Research investigating the underlying causes and factors involved in violence and aggression has suggested there is a tendency for aggression to escalate as a means to justify prior aggression. In addition, past research has also examined the effect of perceived similarity towards the target of aggression on intensity and escalation of aggression. This study looked at the relationship between initial level of aggression and the escalation of aggression and at perceived similarity to the target of aggression as a possible factor influencing this escalation. Individuals engaging in severe initial aggression who experience higher perceived similarity to their targets of aggression should be more prone to justifying their actions and so might escalate more. To examine this, subjects could administer any of 10 levels of negative reinforcement (insults) to a learner for incorrect responses. Half of the subjects were required to practice this procedure with a mild and half with a severe insult. Results indicated that an effect of perceived similarity emerged, with individuals using less severe insults when perceived similarity to the learner was high. Contrary to predictions, high-perceived similarity to the learner stemmed escalation for participants insulting the learner with a severe insult initially. Moreover, participants who insulted with a mild insult initially escalated in their aggression when perceived similarity was high. In addition, an interaction effect of gender and perceived similarity was found, with men engaging in more severe subsequent aggression than women when perceived similarity to the target of aggression is high. The limitations, further directions, and implications of this study are discussed.

Violent crime and aggressive behaviour are of increasing concern in New Zealand. Much of this is displayed by adolescent males who have an association with some form of substance use, abuse or dependence. This is especially relevant for stimulant drugs, especially methamphetamine (MA), and 1-benzylpiperazine (BZP). Previous research has shown that BZP has similar neurochemical and behavioural effects to MA, and there is a large volume of research showing an association between chronic MA use and aggression. In contrast to this, there has been little research into the consequences of a single administration of MA, which is often portrayed by the media as having the same detrimental effects as chronic use. The present study was designed to determine whether or not acute MA would induce aggressive behaviour in adolescent male hooded rats. In addition, the study also examined whether BZP had a similar effect to MA. Sixty male hooded rats aged between 41 to 50 postnatal days (PND), were utilised and divided into five groups of 12 rats each: saline; 1mg/kg (low dose) or 2mg/kg (high dose) MA; 10mg/kg (low dose) or 20mg/kg (high dose) BZP. The rats were tested using the resident/intruder test of aggression, consisting of eight measures of aggressive behaviour. The results suggested that, rats treated with either a low or high dose of MA or BZP were significantly less aggressive than saline-treated rats. There appeared to be little to distinguish between the two drugs in their effects on the responses recorded. It was concluded that an acute administration of either MA or BZP did not increase aggression, and thus did not support the view that aggression will result from a single dose of MA (or indeed BZP that has not been previously investigated in this context).

Animals living in groups are frequently exposed to conflicts of interest which can escalate into aggression. Aggressive interactions may be a means to resolve incompatibility among objectives. Nevertheless, aggression may undermine the benefits of group living by disrupting the relationships between opponents. Thus, conflict management mechanisms have evolved to cope with the potential damage brought about by aggressive interactions. The aim of my thesis was to investigate the mechanisms to prevent aggressive escalation and to mitigate its negative consequences in 2 communities of wild spider monkeys (Ateles geoffroyi yucanensis). I also examined the factors, such as relationship characteristics, affecting the occurrence of these mechanisms. Spider monkeys live in communities with a high degree of fission fusion dynamics in which individuals frequently split and merge into subgroups of variable composition. The implications of this social system for conflict management were also explored. To characterise spider monkeys’ social relationships, two components were identified and labelled compatibility and risk. These components were further related to relationship characteristics, such as kinship, sex combinations, and tenure in the community. Kin had more compatible relationships than non kin, but there was no difference for risk. Male-male dyads were characterised as being significantly more compatible and riskier than either female-female dyads or male-female dyads. Furthermore, individuals with longer tenure had riskier relationships than individuals with shorter tenure. Among the post-conflict management mechanisms spider monkeys did not engage in reconciliation, redirected aggression, or bystander affiliation. However, an option afforded by their high degree of fission fusion dynamics was used in the aftermath of aggression. Fission from former aggressors was more likely to occur within one hour of the aggressive conflicts than in control periods. Furthermore, individuals sharing riskier and less compatible relationships had significantly shorter latencies to fission compared to those with less risky and more compatible relationships. These patterns suggest that fission may function to reduce the possibility of renewed aggression and cope with increased post-conflict anxiety. Indeed, anxiety levels were higher in the recipients of aggression during the first 5 post-conflict minutes compared to baseline levels. Whereas fission may be a mechanism to cope with the negative consequences of aggressive escalation, fusion of subgroups could lead to uncertainty and hostility. Indeed, aggression increased in the first five post-fusion minutes compared to baseline levels. There was also an increase in post-fusion friendly behaviours, which may function as signals of good intentions. This view was confirmed as post-fusion aggression was reduced when friendly behaviours took place. In addition, shorter latencies of post-fusion aggression and friendly behaviours were found between individuals with riskier relationships compared to those with less risky relationships. Prevention of aggressive conflicts may also be achieved by adjusting subgroup size to the availability of feeding resources thereby reducing competition. The effectiveness of this flexible adjustment was demonstrated during a period of drastic reduction in food sources caused by two consecutive hurricanes at the field site. Mean subgroup size and fusion rates were significantly reduced in the post-hurricane compared to pre-hurricane periods. Hence, my thesis adds to the study of social relationships and conflict management in non-human animals by making several contributions. I provided the first evidence of relationship components in new world monkeys. I then examined the potential of fission-fusion dynamics as a means to manage conflicts among community members. I was the first demonstrating that fission is a post-conflict mechanism. Fission from the former aggressor was especially used by individuals with riskier and less compatible relationships. Subgroup fusion increased aggressive conflicts, especially between individuals with riskier relationships, but post-fusion friendly behaviours reduced them. The effectiveness of fission-fusion dynamics in conflict management was further demonstrated by how the spider monkeys coped with the potential increase in conflict among community members due to a dramatic reduction in food supplies due to two hurricanes. Overall, spider monkeys appear to deal with conflicts using the full range of the flexible social options afforded by their social system.

