Pathfinder for Aggression in Children
Parents preach against it, society
looks down upon it, and many religions warn against it. The topic at hand is violence, and after
close examination, the efforts of these sources to create a peaceful world are
unraveled. Who are the culprits? Some of the blame can be laid upon parents
and society. When little Bobby hits his
sister Sue, Dad grabs Bobby, throws his son across his knee, and spanks
him. The effect of Dad’s previous
lectures against violence dissipates because Bobby sees that his father
actually uses the same technique that he criticizes. In the same hypocritical way, Bobby sees that
the murderers, rapists, and other lawbreakers are sentenced to death. Mere words against violence are vehemently
overturned by violent actions by parents and society. Bobby also learns to be violent through
Operant Conditioning. For instance, Sue
is playing with a video game that Bobby wants to play, so when Dad is not near,
he hits Sue and gets the game. His
violent act is rewarded with the toy, so Bobby is Operantly Conditioned to associate violence with getting what he wants. He plays the desired video game, which,
incidentally, features graphically intense mass killings. After seeing his father and society use violence,
being Operantly Conditioned to see violence as effective, playing violent video
games, and watching violence in the movies and on television, what hope does
Bobby have to lead a peaceful and nonviolent life?
This pathfinder is a guide to
sources that address the issue of effect of violence on children. Before delving deep into research,
familiarize yourself with the terms, experts, and experiments that are the
backbone to this topic. A good starting
point is the Galenet: Opposing Viewpoints database. This provides succinct and specific articles
in an easily navigated format. Avoid
using EbscoHost before writing a thesis because the
articles are long, in depth, and without a solid and precise idea of what you
are searching for, the research will be laborsome and probably unused.
“Aggression.” Encyclopedia of Psychology. 2nd
ed. 1994.
This article examines the causes for
aggression instigation. Some
contributing factors include aversive event, modeling influences, incentive
inducements, instructional control, delusional control, and environmental
control.
Atkinson, Rita L.,
Richard C. Atkinson, Edward E. Smith, and Daryl J. Bem. Introduction to Psychology.
The quality of information on aggression
and violence in this text is high even though only a short section is devoted
to it. The writing style is a little
dry, but the message is sent out adequately.
Canada,
Geoffrey. Fist Stick Knife Gun.
This book details the evolution of
violence in society. It is difficult to
navigate without an index or titled chapters.
May, Rollo. Power and Innocence.
This is possibly the best source in the
entire pathfinder. It presents the idea
that humans find ecstasy in violence. It
also relates aggression and violence to the world scene with examples of
leaders that use violence, such as Hitler, and those who do not, such as Ghandi and Martin Luther King.
Plotnik, Rod. Introduction to Psychology.
This text provided valuable information
regarding Skinner’s experiment, Operant Conditioning, and Bandura’s
experiment. The writing is
comprehensive, but does not provide too many details that the main point is
lost. The layout is easy to follow and
has appealing pictures.
“The Roots of
Aggression.” The Marshall Cavendish
Encyclopedia of Personal Relationship. 1990.
“The Roots of Aggression” examines the
role of society in creating violent children.
It addresses the effects of punishment, the media, role models, and
gender roles in regards to aggression.
Sdorow, Lester M. Psychology.
This is a highly sophisticated text with
much to offer in the research on aggression, violence, and learning. It is easily navigated and interesting to
read.
Zimbardo, Philip G. and Richard
J. Gerrig. Psychology
and Life.
This is a good source for psychology
research. There is a detailed index for
finding the information that is valuable for the research. Statistics, graphs, tables, and surveys are
throughout the text and are helpful.
Elliott, Delbert S. “Environmental
Factors Contribute to Juvenile Crime and Violence.” Juvenile Crime 1997. Opposing Viewpoints on
This articles
focuses on the role of environment in violent children. It is divided into sections about learned
behavior, the family, the neighborhood, the school, and the transition to
adulthood.
Provenzo, Eugene F. Jr. “Violence in Video Games
Is a Serious Problem.” Is Media Violence
a Problem
Eugene F. Provenzo
Jr., author of this article, delineates the dangers of violent video
games. The advanced technology allows
for graphics that look more real than ever.
Games, such as Doom and Quake have the player see through a
first person view. Doom is used to train soldiers in the Marine Corps, so these types
of games teach kids how to kill.
Grossman, David. “It’s Time to Stop
Training Our Kids to Kill.” US Catholic June 1999: 24-27. SIRS
Knowledge Source: Researcher.
