Contents
There is probably not a single person who would not realize how widespread violence is in our society. Almost every day, the news bulletins report that someone has been shot, strangled, stabbed to death, wars and murders taking place in the world. Not so long ago, in our local newspaper, it was written how a young woman burst into a school and opened fire on students — several children were injured, one was killed; another report: in a suburb of New York, an angry father killed a judge who testified at the trial against his daughter; the people of Milwaukee are shocked by the murder of two women. See →
What is aggression?
The first step to be taken in order to understand the essence of aggression is to find a clear and precise formulation of this term. Generally speaking, this book, like many other research-oriented works, defines aggression as any form of behavior that is aimed at causing someone physical or psychological harm. Although more and more researchers use this definition, it is not generally accepted, and today the term «aggression» has many different meanings both in scientific writings and in everyday speech. See →
Goals of aggression
Most scholars insist that a truly adequate definition of aggression must relate to the intent of the attacker. However, although almost all theorists agree that aggression is an intentional act, there is no common understanding of the goals pursued by aggressors when they seek to harm other people. Do the attackers mainly want to harm their victims, or are they trying to achieve something else? This is one of the main questions of the scientific study of aggression, and scientists give different answers to it. See →
Wish to cause harm
All aggressive actions have something in common. According to most researchers, the goal of aggressive behavior is always intentionally causing harm to another person. These researchers formulate their definitions in different ways, but have in mind the same idea. An excellent example is the definition of aggression proposed more than half a century ago by the Yale University group led by John Dollard and Neil Miller. See →
Other classifications of aggression
Aggressive actions can be differentiated, for example, in terms of their physical nature — as physical actions, such as a punch or a kick, or as verbal judgments, which may question the value of the identity of another person, be offensive or express a threat to the object of aggression. We may be interested in the question to what extent the action is more of a direct attack by the aggressor on his primary victim (the person the aggressor would most like to harm) than by a more indirect route to the goal of harming that person. See →
Anger, hostility and aggressiveness
I have discussed aggression in general and its various forms. And what about «anger» and «hostility,» the other two terms often used in connection with aggression? How do they relate to aggression? My answer to this question may come as a surprise. Let’s go back to the example of the angry husband. He yells at his wife and then hits her. Many would say that he is «angry» and that his aggression is a manifestation of anger. The aggressive actions of the husband are not separated from his anger. See →
Summary
The ambiguity and inaccuracy of everyday language hinders the development of a truly adequate understanding of aggression. The scientific concept of aggression (as defined by Robert Baron) means «any form of behavior aimed at causing damage or harm to another person who does not want such treatment with him.» Unless there is good reason to believe that the people in question deliberately sought to harm another person, this term should not be extended to «force pressure», «assertiveness» or the desire to subjugate others, even if such actions in everyday speech are often referred to as «aggressiveness». This concept does not necessarily also have to include antisocial behavior, even if non-specialists qualify this or that action as aggressive due to the fact that it is condemned as «wrong» («bad»), because people’s assessments of other people’s behavior as «correct» or «wrong» are often arbitrary and relative. See →
Part 1. Emotional aggression
Aggression can be a cold and calculated act, done on purpose and directed not to harm the victim, but to some other target, but it can also be an emotional reaction, driven primarily by the desire to harm. See →