The purpose of this study is to re-analyze existing findings in order to demonstrate and summarize relationships between criteria and the sub-scales/dimensions of the Conditional Reasoning Test for Aggression (CRT-A): Externalizing, Internalizing, and Powerlessness. A CRT-A sub-scale was expected to relate more strongly with criteria categorized as being more relevant to the dimension that is represented by that sub-scale. For criteria that were categorized as relevant to only a subset of the dimensions represented by CRT-A sub-scales, the regression of a criterion on all three sub-scales was expected to create a better fitting model than the regression of a criterion on the CRT-A total score alone. Scales were also expected to interact to predict criteria. This was expected to be most likely when multiple dimensions of implicit aggression were activated by environmental factors to influence specific behaviors. Support was found for all expectations

Exposure to domestic violence in childhood has serious consequences for children’s health and well-being and is an important predictor of domestic abuse. However, as compared to other forms of domestic abuse, the effects of exposure to domestic violence on the quality of sibling interactions have been relatively underexplored. The major objective of the current study was to examine the impact of exposure to domestic violence on the quality of the sibling relationship, and to better understand the influence of age and gender on sibling aggression. Social learning theory and family systems theory were the guiding frameworks for this study. Participants consisted of 47 school-aged sibling dyads with a history of exposure to domestic violence recruited from the community. Aggressive behaviour was measured by standardized questionnaires completed by mothers and children and by observations of naturalistic sibling interactions. As predicted, analyses of observed aggression which controlled for exposure to domestic violence revealed brothers were significantly more aggressive than sisters or mixed gender dyads. Unexpectedly, analyses of observed aggression found that boys were significantly more aggressive with their siblings than their female counterparts when exposure to maternal violence was taken into account. Findings indicate that children exposed to domestic violence, especially boys, may be at greater risk for aggressive behaviour. Results are expected to be useful for practice and future research.

