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.

Erich Fromms (1900-1980) Quellen werden aus seiner Biographie, dem Gedankengut der jüdischen Religion (vor allem der Propheten und des Talmud), der Soziologie Alfred und Max Webers, der religiösen und philosophischen Humanisten, des frühen Karl Marx und der Psychoanalyse Freuds erschlossen und anhand seines Werkes dargestellt und erörtert. Es folgen in chronologischer Reihenfolge Analysen von Fromms Beiträgen zu einer ethisch inspirierten Psychoanalyse, zur analytischen Sozialpsychologie, zur jüdischen, christlichen und buddhistischen Religionspsychologie und seinem Konzept einer nicht- theistischen, humanistischen Religion, zum Matriarchat, zum Marxismus und dem daraus abgeleiteten humanitären, kommunitären Sozialismus, zur Kulturanalyse, Kulturkritik und zum Humanismus. Detailliert wird auf Fromms berühmte sozialpolitische und kulturhistorische Untersuchungen des Mittelalters, der Renaissance, des Protestantismus, des Kapitalismus, des Nationalsozialismus, des Kommunismus, der Technik und der destruktiven Aggression eingegangen, welche zu seinen bekannten Begriffen des Gesellschaftscharakters , des Konsum- und Marketing-Charakters sowie der Nekrophilie führten. Fromms umfangreiches Werk wird abschließend gewürdigt und vor allem in den Bereichen der Sozialpsychologie, Aggressionstheorie und Pädagogik kritisiert, indem seine Konzepte auf die moderne Jugend des Jahres 2000 und den heutigen Gesellschaftscharakter angewandt werden. Methodisch wurde kritisch-historisch, religionspsychologisch und tiefenpsychologisch (psychoanalytisch und individualpsychologisch) vorgegangen. / Erich Fromms (1900-1980) sources are disclosed of his biography, of his judaistic thoughts (especially of des prophets and the talmud), of the sociologic concepts (Alfred and Max Weber), of the religious and philosophical humanists, of the early Karl Marx and of the psychoanalysis Sigmund Freuds. The analysis follows in chronologic order Fromms concepts of an ethical inspired psychoanalysis, of his socialpsychology, of his judaistic, christian and buddhist psychology of religion, of his project of an non-theistic humanistic religion, of the matriarchat, oft the Marxism and the derived humanistic communitarian Socialism, of the culture-analysis and critique. In detail are Fromms famous sociopolitical researches on the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Protestantism, the Kapitalism, the Nationalsocialism, the Kommunism, the technic and the aggression (destructivity) described. This leads to the terms of the social-character , the consum- and marketing-charakter and the necrophily . The work ends with the valuation and critique of Fromms ouevre especially in the parts of the socialpsychology, the theory of aggression and pedagogy. The evaluation is made with the character of the modern youth of the year 2000 and the modern social-character. As methods are used: history and critique of religion, depth-psychology (psychoanalysis and individualpsychology).

The purpose of the study was to investigate the frequency and type of bullying behaviours experienced in a Pretoria private high school in the past six months. The aim was to determine how factors such as gender, age and ethnicity influenced the frequency and type of bullying experienced. The different types of bullying behaviours were categorised into physical, indirect, verbal and cyber-bullying. A quantitative method was applied and a self-report questionnaire was administered to 367 learners ranging from ages 12 – 18 (Grade 8 to Grade 12). The results of the study indicated that indirect bullying (such as malicious gossip) was the highest form of bullying reported in the study and occurred equally throughout the grades. However a high amount of bullying in all categories was found in the grade 9 group. Females reported higher frequencies of indirect bullying than males but no differences were found with regards to gender and the other types of bullying. No differences were found between the ethnic groups and physical violence as well as cyber-bullying. Caucasians seem to experience higher frequencies in bullying behaviours when it came to indirect bullying compared to African and Asian learners. Indian learners were also more prone to experience indirect bullying than Asians. Caucasians were also more likely to experience verbal bullying than Asian learners. It was found that racial bullying might occur in the school but that it does so at a minimal level. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Psychology / unrestricted