The Source and Cause of Violent Tendencies in Humans
Philosophers since the beginning of time have debated over the source and cause of violent tendencies in humans that in turn produce global conflicts, to solve the age old question, man or beast? Global conflict can with out a doubt be completely accredited to the human race, but what are the particular reasons for humans to cause such conflicts? There are many topics that have been argued by philosophers and historians over the connection between the reasons the human race and global conflict. One such topic is the gender based theories and sexual differences of men and women. Others believe that religion, with particular emphasis on monotheistic beliefs, is the major basis of conflict among the human race up to this day. Another important fact to take into consideration when attempting to understand why there is global conflict in the human race; is the significance of individual cultures amongst opposing or simply separated tribes, groups, states, and nations. Lastly, one must consider the physical evidence, for example, figuring out what can be learned about previous prehistoric societies from anthropology and paleontology. The basis of the debate is the nature of mankind; is it in our nature to be like wild animals with a lust to kill with the only difference between us and animals being intelligence, or is it that mankind over the time of existence have developed such things as material goods, religious belief systems, and all different ways of life that are responsible for violence and conflict throughout the history of the world. There is no clear cut answer to why mankind acts in such a way, but one can develop a very strong argument or theory which includes and relat...
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... however, the core debate will still remain; is it the general nature of human beings to be just like wild animals only smarter with a lust for blood or is it the developments and evolution of the human race over time that is responsible for the creation of global conflict. The debate may never actually be settled any time soon, however to understand the argument one must consider and understand the position of each group and how they relate to one another, religion to sexuality, and nationalism to cultural differences, all of which affect human behavior. The human race is very complicated and understanding why men and women act the way they do involves all of these aspects, but do not necessarily provide a solution, instead they allow people to take a position and support those ideals and possibly help to prove that theory solving the age old question, man or beast?
This essay will provide an analytical comparison of the approaches of Psychodynamic perspective and Behaviourist perspective, in understanding Aggression. One assumption about human behaviour from the psychodynamic perspective is that all behaviour including aggression is determined by our genes. In contrast, the behaviourist perspective argues that aggression is shaped by our environment.
In Holland, male members of a certain family were found to be prone to violent outbursts; one male, criticized by his employer, attempted to run him over with a car - another raped his sister and was sent to a mental hospital - a third coerced his sister into undressing by threatening her with a knife. Such men display retarded motor development, difficulties in task planning, and awkward sexual behavior. (1). Recently, researchers claimed to have found the basis of such aggressive behavior to genetic sources - specifically, a deficiency in the MAOA gene of these males (2).
Aggression is defined as any behavior intended to harm another person who is motivated to avoid the harm according to Baumeister & Bushman (2014). A study was conducted in 1967 by Leonard Berkowitz and Anthony LePage, to determine whether the presence of weapons would elicit aggressive behavior from an individual (Baumeister & Bushman, 2014). They hypothesized that participants were likely to associate weapons, particularly firearms, to aggression and violence, which would cause observing a weapon to elicit an aggressive response. The experiment determined that the presence of weapon can elicit an aggressive response from people ready to act aggressively. In the study, participants were shocked up to seven times then given the opportunity to
Popular Culture and Violent Behavior Introduction In 1871 E.B. Taylor defined culture as 'that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and many other capabilities and habits acquired by... [members] of society. '[1] Taylor was talking about 'high' culture, an aristocratic view of the past-times such as ballet, theatre and art. Popular culture, on the other hand, is a form of 'low' culture and is based primarily on marketing, mass production and revenue.
Is there a biological basis for violent behavior in the brain? Recent research links "neurological impairments and psychoses" to violent behavior (1).
“history is written by the victors”(Winston Churchill). Conflict has been deeply engrained into the history of mankind. For thousands of years all across the globe the prevalent aspect in which mass conflict has surrounded was that of differing religious practices. With all that is good that comes from religion, much evil is directly following. This conflict over religious views has caused hundreds of years of war in some parts of the world as well as problems that can range from day to day in your home. In the book Lame Deer, Seeker of visions religion can be seen at the base of all the struggle between the Native American people and the European Colonist that moved in to take over their land. Religion has been used for centuries to explain the surrounding world, but it only seems to pertain to the people practicing these beliefs. People through history have used their religions to justify their own personal desires even if they were not always the ideas of the religious institution.
The first set of cold, clammy hands closes around my ribs. Another circles my ankle, my arm, my neck. With an irritated sigh, I restart the level for the third time as the words, “Game over” flash across the screen. Sound familiar? This scene is very common among modern zombie apocalypse games. Though the titles of these games vary, the theme remains the same: to fight for one’s life. Users are thrust into a world where they must combat violence thrown at them with violence of their own. The sheer thrill of it can be very exciting and relates well to many youth because of its life or death component. All of a sudden, eight year old boys are armed with machine guns to blast the heads off of shuffling zombies, bug-eyed aliens, and more commonly, modeled soldiers. But, while the video games continue to be mass produced, the cognitive and social skills of America’s youth suffer. With the mental health of the newest generation on the line, is it really justifiable to pass off buying the newest violent video game as innocent fun?
