Aggression is the least accepted behavior in our society. Yet it appears time and time again that aggression occurs frequently. You only have to look around you on the street to come across examples of aggression. You increasingly hear about aggression against hospital staff, ambulance staff, civil servants or shop staff. Why is it that our society is becoming increasingly aggressive?
Aggression in the news
- Social Total: In 2009, according to a study by RTL News, more than two thousand incidents of aggression and violence were registered against staff in Dutch hospitals.
- In Overheid.nl: Targeted inspections by the Labor Inspectorate in prisons and TBS clinics show that too many prison guards are exposed to aggression from detainees, but also from colleagues.
- Nieuwsuur: A NOS poll among volunteer firefighters and women shows that the fire brigade is increasingly confronted with violence. Sixty percent have been verbally abused or physically attacked.
- In government.nl: A forty-three-year-old man has been given a three-month prison sentence, one of which is conditional, for hitting an officer on the head with a garden chair, causing him to suffer a head injury.
- NVJ.nl: A study called ‘Fuck off with that camera’ in 2009 shows the seriousness of the phenomenon of aggression on the street. Three hundred and seventy-four journalists had experienced or been threatened with physical aggression. Thirty-six of them suffered physical injuries and in seventy-five cases vehicles or cameras were destroyed.
Where does violence come from?
It is not easy to find out where all those aggressive feelings in a person come from. We do know that human aggression often breeds violence. Behavioral scientists assume that it is an interaction between a person and his environment. Most theories about the origins of aggression, however, are rather one-sided. Without seeing the bigger picture, people argue that aggression is in our genes, that it is learned, or that it is a physiological matter. But what is actually the truth?
Aggressive behavior since time immemorial
Aggressive behavior has existed since the beginning of humanity. Cain already killed his brother Abel in the time of Adam and Eve. It is therefore clear that aggression and violence are not new phenomena, but over the years the amount of aggression and violence has increased drastically. It also looks like no one can do anything about it. In 1969, a report was released by the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence. The report said that violence deforms society, fortifies parts of the city and divides people into armed camps.
Innate aggression
A first theory states that aggression is a biological trait, which means that aggression is in our genes. Freud was the first to propose that aggression is something we are given at birth. According to Freud, the two most important drives in our lives are the life instinct and the death instinct. The life instinct is aimed at survival and the death instinct is aimed at self-destruction. Both drives require satisfaction, so that the need for self-destruction through the life instinct is turned away from the person himself and is focused on people in the environment. The death instinct manifests itself in the form of violent behavior. We can already see this behavior in very young children, they bite and hit. According to Freud, this is a natural and necessary form of behavior.
Learned aggression
A second theory holds that man learns to use violence in the course of his life. A group of prisoners were asked about their past in a study. Three-quarters of prisoners imprisoned for violent crimes appear to have been abused during their youth. Another example from society from which we can learn unkind behavior is television. Parents have various methods at their disposal to manage children’s behavior. Some of these methods also work over television, but not all.
Similarities between educators and television
Setting an example
Throughout the day, parents provide different examples of behavior, attitudes, opinions, norms and intellectual functioning. These examples can be specific to the child, for example when a child hurts another and parents tell the child to apologize. Or the child sees how the family members interact with each other and thus gets his example. Television provides children with many examples, some of which take place unconsciously. There are also special children’s programs, where examples are consciously given to children.
What do these examples do?
When the same methods, for example to resolve a conflict, are consistently used by parents, children adopt that example more quickly than when different methods are used each time. Research has shown that children adopt the consistent behavior of their parents. It appears that children adopt these examples and later use them to resolve their conflicts. Television also provides the child with many examples. If the child often watches programs where conflicts are resolved with aggression and violence, the child will follow that example. Nonviolent examples therefore produce less aggressive children.
Punishments and rewards
The system of punishments and rewards that parents have at their disposal can be applied in an indirect or direct manner. Indirect is punishing or rewarding others in the presence of the child. Direct is punishing or rewarding the child himself. There are different ways to punish and reward.
- Physically, with a beating or a pat on the back
- Verbally, with scolding or compliments
- Materially, by withholding pocket money or giving a gift
- Psychologically, by showing disapproval or respect
It has been found that scolding or compliments work immediately, but the effect quickly disappears . The psychological approach appears to have an influence on the child’s behavior for a much longer period of time. It will be clear that television cannot implement the direct approach of rewarding or punishing. However, the indirect approach is a possibility. Television can also show that certain behavior is rewarded or punished.
To practice
When certain behavior is practiced, it influences the child’s development. There are plenty of opportunities in the family to practice certain behaviors. For example, through the daily affairs of the family. The family also provides reading material and toys and within the family the family members are encouraged or discouraged. Television cannot do this, a child cannot make contact with the people he or she sees on television. Also, television cannot force children to practice certain behavior. At most, it can encourage children to learn something.
The needs of the child itself
When the child needs to learn certain behavior, the parents can respond immediately. They can give the child instructions where he or she stands. Responding to the needs and wishes of the child itself is very important. Television can respond to certain needs of children, but never to the needs of the individual child.
Finally
It has become clear that unkind behavior is largely learned. Unkind behavior is often the precursor to aggressive behavior and violence. By setting a good example, parents can ensure that their children, at least within the family, are not often exposed to unkind behavior. Parents can also ensure that their children do not watch unkind, aggressive and violent television programs. Of course, the ultimate responsibility still lies with the parents. What do you let your children watch?