VIOLENCE

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VIOLENCE
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Evaluate explanations of the origins of violence.

• From the dawning of man, violence has always been
  one of the defining characteristics of humankind.
  
• Throughout all of history we see evidence of
  man's tendencies toward acting violently in
  response to his emotions- everything from anger,
  fear, to just plain enjoyment.

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Definition of Violence

• Violence An aggressive act in which the
  perpetrator abuses individuals indirectly or
  directly
• Examples of violence Murder, bullying, war,
  genocide, domestic violence, suicide

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Biological

• Twin studies suggest that genes influence human
  aggression.
• Animals have been bred for aggressiveness.
• Researchers are looking into specific gene traits
  or genetic markers with people who commit violent
  crimes.

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Testosterone

• Testosterone- Drugs that lower testosterone
  subdue aggressive behavior.
• High testosterone correlates with irritability,
  low tolerance for frustration, assertiveness, and
  impulsiveness.
• James Dabbs, professor at Georgia State did a
  study on testosterone in female inmates at a
  correctional institution.
• The study measured testosterone in 87 female
  inmates at a maximum security prison. Their
  criminal behavior was scored from court records,
  and their prison behavior was assessed from
  prison records and staff interviews.

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• Testosterone was found related both to the
  violence of the women's crimes and to the
  aggressive dominance of their behavior in prison.
  
• This finding was further supported by assessing
  how an inmate's age corresponded to her behavior
  and testosterone levels.
• The findings, by Dabbs, are similar to those in
  studies of male prisoners.
• This indicates testosterone's effects on behavior
  are the same in women as in men, says Dabbs.
• Testosterone levels were highest among male
  inmates convicted of violent crimes such as rape,
  homicide and assault. These men also violated
  more prison rules.

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The Role of Testosterone

• Testosterone
• Their development came about over time, as
  science progressed.
• The earliest experimentation with steroids is
  credited to John Hunter, a man who in the 1700s
  put the testosterone hormone from a rooster into
  a hen, and observed the hen to develop male,
  rooster characteristics.
• Hormone linked to masculine body development and
  behavior in a wide range of species
• Hens given testosterone act like roosters, and
  rise in dominance hierarchy

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Psychopath Gene XYY

• New research on the origins of antisocial
  behavior, published in the Journal of Child
  Psychology and Psychiatry, suggests that
  early-onset antisocial behavior in children with
  psychopathic tendencies is largely inherited.
• Dr Viding's research looked into the factors that
  contribute to antisocial behavior in children
  with and without psychopathic tendencies.
• By studying sets of 7-year-old twins, Dr. Viding
  and her colleagues were able to pinpoint to what
  extent antisocial behavior in these two groups
  was caused by genetic and/or environmental risk
  factors.
• A sample of 3687 twin pairs formed the starting
  point for this research. Teacher ratings for
  antisocial behavior and psychopathic tendencies
  (i.e. lack of empathy and remorse) were used to
  classify the twins. Those who were in the top 10
  of the sample for antisocial behavior were
  separated into two groups - those with and
  without psychopathic tendencies.

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Psychopath Gene

• Following analysis, the results showed that, in
  children with psychopathic tendencies, antisocial
  behavior was strongly inherited.
• In contrast, the antisocial behavior of children
  who did not have psychopathic tendencies was
  mainly influenced by environmental factors.
• These findings are in line with previous research
  showing that children with psychopathic
  tendencies are at risk to continue their
  antisocial behavior and are often resistant to
  traditional forms of intervention.

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Socio-cultural Explanations of Violence

• Cultural norms
• Social learning theory
• Agency theory

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Cultural Norms

• Some cultures have norms of violence, e.g. the
  culture of honor in the Southern United States
• Culture of honor A cultural norm where people
  need to maintain their reputation by not
  accepting improper conduct by others, such as
  insults. These cultures encourage retribution and
  toughness.
• Cohen and Nisbett (1995) College students from
  the southern and northern part of the United
  States were insulted by a confederate. Students
  who had grown up in the southern United States
  were more upset (had a higher rise in cortisol
  levels) and were more likely to engage in
  aggressive and dominant behavior.

