The absence of a framework or policy to address bullying in South Africa compels the country to rely on pieces of legislation that are closely related to anti-bullying laws such as the Child Justice Act 75 of 2008 and Protection from Harassment Act 71 of 2011. Over-reliance on pieces of legislation creates challenges for victims of these bullying crimes because most of the relational aggression exerted towards victims goes unpunished. Some of the adolescents take the law into their own hands, thus, exacerbate and increases the complexity of bullying crimes. Due to advancements in Information and Communications Technology, bully-victim behaviour does not only take place in physical environments such as schools, but it takes place anywhere, anytime (24/7) on Mobile Social Networks. In 2011, a cyberbullying study by the Centre of Justice and Crime Prevention reported that 69.7% of the youth in South Africa falls in the category of bully-victims. This is alarming given that few studies focus on the role of bullyvictims in South Africa. The exact cause for mobile bully-victim behaviour is unclear, and previous studies have highlighted it is between aggressive behaviour and social integration. Therefore, this study examined aggressive behaviour and social integration to determine which of these two factors contribute the most to mobile bully-victim behaviour. Additionally, mobile social network features that enable this behaviour were investigated. The factors that lead to aggressive behaviour and social integration, resulting in mobile bully-victims, were identified through a literature review. Paper-based surveys were issued to Johannesburg high school adolescents. Johannesburg was mainly selected based on finding by previous studies, which highlighted that most of the online bullying and victimisation happens amongst adolescents in Johannesburg. After data was collected, the results were analysed using Statistica version 13.5. The analysis revealed that, indeed, both aggressive behaviour and social integration cause mobile bully-victim behaviour, however, social integration contributed more than aggressive behaviour. The findings also revealed that WhatsApp and Instagram were the most utilized social networks by mobile bullyvictims. There were no differences between males and females when it comes to mobile bullyvictim behaviour. The causes of mobile bully-victim behaviour that have been identified in this study can be used as a starting point to develop legislation/framework aimed at combating mobile bully-victim behaviour. Given that mobile bully-victims are more suicidal and suffer from depression, psychologists and therapists can use the knowledge obtained from this study to develop psychological treatments specifically for mobile bully-victims.

Research suggests that playing violent video games increases the likelihood of aggression. However, less clear is how individual characteristics influence the mechanisms that lead to aggression. Using Anderson and Bushman’s (2002) General Aggression Model as a framework, the present study examined the independent and joint effects of individual differences and situational factors on affective and physiological reactivity to playing a violent video game. One hundred thirty-three participants completed self-report measures of trait aggression and violent video game exposure. They were randomly assigned to groups instructed to play a video game using either violent or nonviolent strategies while facial electromyography, heart rate, and electrodermal activity were measured. Positive and negative affect was assessed via self-report prior to and following video game play. It was hypothesized that trait aggression and level of past exposure to violent video games would be positively related to increases in physiological arousal and negative affect among participants in a violent, relative to a nonviolent, condition. Hierarchical regression analyses failed to detect a significant relationship between trait aggression and changes in heart rate, facial electromyography, or self-reported affect as a function of game condition. However, significant positive relationships were found between trait aggression and skin conductance, but only in the nonviolent condition. Analyses revealed that past exposure to violent video games was positively related to increased skin conductance among participants in the non-violent, but not the violent video game condition. Past exposure to violent video games was also positively related to increased heart rate, but this was among participants in the violent, but not the non-violent condition. Significant relationships between past exposure to violent video games and changes in facial electromyography and self-reported affect as a function of video game condition were not found. Findings are discussed in terms of how trait aggression and past exposure to violent video games influence arousal, and potentially, the likelihood of aggressive behavior.

The purpose of this thesis is to assess children's exposure to aggression through popular children's picture books. Little research has been performed regarding aggression in such books. By analyzing 301 picture books, this study found that the average picture book contained 1.36 aggressive acts, and that aggressive acts were more likely to be included in picture books meant for older children. Verbal aggression was the most widely used type of aggression in children's picture books. There was no significant relationship between the type of character (human or nonhuman) and whether the character acted aggressively. Male characters were more likely to be shown aggressing towards other male characters; they were also more likely to be shown using physical aggression and violent ideation. Aggressive acts in children's picture books are more likely to be portrayed as unjustified, with no consequences, and no adult involvement to help resolve the situation. Children's picture books could be a useful tool for parents, teachers, and adults to teach children about aggression and appropriate solutions for resolving conflict.

