Understanding Aggression and Violence in Society: A Social Psychology Perspective

This article discusses the theories that explain aggression and violence in society, including intergenerational transmission of violence and unequal distribution of power between men and women. It also suggests Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as a method of anger management. Education is also highlighted as a way to prevent violence.

Running head: Social Psychology
Social Psychology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Instances of a child being raped by a family member, a husband or wife raising hands on
his or her spouse, violence towards the elderly, all this and more is unfortunately a common
phenomenon in society. Child abuse is a very disturbing occurrence and according to doctors, a
child who is a victim of child abuse suffers from sexual dysfunction as an adult. Victims of child
abuse also exhibit fear, anxious behaviour, immaturity as well as high levels of antisocial
behaviour and aggression. As much as people crave for a society that is freed of all violence,
there are outbursts of aggression amongst people.
The theories that explain aggression and violence in society include Bandura (1973)’s
Social Learning Theory that opines that the behaviour of people is based by observing others,
especially children who witnesses violent acts in childhood and pursue this kind of behaviour by
entering into an abusive relationship or by engaging in domestic violence. This is known as
“Intergenerational transmission of Violence” wherein children observe the
behaviour of their parents and incorporate their behaviour later as adults.
Unequal distribution of power between men and women is also a major contributor
towards domestic violence. Women are subject to the dominance of men and remain in a
subordinate position in all aspects of life. Most men use their physical power as well as their
social power to doinate a woman and this translates into violence in some cases.
Beck and Fernandez (1998) suggests Cognitive Behavioural Therapy since it incorporates
a plethora of methods of anger management while enlisting the principles of the learning theory
(p. 64).
To conclude one can say that knowledge of the intergenerational violence aid in
developing prevention programmes and identify those who are potential victims of violence.

2SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Education also helps in providing an understanding of the detrimental effects of psychological
and physical violence.

3SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

4SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
REFERENCES:
Akers, R. L., & Sellers, C. S. (2009). Criminological theories: Introduction, evaluation, and
application (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Bandura, A. (1973). Aggression: A social learning analysis. Oxford, England: Prentice-Hall
Beck, R., & Fernandez, E. (1998). Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in the Treatment of Anger: A
Meta-Analysis. Cognitive Therapy & Research, 22(1), 63-74.
Domestic Violence | London. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.domesticviolencelondon.nhs.uk/
Dutton, D. G. (1994). Limitations of Social Learning Models in Explaining Intimate
Aggression. Violence in Intimate Relationships, 73-88. doi:10.4135/9781452204659.n4
Goldstein, A. P. (1999). Aggression reduction strategies: Effective and ineffective. School
Psychology Quarterly, 14(1), 40-58. doi:10.1037/h0088997
Hogg, M., & Vaughan, G. M. (2002). Social psychology (3rd ed.). Harlow: Prentice Hall.
Iacoboni, M. (2009). Imitation, Empathy, and Mirror Neurons. Annual Review of
Psychology, 60(1), 653-670. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.60.110707.163604
Kempes, M., Matthys, W., De Vries, H., & Van Engeland, H. (2005). Reactive and proactive
aggression in children A review of theory, findings and the relevance for child and
adolescent psychiatry. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 14(1), 11-19.
doi:10.1007/s00787-005-0432-4

5SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Murrell, A. R., Christoff, K. A., & Henning, K. R. (2007). Characteristics of Domestic Violence
Offenders: Associations with Childhood Exposure to Violence. Journal of Family
Violence, 22(7), 523-532. doi:10.1007/s10896-007-9100-4
Riggs, D. S., & O'Leary, K. D. (1989). A theoretical model of courtship aggression. In M. A.
Pirog-Good & J. E. Stets (Eds.), Violence in dating relationships: Emerging social issues (pp.
53−71). New York: Praeger Publishers.
Stith, S. M., Rosen, K. H., Middleton, K. A., Busch, A. L., Lundeberg, K., & Carlton, R. P.
(2000). The Intergenerational Transmission of Spouse Abuse: A Meta-Analysis. Journal
of Marriage and Family, 62(3), 640-654. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2000.00640.x