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SOCIO-CULTURAL ASPECTS

• Homicide rates for White southern males are
  substantially higher than for White northern
  males (especially in rural areas)
• However, they do not endorse violence in general,
  only as a tool for protection of property and in
  response to insults Culture of honor based
  upon history as herding society
• Nisbett research on southerners reaction to being
  bumped and cursed at
• More upset, primed for aggression (testosterone
  increase), more likely to engage in aggression
  after the incident.

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CULTURAL NORMS- VIOLENCE What is the norm of
violence in domestic situations? -What would you
do?
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Social Learning Theory

• People can learn antisocial/violent behavior
  through observational learning. (e.g. Bandura et
  al., 1961)
• PRO
• Eron (1986) Found a positive correlation
  between number of hours of violence watched on
  television at the age of 8 and the level of
  aggression they demonstrated as teenagers, as
  well as the number of criminal acts as adults.
• CON
• Charlton et al. (1999) The introduction of
  television in St Helena in 1995 did not increase
  the observed aggression in primary school
  children.

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Glamorizing Violence

• Plagens, et al. (1991)
• Typical American child sees 200,000 acts of
  violence on TV by age 18
• Children who watch a lot of violent TV are more
  violent towards peers
• Experimental studies, in which violence is
  controlled, also find effects of watching violence

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Other studies have found

• By the end of elementary school, a typical
  American child will have seen
• 8,000 murders
• More than 100,000 other acts of violence
• 2003 study (Parents Television Council) found 534
  separate episodes of prime-time violence during a
  2 week period
• The most violent TV shows are targeted to
  children (e.g., cartoons)

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Violent Video Games

• Several studies have shown significant results
  indicating that playing violent video games is
  associated with a history of property destruction
  and hitting other students
• Anderson Dill (2000)
• College students randomly assigned to play a
  violent video game (Wulfenstein) later had more
  aggressive thoughts and feelings than those who
  played a nonviolent game (Tetrix)

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• Video games have been studied for links to
  addiction and violent behavior. Some studies have
  found that video games do not contribute to these
  problems, while others claim to have established
  a link.
• Recently, several groups have argued that there
  are few if any scientifically proven studies to
  back up such claims, and that the video game
  industry has become a scapegoat for the media to
  blame for various social ills.
• Furthermore, numerous researchers have proposed
  potential positive effects of video games on
  aspects of social and cognitive development and
  psychological well-being.

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What is the Agency Theory?

• Milgram (1974) proposed that our tendency to obey
  people in authority is a way of maintaining a
  stable society. in order to live in complex
  societies we need social rules. sticking to these
  rules means that at least some of the time we
  have to give up some of our free will.
• Milgram proposed that in order to accomplish this
  we have developed two social states
• -In the Autonomous state we are free to act as we
  wish.
• -However in our Agentic state we surrender our
  free will and conscience in order to serve the
  interests of the wider group.

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Agency Theory

• Milgram argues that people may enter an agentic
  state where they choose not to take
  responsibility of their actions and become the
  tool of an authority. This agentic state may lead
  to violent behavior. This is a situational
  approach
• Examples Milgram (1963), My Lai massacre

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My Lai

• In November 1969, journalists learned of a
  massacre where U.S. soldiers had killed hundreds
  of unarmed civilians.
• The massacre was covered up.
• There was no battle. U.S. troops went in looking
  for Vietcong.
• The soldiers had recently suffered many attacks
  by booby traps, snipers, and land mines.
• When they entered the village the found only
  women, children, and the elderly.

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The Lucifer Effect
Philip Zimbardo- The Lucifer Effect When Good
People do Bad Things
This transformation of human character is what I
call the "Lucifer Effect," named after God's
favorite angel, Lucifer, who fell from grace and
ultimately became Satan. Philip
Zimbardo Zimbardo was asked to look into the
happenings at Abu Ghraib prison and make a
comparison to his Stanford Prison Experiment.
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STRATEGIES FOR REDUCING VIOLENCE
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What is Bullying?

• Bullying When a person is exposed repeatedly
  over time to negative actions on the part of one
  or more people
• Cyber bullying The use of information and
  communication technologies to support deliberate,
  repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual
  or group that is intended to harm others
• Happy slapping Using physical violence against a
  person while a third person videotapes the event.

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According to Nansel

• 15,000 students were surveyed between the ages of
  12 and 17.
• 17 said they had been bullied.
• 19 reported they had bullied others
• 6 said they were bullied and were bullying.
• 50 of girls said they were bullied by boys.

