In an episode of the Dr. Phil show three young men were profiled for their violent behavior. Their parents and Dr. Phil have attempted to explain and understand the reasoning for their actions throughout the show. This paper will apply theories to each of their cases to explain their behavior using the social learning theory, the psychoanalytic approach and the attachment theory. Andy was featured on the show for his part in school shooting when he was 15 years old. The shooting took place at Santana High School on March 5, 2001. As a result of this tragic incident 2 people were killed and 11 people were injured. Andy is now serving 50 years to life in prison because of his actions. To explain the actions of Andy the Social Learning theory by Albert Bandura can be used. This theory states that a person’s behavior is learned through observing their environment and imitating what they have observed. In Andys case the model that he may have observed was the Columbine High shooting that took place in 1999, which was just two years before Andys shooting. The media covered the Columbine shooting extensively because it was the first time in America’s history that the safety of kids at school had been jeopardized on such a large scale. The media constantly went over the profile of the two students who were behind the shooting, the diaries and home videos were released for the public to view and there was also footage from the schools CCTV on the day of the shooting that was available for public view. To observe the shooters at Columbine all Andy had to do was turn on the television or radio and surely he would find some talk show or news station that discussed that shooting in great detail. Andy was dealing with a lot of pain from bull... ... middle of paper ... ...eme, frightened, frightening, or passive. And the result in the child being aggressive, angry, depressed or non responsive and the child will not have a strategy to have his needs met. Judging from the clip his mother is passive when is concerns being an advocate for her son. It is never acceptable to allow a child’s stepfather to tease them and practice bad habits in front of them. John Doe 2 also says that he is bullied at school and his mother has done nothing about it and that she would rather watch television than listen to his needs. The defense of this theory being applied to this case if that John Doe 2 has needs that are not being met by his mother because of her passiveness and he responds to this by being aggressive because he feels that the aggression will get her attention. Unfortunately, he does not have an effective strategy for attaining his needs.
First, Andy was stabbed because he was a Royal. “That’s for you ,Royal!” (Para. 2) was what Andy heard after he was stabbed. This shows Andy was categorized as a Royal because he was stabbed not for any actions that he had performed, but for wearing his gang’s jacket.
Journal of Family Violence, 22(5), 267-275. doi: 10.1007/s10896-007-9078-y Smith, R. A., & Davis, S. F. (2013). The psychologist as detective: An introduction to conducting research in psychology. Boston: Prentice Hall.
Krafft-Ebing (1886) found that the serial killer had been through cruelty of animal; enjoy the torture and the pain of their victim during his or her childhood period. Moreover, the mothers of these serial killers were most of time working or doing other things and usually the father were absent. These children experience rejection and lack of attention, therefore, this child grows up having low self-esteem. Research show that adults that gone through abuse and violent behavior during their childhood were three times more likely to become violent as adult more than the non abused adults (Dutton & Hart, 1992).
In Chapters six and seven of Shared Beginnings, Divergent Lives by John Laub and Robert Sampson, the lives of numerous men are shared and analyzed. The authors use life history interviews as well as crime history to help explain their theory. They interviewed these men various times throughout their lives, from a very young age up until age seventy. In Chapter six, Laub and Sampson mention the lives of a few men who have turned to desistance, or stopping, in committing crime. There were two subgroups, “nonviolent desisters” and “violent desisters”. These men had tough upbringings, living in deteriorated homes in Boston. Their parents were not supportive and showed little interest in parenting. Throughout the chapter, the men mentioned various turning points that occurred in their lives in which turned them to becoming desistant to crime. The Glueck’s analyzed and interviewed three men. Leon, Henry, and Bruno were the men. Leon’s turning point for his desistance was his marriage. Henry’s turning point stemmed from his decision to enlist in the Marine Corps when he was eighteen. And for Bruno, he said that his turning point was attending The Lyman School for Boys. While the men stressed one specific turning point for them, all three mentioned how all three factors (marriage, the military, as
It has been found that violent behavior that is equally displayed amongst men and women (Wray, Hoyt, & Gerstle, 2013). According to research, the reasons that men and women become perpetrators are similar (Wray et al., 2013). It has been stated that if a counselor wants to reduce recidivism, one should focus on dyadic intervention (Wray et al., 2013). The psychoeducational group can help members to learn signs of aggression that they display to and what things can be done to correct the
Social psychologists conclude that the frustration-aggression hypothesis remains tentative and that multiple factors may be associated with the expression of aggressive behavior. Critics of the frustration aggression theory point out that frustration does tend to lead to aggression in some circumstances but not always (Berkowitz, 1990). Theorists also suggested that a broader term than frustration should be used as the source of aggression because aggression can be elicited or instigated by other factors, such as the character and perceived intent of the instigator, personality factors and life experiences of the frustrated individual, and environmental conditions (Meyer,
Alienation from society causes violent lashings out at the world that rejected him. We have seen this recently with the school shooting at Columbine. The two boys responsible for the bloodshed claimed that th...