This article offers a perspective on adolescents' experiences of aggression in a secondary school, with a focus on the manifestation, contributing factors, consequences, and learners' opinions on aggression. An inductive qualitative research approach was chosen, where learners wrote about their experiences and participated in focused semi-structured interviews. Central themes were derived by means of thematic content analysis. The results revealed that a substantial number of learners experienced negative feelings about aggression at school and that aggression was related to individual characteristics, the adolescent's developmental stage, socialisation, status, competition, home environment, prior experiences, learnt behaviour and the effect of the media and music. Aggression was present among all genders. ages and cultures in school. It seemed to have a higher prevalence among boys, but was also significantly present among girls. Physical and emotional bullying had a high prevalence. which showed that bullying is problematic at schools. Passive aggression was mostly present in the form of oppositional behaviour towards authorities at school and educators are often verbally abused and ignored by learners, but their classrooms are also damaged. Individual characteristics, interpersonal relationships, multicultural interaction and a lack of sufficient social skills contributed towards many acts of aggression. Aggression was prominent in the reciprocal relationships between adolescents and their social environment. Being part of a group and forming a social identity are very important. Confiding in groups may expose learners to peer pressure, which may lead to activities and behaviour that are aggressive in nature. There were reports of discrimination and it seemed that learners get along better with others who share an equal status. This may possibly explain why aggression seemed less between white English-speaking and black English-learners, while it was more common between white Afrikaans and white/black English-speaking learners. Increased social contact between members of different social groups could reduce prejudice if these persons have an equal status. Exposure to aggression had emotional consequences, and some learners were prone to feelings of anger, fear, depression, being controlled and a loss of self-content. Behavioural responses included retaliation, pacifism, vandalism and suicide. Exposure to aggression (directly and indirectly) provoked several responses. These responses may be emotional or behavioural in nature. Emotions such as fear and anger and feeling overwhelmed, depressed and helpless may be elicited in response to aggression. Some learners may retaliate towards an aggressive incident through physical or verbal behaviour; others may withdraw and avoid social interactions. Learners may direct their aggression towards others (people and objects) or themselves. In the case of the latter, it may lead to depression, self-harm or even suicide. No single factor propels an adolescent to act aggressively. Instead, the causes of such behaviour are complex and multifaceted. Most participants in this research experienced aggression at school as unhealthy. Aggression may have emotional and behavioural consequences such as disruption, discomfort and disturbance of normal functioning. Although aggression seemed relatively under control at this particular school, there are signs of an increase in aggression and in the severity of some of the incidents, and of the possibility of desensitisation towards aggression, with the agonising possibility that aggression is serving as a form of entertainment for some learners. The need for learner involvement, school guidance programmes and life-skill training was prominent, accompanied by the need for school counsellors to assist in the management of aggression. Teachers must have better knowledge of the adolescent developmental phase so that they could understand and identify behavioural problems among learners. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007

Exposure to domestic violence in childhood has serious consequences for children’s health and well-being and is an important predictor of domestic abuse. However, as compared to other forms of domestic abuse, the effects of exposure to domestic violence on the quality of sibling interactions have been relatively underexplored. The major objective of the current study was to examine the impact of exposure to domestic violence on the quality of the sibling relationship, and to better understand the influence of age and gender on sibling aggression. Social learning theory and family systems theory were the guiding frameworks for this study. Participants consisted of 47 school-aged sibling dyads with a history of exposure to domestic violence recruited from the community. Aggressive behaviour was measured by standardized questionnaires completed by mothers and children and by observations of naturalistic sibling interactions. As predicted, analyses of observed aggression which controlled for exposure to domestic violence revealed brothers were significantly more aggressive than sisters or mixed gender dyads. Unexpectedly, analyses of observed aggression found that boys were significantly more aggressive with their siblings than their female counterparts when exposure to maternal violence was taken into account. Findings indicate that children exposed to domestic violence, especially boys, may be at greater risk for aggressive behaviour. Results are expected to be useful for practice and future research.

The existence of workplace violence in remote and isolated nursing station settings has been an area of limited knowledge to date. This descriptive study explored the phenomena of workplace and occupational aggression (WPOA), an operational definition of workplace violence created to capture all exposures to verbal and physical aggression in the 21 First Nations and Inuit Health (FNIH) managed Nursing Stations in Manitoba. Using the Manitoba Region Occurrence Reports from 2008, it was found that nurses in nursing stations experience a range of WPOA exposures with verbal incidents being more commonly reported than physical incidents. Quantitative findings related to patterns of reported WPOA with respect to timing, type, perpetrators and concurrent substance use. Themes related to the impact of WPOA on nursing staff and responses of managers to reported incidents were generated from the qualitative analysis. Recommendations for policy, administration, education and future research were generated.

Childhood aggression is a pervasive problem that has serious consequences for peer relationships. The relation between aggression and peer victimization has been studied extensively. Research suggests that these two constructs become intertwined in a maladaptive cycle as children age. Yet, not all aggressive children are victimized by their peers nor does aggression have the same consequences for all children. The current study seeks to investigate under what circumstances aggression leads to peer victimization and suggests that social competence is a critical moderator of this relationship. Previous research has found that levels of social competence vary among aggressive children. However, the consequences of aggression (i.e., peer victimization) at varying levels of social competence has not been previously studied. In a sample of 369 children in grades 2 through 5, the short-term longitudinal relations between physical aggression and peer victimization, and the moderating effects of social competence were examined over two time points. Social competence moderated the relation between aggression and peer victimization: At low levels of social competence, the relation between aggression and peer victimization was not significant. At moderate and high levels of social competence, a relation between aggression and peer victimization was significant. Findings demonstrate the importance of fostering social competence and prosocial conflict resolution strategies among aggressive children and intervening early in development in order to prevent the occurrence and consequences of childhood aggression. / Graduate

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