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Cyber-bullying

• This modern twist on bullying includes use of
  mobile phones, texting, websites, and social
  media.
• The perception of anonymity has emboldened the
  belief that they cannot be identified and can
  therefore remove social norms.
• The cyber-bully can behave in ways they would
  never behave in person.

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Effects of Bullying

• Olweus, 1992 found a correlation between frequent
  victimization in middle school and low
  self-esteem and depression by the age of 25.

SHORT TERM LONG TERM
Anger Lingering feelings of anger
Depression Difficulty trusting people
Higher rate of illness Fear/avoidance of social situations
Lower grades Increased tendancy to be a loner
Suicidal thoughts Low self-esteem
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Strategies for reducing bullying

• Teaching social skills
• Anti bullying programs

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Teaching social skills Study 1

• Feschbach (1982) Trained junior school children
  to imagine how they would feel in other
  childrens circumstances, to recognize the
  feelings of others, and to share their emotions.
  Children who engaged in empathy training were
  less aggressive in everyday playground activities

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Teaching Social Skills Study 2

• Aronson (1979) The use of cooperative
  learning/jigsaw classroom a technique that works
  on the idea that everyone works together to a
  common goal and that everyone has something to
  contribute to the learning process lowers the
  rate of bullying in schools and increases
  positive interaction between outgroups.

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Antibullying Programmes Study 1

• Vreeman (2006) Classroom discussions,
  role-playing or detention are ineffective. Whole
  school interventions that involve teachers,
  administrators and social workers committed to
  change, are the most effective, especially
  throughout high school.

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Anti-Bullying Programmes Study 2

• Olweus (1972) Developed a whole-school programme
  for schools in Norway. This programme uses
  cooperative learning, teachers are trained to
  recognize and deal with bullying, lunchrooms and
  playgrounds are supervised, and counsellors
  conduct therapy with bullies and their parents.
  The programme has reduced bullying by 50 .

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The Hamster Study

• Very curious about the brain mechanisms that
  control aggression and that may change because of
  exposure to threat and stress,
• Delville began to examine the effects of social
  stress and aggression on a rather late
  developmental period adolescence.
• Because of their solitary and territorial
  predisposition, Delville selected golden hamsters
  as the animal model with which he would
  experiment.

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• In a series of experiments, weaned, male
  pubescent golden hamsters were placed for an hour
  a day, for two weeks, into an adult hamsters
  cage.
• The older hamsters territorial and antisocial
  tendencies compelled them to respond with
  aggression and hostility to the adolescent males,
  nipping and chasing them.
• Although the adult hamsters behavior was
  antagonistic and disturbing to the young
  hamsters, it was not violent or lethal.

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• A second control group of adolescent male
  hamsters were simply placed in an empty,
  unfamiliar cage for one hour a day. Both
  environments elicited stress reactions in the
  young hamsters, but the long-term effects of the
  two different kinds of stress were surprisingly
  dissimilar.

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• Cortisol, a stress hormone secreted by the
  adrenal glands in hamsters and humans, was found
  to be high in both groups of adolescents during
  the first day of the experiment.
• However, the cortisol levels remained elevated
  for the entire two weeks only in the chased and
  threatened hamsters. The bullying was a stressor
  to which they could not seem to adapt.

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• The concern with humans is that children who are
  bathing their brains in cortisol may be at risk
  for abnormal brain development and irreversible
  changes to the brain, said Dr. George Holden,
  associate chair of The University of Texas at
  Austin Department of Psychology.
• Before they are repeatedly exposed to threat and
  stress, adolescent hamsters engage in benign play
  behavior.
• Closely observing the young males that had been
  threatened by hostile adults during the
  experiment, Delville and graduate students Joel
  Wommack and Kereshmeh Taravosh-Lahn saw that the
  traumatized adolescents exhibited exaggerated
  attack behavior toward smaller males, while being
  fearful and subordinate with hamsters of equal
  size or larger. The kitten-like play behavior of
  their youth had disappeared.

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• The bullied hamsters had turned into classic
  bullies themselves. Both their behavior and their
  brain chemistry revealed a distinct
  transformation.
• What was found was that the stressors in the
  environment accelerate the onset of adult-like
  behavior and the termination of childhood
  play-fighting, Delville said. The exposure to
  stress and threat make the adolescents attack
  earlier and act more like adults.