Aggression

Trying to put into words a theory of aggression caused me to question the evidence that supports various ideas of the origin of aggression. Freud's instinct theory of aggression is typical of most of what he wrote, focusing on the libido and his over-the-top motivation of sexual desires. While I give Freud credit for being creative, I cannot support his theory of aggression for several reasons, but my main complaint revolves around one point. That point is despite his concentration on childhood development, he apparently failed to observe children in his studies. His theories are, to a large extent, based on a guess.

Biological theories of aggression have a lot to offer about the physical and neurobiological causes of aggressive acts. Studying this theory has been intriguing because it leans toward my belief that there is a neurobiological component to behavior. The problem for me is that I have only seen limited confirmation in this area. I believe that evidence for biological causes of aggression will probably increase in the future.

For me the social learning theory seems to be the most well supported and documented theory of aggression. Not only is it widely applicable to men and women, girls and boys and members of all different age levels, but it also has been repeatedly modified and improved through the years.

One important thing I have learned throughout the years is that we should not examine a problem from just one angle. Doing so leads to narrow conclusions that are only applicable in certain situations.

Since this is a physiological class let’s look at aggression as an expression of the central nervous system. As I have learned, behaviors can be generated by an external input, from within the nervous system, by transitional reasons, or even by built-in inconsistency. Finally, in today's violent world we must consider aggression as a combination of many factors. By themselves, the factors are probably are harmless, but when they are added together, they can give rise to aggression.