<p>Ekstremni vidovi ispoljavanja agresije u vidu krivičnih dela nasilja su univerzalni<br />fenomeni, prepoznati u svim dru&scaron;tvima i kulturama. Iako se radi o relativno nefrekventnim<br />događajima, trend nasilničkog pona&scaron;anja raste i predstavlja problem od &scaron;ireg dru&scaron;tvenog značaja.<br />Ishod vi&scaron;edecenijskog izučavanja agresivnosti ogleda se u detektovanju velikog broja prediktora<br />agresivnog pona&scaron;anja, pri čemu su se faktori agresivnosti najče&scaron;će izučavali izolovano. Kao<br />referentni okvir za ovo istraživanje poslužio nam je Op&scaron;ti model agresivnosti koji podrazumeva<br />međusobnu interakciju različitih faktora u generisanju agresivnog pona&scaron;anja. Osnovni cilj ovog<br />istraživanja se odnosi na rasvetljavanje glavnih i interaktivnih efekta prediktora, a &scaron;to doprinosi<br />boljem razumevanju uslova pod kojima se povećava ili smanjuje verovatnoća realizacije<br />agresivnog pona&scaron;anja, u kontekstu krivičnih dela.<br />Istraživanjem je obuhvaćeno 200 ispitanika, mu&scaron;kog pola, podeljenih u dve grupe.<br />Kriterijsku grupu činilo je 100 ispitanika koji su bili na izdržavanju kazne u Kazneno popravnom<br />zatvoru u Sremskoj Mitrovici, zbog krivičnog dela nasilja. Kontrolnu grupu činilo je 100<br />ispitnanika koji u svojoj istoriji nisu imali izvr&scaron;eno ni jedno krivično delo. Ispitanici su<br />ujednačeni u odnosu na psihijatrijsku dijagnozu.<br />Organizovan je korelacioni nacrt, a rezultati su obrađeni kroz transferzalnu perspektivu.<br />Ispitivanje interaktivnog uticaja prediktorskih varijabli sprovedeno je putem ispitivanja<br />moderacije.<br />Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da je na osnovu personolo&scaron;ko-dispozicionih, kognitivnoemocionalnih<br />i socio-emografskih prediktora moguće razlikovati grupu počinilaca krivičnog dela<br />nasilja u odnosu na ispitanike koji nikada nisu počinili krivično delo. Konkretnije, grupu<br />počinilaca krivičnih dela nasilja karakteri&scaron;e vi&scaron;i stepen izraženosti sve tri Eysenck-ove<br />dimenzije, vi&scaron;i stepen sklonosti ka agresivnom pona&scaron;anju, vi&scaron;i stepen izraženosti psihopatske<br />devijacije, dok se po pitanju stepena samopo&scaron;tovanja ne razlikuju u odnosu na kontrolnu grupu.<br />Počinioci krivičnog dela nasilja imaju specifičan kognitivni stil koji je obeležen većim<br />prisustvom agresivnih fantazija, neefikasnom kontrolom agresivnih i neprijatnih misli, većim<br />prisustvom iracionalnih uverenja, uz če&scaron;će kori&scaron;ćenje supresije, kao neadekvatne strategije<br />vi<br />emocionalne regulacije. Takođe, počinioci krivičnog dela potiču iz porodica sa većim stepenom<br />alkoholizma (isključivo oca), u većoj meri su bili izloženi nasilju u formativnom periodu, imaju<br />niži stepen obrazovanja i ređe imaju stalno zaposlenje. Međutim, kada se ovi brojni faktori<br />agresivnosti posmatraju kroz prizmu multivarijatnog modela predikcije, samo mali broj ostvaruje<br />glavni prediktivni doprinos. Izdvojili su se sledeći prediktori: sklonost ka antisocijalnom<br />pona&scaron;anju, samopo&scaron;tovanje, netolerancija životnih događaja, supresija, reprocenjivanje i<br />obrazovni status. Ispitujući interaktivan efekat prediktorskih varijabili i psihopatije, kao<br />moderator varijable, rezultati pokazuju da različit stepen izraženosti subdimenzija psihopatije<br />predstavlja uslov pod kojim personolo&scaron;ko-dispozicione varijable ostvaruju značajan doprinos u<br />prdikciji agresivnog pona&scaron;anja.<br />Uzimajući u obzir da su se kognitivno-emocionalni faktori koji su podložni promeni<br />izdvojili kao značajni prediktori, praktičan cilj istraživanja ogleda se u primeni nalaza<br />istraživanja na proces rehabilitacije počinilaca agresivnih krivičnih dela</p> / <p>Extreme forms of aggression manifestations, in terms of violent crimes, are universal<br />phenomena recognized in all societies and cultures. Although these are relatively small<br />frequency events, the trend of violent behaviour is growing and represents a problem of wider<br />social significance. The result of multiple decades researches of human aggression is the<br />detection of a large number of aggressive behaviour predictors, where the aggression factors<br />were most commonly studied as isolated ones. As a reference framework for this research, the<br />General Aggression Model was used, as it comprehends different factors mutual interaction in<br />generation of aggressive behaviour. The basic aim of this research is to put some more light to<br />the main and interactive predictor effects, which contributes to better understanding of the<br />conditions under which the probability of realization of the aggressive behaviour is rising or<br />lowering, in terms of criminal acts.