonstrated their parents or relatives, therefore, developing into violent people. This tries to prove the genetics theory wrong, which suggests that people’s behaviour is determined by the genes inherited from their parents. An individual’s environment also plays a role because the people who live in areas where there is a lot of violence also end up being violent. This theory simply states that violence is a behaviour that is learnt. If people were not exposed to violence, they would not learn how to be violent, but those that are exposed to violence will show violent behaviours.6 Psychoanalysis model of violence This model was developed by Sigmund Freud and was referred to as psychodynamic perspective. Other scholars for example; August, Jung and Adler, have made modifications to the model, therefore, furthering some of Freud’s ideas into important theories explaining recent developments. Psychodynamic theorists suggest that human behaviour, in this case violent behaviour, is as a result of unconscious forces running in an individual’s mind. The model tends to explain the cause of violence as the individual’s instinctive drive that relates to his or her personality rather than the situation or the environment. Freud also indicated that childhood experiences had a significant impact on an individual’s adult behaviour. He suggested that some of the disputes that happen in one’s childhood may play a role in the development of one’s personality and their ability to function normally as an adult.7 The psychoanalytic model attempts to understand the processes taking place in an individual’s mind especially in the unconscious part of the brain. The theory helps in providing insight into how individuals view and perceive the world, how their experiences and relationships affect their drives, behaviours, and preferences, thus identifying one’s personality. Freud suggested that violence comes from a human impulse that is pent-up in individuals who had normal childhoods. For the individuals who experienced a bad childhood, the human impulse controlling violence is usually uncontrolled or unusually repressed, therefore, causing them to perpetrate random deeds of violence.8 Individuals who repress their aggressive human impulse extremely may commit horrific violent acts that surprise many people. Blackburn, a researcher in the United Kingdom, found out that many people convicted of extreme violent attacks, usually scored low when assessed for hostility and had fewer previous convictions than those found guilty of moderate attacks. The research showed that many of these perpetrators had troubled childhood, therefore, indicating a connection between the Freud’s model and violence. August Aichorn, a psychoanalyst, suggested that those individuals who lack adequate childhood socialisation may develop a mental state called latent delinquency. When individuals with this condition are subjected to stress they engage in violence because they lack the ability of controlling their aggression impulses and drives. Their personality indicates that they have a damaged ego due to the abuse or the neglect that they underwent during their childhood. August also argued that teens that were neglected or abused in their childhood are easily lured into violent behaviours by degenerate teenagers.9 Some psychoanalysts believe that an individual’s ability to establish significant social relationships as an adult depends on a close relationship with his or her mother. This relationship is so crucial that it serves as the ideal example for all future relationships; therefore, individuals who lack it have an impaired ability to relate with others. In some extreme forms, individuals who had very troubled childhoods may develop superegos, which are also referred to as underdeveloped egos that can result to psychosis. They also may be incapable of feeling sympathy for other people who may be suffering or victims of crimes. They keep recalling troubled instances of their childhood and get easily frustrated, therefore, can result in extreme incidences of violent behaviour.10 This model mainly derives its findings from subjective interpretations of therapists who only conduct a number of interviews on a few patients. However, the model forms a significant framework that is used to explain the causes of violent behaviours. Many theorists have developed theories from the aspect of childhood, which has been stressed in this paper.11 Conclusion The social learning theory has indicated strongly that violence in almost all cases is learned behaviour. There are many instances of violence that occur in the world and people cannot really blame troubled childhood for every single one of them. In deed only a few people have troubled childhood so many violent behaviours can be explained well by the social learning theory. However, the psychoanalytical model cannot be ignored because a significant percentage of violent behaviour is supported by the model. Many people who have troubled childhoods tend to have difficulties in forming social relationships and have other issues as well. The two models are equally important when explaining violence but the social learning theory holds more weight in this context (Hyde-Nolan and Juliao, 2011: 12).12 Bibliography Gary, J ‘Social Learning and Violent Behavior.’ The Cambridge Handbook of Violent Behavior, New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007, pp. 2-15. Hyde-Nolan, M & Juliao, T Theoretical Basis for Family Violence, Jones & Barlett Learning, 2011. Read More