Written by a military expert, this article relates the methods of training soldiers to that of how we train children. Brutilization, classical conditioning, Operant Conditioning, and role modeling are used in training soldiers and it is believed that children undergo similar training.
Miller, Michael Craig.
“Does Violence in the Media Cause Violent Behavior?” The Harvard Mental Health Letter September 2001: 5-8. SIRS Knowledge Source: Researcher.
This article asserts that violent media does not serve catharsis purposes, but rather induces violent behavior. The context, such as who is with the viewer and whether punishment is administered to the violent. Studies were conducted and reported, which supports the view that violence in media causes aggression.
Grych, John H. and Tonya Wachsmuth-Schlaefer
and Laura L. Klockow. “Interparental
Aggression and Young Children’s Representations of Family Relationships.”
Journal of Family Psychology
September 2002: 259-272. EBSCOhost.
This article explains an experiment on the effect of aggression between parents on the children. The results show that children develop beliefs on how relationships should be had based on the way parents act.
Herrenkohl, Roy C and M. Jean
Russo. “Abusive Early Child Rearing and Early Childhood Aggression.”
Child Maltreatment February 2001:
3-17. EBSCOhost.
This article describes an experiment conducted in regards to parenting and early childhood aggression. The results allow for three main causes for early childhood aggression, all of which show the importance of good parenting. These include the resources for parents, the child’s feeling of being nurtured, and how the child relates to others.
Alexander, Meredith. “Thirty years later,
Stanford Prison Experiment Lives On.” Stanford Report.
This website outlines the events of Zimbardo’s experiment.
Coming from
“Raising Children to
Resist Violence: What You Can Do.”
American Psychological
Association Online. 1996. American Psychological Association.
This site advises parents on how to raise
their children to avoid use of violent behaviors. Their advice includes providing consistent
love, consistent rules, supervision, positive role models, and more. The website is helpful in determining ways
that parents influence and effect children’s tendency towards using violence.
“Violence on Television-
What do Children Learn?
What Can Parents Do?” American
Psychological Association Online. 2002. American Psychological
Association.
This site examines the role of television
violence in a child’s development.
Children become less sensitive towards others’ pain and suffering, more
fearful, and have a greater proclivity towards aggression and violence.
Degelman, Douglas. “AmoebaWeb.”
This is a general psychology site that
provides information in the different fields of psychology. The site is broken down into categories, such
as learning, personality, and memory, which then links
to helpful websites on the topics.
Dewey, Russell A. “Psych Web.”
This site is divided by the type of
resources available, such as journals, self- help, books, and brochures, rather
than by topic. The megalists,
linking to many other psychology sites, and the scholarly resources were the
most helpful divisions.
Plous, Scott. “Social Psychology Network.”
1996. Wesleyan University. 15 December 2002.
<http://www.socialpsychology.org/>.
This site focuses on social psychology,
but also includes options for general psychology. The site has a section of social psychology
subject areas that allow the researcher to easily find pertinent information.
Albert
Bandura
Bandura developed the Social Cognitive Theory
from his experiment with a Bobo doll. This experiment involved a group of
preschoolers who watched an adult batter a Bobo doll
and a group that were not exposed to the combat. A Bobo doll is a
blowup doll with a weight on the bottom so that it returns to an upright
position when pushed down. When members
of the first group encountered the Bobo doll, they
modeled the adult and kicked, hit, and screamed the same words at the
doll. The children in the other group
did not beat up the Bobo doll.
B.
F. Skinner
Skinner coined the term Operant Conditioning after experimenting with a rat in a cage. When the rat pushed down a lever, food would be released. The rat learned to connect the lever with the release of food and continuously pressed the lever. Operant Conditioning is defined as “A process of behavior modification in which the likelihood of a specific behavior is increased or decreased through positive or negative reinforcement each time the behavior is exhibited, so that the subject comes to associate the pleasure or displeasure of the reinforcement with the behavior” (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language).
Philip
Zimbardo
Stanford University and Zimbardo set up an experiment to test the effects of a uniform, but the results were far more revealing and intriguing. Zimbardo gathered a group of college students to play the roles of guards and prisoners for his experiment. Both the prisoners and the guards assumed their roles, distorted their personalities, and actually became prisoners and guards. The guards had complete control over the prisoners, and they abused this power. The brutal treatment by the guards on the prisoners forced Zimbardo to end the experiment after six days.
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Social Psychology, Violence, Aggression, Parenting, Punishment, Corporal Punishment, Reinforcement, Operant Conditioning, Skinner, Media, Modeling, Bandura, Authority, Zimbardo
300-305; 591
Deb Keeley
1/12/03