Video games are one of the most improved technologies of the past twenty years. Characters have advanced from 8-bit cartoons to being lifelike. Some people think these games are becoming too realistic for young children. With more violent video games being produced, and more children becoming interested in these games instead of family friendly games, there are a growing number of people who believe that kids will grow up to be more aggressive, and that violent video games should be abolished. However, parents play the biggest role in their child’s life, and have the responsibility to buy games they think are appropriate and discipline bad behavior.
Childhood abuse, rejection, and neglect can also give rise to a potential serial killer (Larson). Daniel Larson stated that the social learning theory explains the relationship between stress and ‘childhood “traumatization,”’ a...
Tio Hardiman, the creator of the Violence Interrupters Program, said, “You can give them a history lesson. Your daddy was violent, your granddaddy was violent, and your great granddaddy was violent. And now your brothers are messed up because you misled them” (James et al., 2012). He is describing how violence is a learned behavior from your family and close peers. Hardiman goes on to tell a little about his own family’s history with violence. When he was fourteen, a man tried to hurt him in the streets, but his stepfather killed the man right in front of him, and he recalls feelings good about it. This family taught him violence was okay through their own
When Berkowitz was born, he was immediately put up for adoption. His adoptive parents cared greatly for him but when he was still a teenager his adoptive mother died of cancer (“David Berkowitz (Son of Sam)”, 2014). Berkowitz throughout his life lacked a solid relationship with a mother figure. According to John Bowlby who proposed the theory in the 1950’s, the Attachment theory predicts that most delinquents are a result of abonnement at a young age and the children tend to lack empathetic understanding (Schmallegar, 2006). David fits this mold because just after birth he was essentially abandoned by his birth parents and given up for adoption. During his killing spree, it would have been difficult for the Son of Sam killer to feel empathy for his victims since he did not develop this understanding of empathy as a child. The absence of a mother figure throughout his life would also cause him to especially lack empathy for his women
Is there a biological basis for violent behavior in the brain? Recent research links "neurological impairments and psychoses" to violent behavior (1).
2015). From the way a person talks, to how they view the world around them, this is all individually constructed, and therefore so is crime. Research has proved a strong relationship between whether a child has been abused, and their likeliness for criminal behavior at some point in their life. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, 15% of all Male inmates in prison experienced some form of abuse as a child, the number grows to an astounding 37% for women in the system (Prather, Walter and Jeannie A. Golden. 2009). This forms a strong case for criminals who experienced this type of abuse and their reasoning for turning to crime (Prather, Walter and Jeannie A. Golden. 2009). Using the Interaction theory, for many of these individual’s extreme abuse was one of the first things experienced in life. They learned it from their parents or other family members, or maybe other children and teachers at school. From verbal to physical abuse, this type of interaction went on to form and become an essential part of their identity and reality. Abuse which was transformed to violence and deviancy whether to earn a living or let out rage upon another person resulting in a heinous
Violence within families often reflects behaviours learned by children from their parents. A theory is that violent behaviour is passed down from generation to generation through families (Cole & Flanagin, Pg. 2). The majority of Americans are subjected to corporal punishment at one point or another during their lifetime(Kandel, Pg. 4). Surveys suggested that almost all American parents used physical punishment at one point or another and the punishment was regared as an appropriate child rearing technique. Another survey also suggested that some psychologists belive physical punishment to be an effective and useful socialization tool(Kandel, Pg. 2). Aggression is commonly conceived as existing on a continuum, ranging from very severe parental aggression to much milder and normal parental aggression, such as use of corporal or physical punishment(Kandel, Pg. 1). A common concern is that parental use of physical punishment will lead to aggressive behaviour in children.
Why are we as aggressive and can we develop a way to reduce our ever increasing aggressive behavior? What this research paper is going to cover just might answer that. First we’re going to go over different types of aggression and the differences between them. Next will be the several theories about aggression. This will cover from a biological and genetic point of view to how our diet affects our behaviors in negative ways. We will even look into how our culture has an effect on our aggression levels. Last is what ways can we potentially reduce and manage our angry tendencies as well as control the ever rising aggressive behavior in our society.