...n Humanity Glover gives a slightly frightening depiction of the 20th century. Yes, the 20th Century was undoubtedly an extremely bloody one, but there are some professionals such as psychologist Steven Pinker, a Harvard professor, who argue quite the opposite from Glover. Pinker, in his The Better Angles of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, says that the 20th century was actually the least bloody in history because human nature has changed significantly. He poses numbers that aim to prove the fact that tribal warfare was nine times deadlier than genocide and war in the 20th century. Despite these counter arguments, however, Jonathan Glover gives an extraordinary analysis of humanity, morality and ethics in the 20th century which can give humans a solution as to how we should all go about preventing genocide and other war crimes in the future of our species.
but also in many ways glorified? Do we glorify boxing (most of the time bloody
Throughout history, mankind’s tendency has been to turn quicker to the sword rather than to a peaceful discussion. War follows civilizations. Some used it to their advantage, like the Romans, Aztecs or other ancient empires, to conquer new lands and people thus gaining greater power. However, the latter part of this world’s history, has been spent attempting to decrease violence. The League of Nations was created following World War I to prevent anymore wars of that destruction. Obviously the League of Nations failed leading to the start of World War II. With the end of the war in 1945, the United Nations arose to keep world peace and have thus somewhat kept to that. So, why then, has the world seemed to have fallen into greater disarray and
Aggression is any behavior that results in physical or emotional injury to a person or animal, or one that leads to property damage or destruction. Kostenik,et. al, (2014) identified that aggression can either be physical or verbal. Aggression is a behavior characterized by verbal or physical attack, yet it may be appropriate and self-protective or destructive and violent (Perry, 2007). Further, aggression is a spontaneous, impulsive act of anger. It is observable behavior which can depreciate, threaten, or hurt a person or destroy an object. It is unplanned and usually occurs during times of stress (Long and Brendtro, cited by Zirpoli, 2014). Aggression is viewed as a loss of self-control or an impulse break-through. Aggressive
Since the beginning of social psychology, psychologist has been trying to analyze how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior are impacted by aggression. When an aggressive person gets frustrated or upset, social psychologist tracks down what exactly drives them to commit crimes, atrocities, or even abuse. According to Kassin, Fein, and Markus, aggression is “behavior intended to harm another individual” (2016). Individuals who attain this trait don’t always have to physically abuse someone, aggressive attacks could be verbal, emotional, or mental as well. Although many might argue that people who are viewed as aggressive tend to harm another person because that is their only cure, however, there are alternative motives that drive aggression,
rom the dawn of time, man has had many questions. Some he finds answers to, while others he might spend his entire life seeking answers to, one of these being the question of why are humans so vicious to each other? Wise men have spent hours devoted to elaborate explanations, when the root of the answer is quite plain: fear. Fear is perhaps the most powerful motivator; from the seemingly minor fear one might harbor towards mice towards the more complex fear of death, all have something above all that inspires intense fear and loathing, something they would drain seas and level mountains to avoid. When confronted by their fear, some become paralyzed, others fight or flee, but when completely immersed in their fear, unable to escape or ignore,
The world has a problem with violence. It is not a new problem, and it not one that is likely to disappear soon. It is estimated that around 1.6 million people die of violence each year. Half of these deaths are attributed to suicide, while the other half are attributed to homicide, war and other conflicts combined. Historically, violence was seen as a social ill. Before the 1970’s, when genetic research began to take hold, most researchers believed that violence was caused by a number of social aspects. Even with our increased knowledge, there are still groups that view violence as a social ill. This is evident in the fact that there are groups like MAVAV, Mothers against Video Game Addiction and Violence, and Parents against Violence. These groups aim to reduce the amount of violence shown in video games and other media, in a hope that it will reduce the rate of violence. Technological advances have allowed researchers to delve into the causes behind violent acts and tendencies. Although genetics does not fully predict who will have violent urges, it does play a large role in the predisposition towards violent tendencies. Some of these causes are linked to hormones, like the amount of adolescent testosterone. Others are linked to brain activity, mainly in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the orbitofrontal cortex. There is even some evidence that the MAOA enzyme can play a role in violent expression. Of course, not all causes are genetically based. Although genetics can help determine who will have a predisposition towards violence, there are other factors at play. The peer group that one associates with, the environment that they are raised in, and the home life that they experience all play a role in determining if the vi...
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.