Children with Aggressive Behavior
CHILDREN WITH AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR
Introduction There are many perspectives on how children develop aggressive behavior and how this all comes about. The first perspective is the classical theory, which relies on utilitarian concepts of reason and free will, and is used to explain theory and other modern understandings of aggression and anti social behavior in children. The second perspective is the more modern theory of biological factors, such as how biology and brain chemistry can explain aggression, mental disorders, and other antisocial behavior even resulting in criminality. “Anti social behavior appears to be a developmental trait that begins early in life and often continues into adolescence and adulthood. For many children stable manifestations of anti social behavior begin as early as elementary school grades” (Patterson et al., 1989). It is basically an argument between nature (biological) and nurture (classical). Today’s society is more prone to see nature as the possible answer to any number of problems than nurture. There has generally been a swing of biological understanding and classical understanding of criminal behavior throughout history that has been polarized on one side or another. For example, if we were living just after the second World War instead of in the 21st century, there would be a surfeit of data on environmental causes affecting the individual and a dearth of information about genetic causes. Today, it is just the opposite. Etiological studies focus on genetics and inheritance, but there are very few studies that focus on non-genetic and environmental factors. The basic argument of the current report is that children develop aggressive behavior because of a variety of factors.
Article summaries Johnson’s article looks at the specific topic of disruptive behavior in children, which does include aggressive behavior. Not all of the studies have to do explicitly with aggressive behavior, but some describe
Introduction There are many perspectives on how children develop aggressive behavior and how this all comes about. The first perspective is the classical theory, which relies on utilitarian concepts of reason and free will, and is used to explain theory and other modern understandings of aggression and anti social behavior in children. The second perspective is the more modern theory of biological factors, such as how biology and brain chemistry can explain aggression, mental disorders, and other antisocial behavior even resulting in criminality. “Anti social behavior appears to be a developmental trait that begins early in life and often continues into adolescence and adulthood. For many children stable manifestations of anti social behavior begin as early as elementary school grades” (Patterson et al., 1989). It is basically an argument between nature (biological) and nurture (classical). Today’s society is more prone to see nature as the possible answer to any number of problems than nurture. There has generally been a swing of biological understanding and classical understanding of criminal behavior throughout history that has been polarized on one side or another. For example, if we were living just after the second World War instead of in the 21st century, there would be a surfeit of data on environmental causes affecting the individual and a dearth of information about genetic causes. Today, it is just the opposite. Etiological studies focus on genetics and inheritance, but there are very few studies that focus on non-genetic and environmental factors. The basic argument of the current report is that children develop aggressive behavior because of a variety of factors.
Article summaries Johnson’s article looks at the specific topic of disruptive behavior in children, which does include aggressive behavior. Not all of the studies have to do explicitly with aggressive behavior, but some describe
References: Aluja, A (2002). The children depression inventory as a predictor. European Journal of Psychological Assessment. Johnson, W (2005). Disruptive behavior and school grades. Journal of Educational Psychology. Liu, J. (2004). Concept analysis: Aggression. Issues in Mental Health 25(7) 693-714. Patterson, G, DeBaryshe, B and R Ramsey (2189). A developmental perspective on anti social behavior. American Psychologist Sutton, S.E., Cowen, E.L., Crean, H.F., et. al (1999). Pathways to aggression in young, highly stressed urban children. Child Study Journal 29(1), pp. 49-68.