<br />The research was performed on 200 male subjects divided into two groups. The criteria<br />group was formed out of 100 subjects who are imprisoned in Sremska Mitrovica Penitentiary for<br />violent crimes. The control group was formed out of 100 subjects who do not have a criminal<br />history at all. The subjects are uniform with relation to psychiatric diagnosis.<br />Correlation design was organized and the results were processed through transversal<br />perspective. Examination of the interactive influence of the predictor variables was performed<br />through moderation.<br />Research results show that it is possible to distinguish the group of violence offenders<br />from the group of subjects with no criminal history at all, on the basis of personologicaldispositional,<br />cognitive-emotional and socio-demographical predictors. Specifically, the group of<br />violent offenders is characterized by the higher level of expression of all three Eysenck<br />dimensions, higher level of inclination to aggressive behaviour, higher level of expression of<br />psychopathic deviation, while the level of self-esteem is no different to the control group.<br />Violent offenders have a specific cognitive style which is marked by higher presence of<br />aggressive fantasies, non-efficient control of aggressive and unwanted thoughts, higher presence<br />of irrational beliefs, with more frequent use of suppression as inadequate strategy for emotional<br />viii<br />regulation. Also, violent offenders come from families with higher level of alcoholism (father<br />only), they have been exposed to violence to a bigger extent in their formation period, they have<br />a lower level of education and less frequently have a permanent employment. However, when<br />these numerous factors of aggression are observed through the prism of multivariate model of<br />prediction, only a small number of factors realize the main predictive effect. The following<br />predictors are noted as significant: inclination to antisocial behaviour, self-esteem, low<br />frustration tolerance beliefs, suppression, reappraisal and educational status. Examination of<br />interactive effect of predictor variables and psychopathy, as moderator variable, gives results<br />which show that different degree of expression of psychopathy sub-dimensions represents the<br />condition under which the personological-dispositional variables give significant contribution to<br />aggressive behaviour prediction.<br />Taking into account that the cognitive-emotional factors which are subject of change are<br />shown to be significant predictors, the practical aim of this research is to apply the research<br />results in violent offenders&rsquo; rehabilitation process.</p>

Episodes of aggression and violence continue to beset our public spaces. This thesis explores how well we understand the transition to violence—and how aggression and violence in public spaces can be managed or controlled. We begin by arguing that established social psychological approaches to aggression and violence are inadequate for the task. Existing models explain violence through the failure of individuals to inhibit their own impulses or control their own emotions sufficiently. At best the models allow for the importance of dyadic interactions as individuals provoke each other as part of an escalation cycle. We argue that public space aggression and violence involves multiple parties and more complex sets of social dynamics. We suggest that, at the very least, the roles of third-parties and social categories need to be at the heart of theorising about violence in public spaces. To support our arguments, we examined violence directly through detailed behavioural microanalyses of real-life aggressive incidents captured on CCTV footage. We also built agent-based models (ABM) to explore different theoretical approaches to the impact of groups and third-parties on aggression and violence. The thesis contains seven studies. We begin with a CCTV behavioural microanalysis (Study 1) that showed collective group self-regulation of aggressive and violent behaviour in both within- and between-group conflicts. This study demonstrated an ‘intergroup hostility bias’, showing a greater likelihood of aggressive, escalatory acts towards outgroup members in intergroup conflicts than towards ingroup members in intragroup conflicts. Furthermore, this study demonstrated an ‘intragroup de-escalatory bias’, showing a greater likelihood of peace-making, de-escalatory behaviours towards ingroup members in intragroup conflicts than towards outgroup members in intergroup conflicts. Overall, we found that the majority of coded actions were acts of de-escalation performed by third-parties. With evidence stressing the importance of social dynamics, we compared dyadic models of aggression against an alternative social model (which allowed normative influence of others) in a dynamic agent-based modelling environment. We modelled the dynamics of metacontrast group formation (Studies 2 and 