key question

• key question for biological psychology

  what are the implications for society if aggression is caused by nature not nurture?
• NATURE

  'nature' view of aggression implies that this behaviour cannot be controlled, e.g., biological explanations of aggression – differences in the brain activity of violent people, hormonal imbalances, neurotransmitters and Freud's view of aggression as 'cathartic
• NURTURE

  Explain that a 'nurture' view of aggression implies that it is the situational environment that is a key factor in aggressive behaviour – stress, conflict, lack of resources
• concepts from biological - hypothalamus and other limbic system area

  Aggression can be provoked in an animal if certain brain regions (hypothalamus and other limbic system areas) are electrically stimulated. This suggests that aggression comes from brain function and is therefore natural. The animal would not be blamed forthis aggression and it could be argued that people should not be blamed either.

  • Adelson (2004) electrically stimulated the aggression centre in rats who then showed a hormonal stress response, measured by the amount of hormones in their blood. A positive correlation was found between the amount of electrical stimulation and the amount of stress hormone. This is called a feedback loop – stressand aggression operate in a cyclical way.
  • This could explain why, in humans, stress can lead to aggression, and aggression can lead to stress.
• concepts from biological - testosterone levels causing aggression

  Several studies support the idea that high testosterone and low cortisol result in aggression.

  • Montoya et al. (2011) demonstrated that the ratio of testosterone to cortisol is related to both impulsive, emotion-driven aggression and instrumental (premeditated) aggression.
  • dabbs et al. (1991) who studied 113 offenders and stated a link between testosterone, cortisol and aggression – high testosterone is linked to aggression only when there is a low level of cortisol.

  It was proposed that cortisol is released in response to the environment and elevates the level of testosterone. They also proposed that cortisol was linked with social withdrawal, not aggression, suggesting thataggression behaviour depends on the situation.
• concepts from biological- evolution

  • natural selection and aggression is linked
  • aggression has prevailed as a behaviour due to its survival advantage
  • the tendency to be aggressive is passed through genes- justifying aggression
  • It also suggests that imprisoning someone for behaving aggressively will not 'teach them a lesson' because it is part of their evolutionary heritage
• how do biological explanations help us understand aggressive behaviour?

  We can use measure such as PET brain sans to predict and treat violent behaviour to reduce the likelihood- prevent future offenders
• world homicide map

  This shows a third of the worlds murders happen in Latin Amercia- 25 times more likely to be murdered in Brazil than the UL

  may provide evidence for nurtures role in violence
• how many deaths are carried out through violence every year?

  1.28 million
• why is this an issues?

  if aggression comes fro our nature then we should not blame those involved and methods such as imprisonment are not ethical- should someone be punished for something they have no control over