3), and found that group processes can produce both escalation of violence and inhibition of violence (Study 4). We found greater polarisation of violent positions in intergroup interactions than in intragroup interactions (Studies 5a and 5b). However, an emergent intergroup hostility bias did not emerge from this polarisation process. In Study 6, we re-examined the intergroup hostility bias present in our CCTV footage. We found an intergroup hostility bias for non-physical escalatory acts but not for physical escalatory acts. We examined the standardised number of actions contributed by third-parties and assessed the relationship between specific third-party conflict management strategies (policers and pacifiers) and conflict violence severity (Study 7). Overall, our results showed that third-parties and groups are integral features of the dynamics of violence. Third-parties largely attempt to de-escalate conflict, and the conflict management strategy they employ has a direct relationship to the violent outcome. Groups have a tendency to de-escalate their own members, and self-policing and collective inhibition take place. These findings have importance for current models of aggression and violence and also for evidence-based violence reduction initiatives.

The current paper addresses the associations between video game content (i.e., physically aggressive, relationally aggressive, and prosocial) and physical aggression, relational aggression, and prosocial behavior in two distinct developmental periods. The purpose of the paper is to test whether playing video games with a particular type of content influences behaviors over time, or whether individuals who have higher levels of physical aggression, relational aggression, or prosocial behavior prefer to play games with similar content. Two theories will be simultaneously examined and tested in order to determine the relative merit in using each in research examining the relationships between video game content and positive and negative behaviors. More specifically, this paper will address the General Aggression Model/General Learning Model (GAM/GLM) and the Uses and Gratification Theory. The GAM/GLM, at their core, predict that exposure to video game content will build a cognitive schema which will guide how an individual should behave when confronted with a later social encounter (Anderson & Bushman, 2002). Contrarily, Uses and Gratification would suggest that a person chooses to play video games with a particular type of content, and that video games should not influence behavior. Specifically, according to the theory, individuals should seek out video games in order to fulfill their inward feelings and motivations (e.g., an individual with aggressive tendencies would play games with more violent and aggressive content) (Katz, Blumler, & Gurevitch, 1973; Whiting & Williams, 2013). A careful analysis showed a significant relationship between each type of video game content and its' corresponding behavior among adolescents, which supports the assumptions of the GAM and GLM. There was no relationship between video game content and behavior among preschoolers. With the exception of relational aggression of physically aggressive content, there was no support for Uses and Gratification Theory, in that preschoolers' and adolescents' levels of physical aggression, relational aggression, and prosocial behavior were not related to the preference for video games with different types of content. The analysis adds significantly to the current literature by showing a relationship between video game content and behavior over a four year period.

Running title: Personality and cyberbullying victimisation / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 104-120) / The aim of this study was to gain insight into the relationship between personality and cyberbullying victimisation using a sample of 107 adult participants. The participants were found using the social media site Facebook in particular and assessed by means of the Big Five Inventory and a cyberbullying measure developed by the researcher. The study also explored the relationship between personality and coping behaviours using the COPE Inventory. The study findings indicate that neuroticism and cyberbullying victimisation are correlated, albeit weakly, with the largest correlation being between neuroticism and online impersonation and harassment. In addition, the study found a weak correlation between openness to experience and online impersonation. Coping and personality were moderately correlated; with neurotic individuals and victims of cyberbullying often resorting to maladaptive coping strategies. These results may suggest that there are other, more significant risk factors in the cyberbullying field that merit further exploration, while the relationships highlighted in the study also require further investigation. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)