Key Question - What Are The Implications For Society If Aggression Is Found To Be Caused By Nature Not Nurture? Flashcards
Answer
Paragraph 1 - Aggression definition: A feeling of anger resulting in hostile or violent behaviour // 1.28million deaths by violence each year // Detrimental effects to society: Doctors appointments, hospitalisations, long term physical impacts and mental health impacts (trauma), can slow economic growth by making people too frightened to work and destroying property // Global Peace Index shows a drop in violence rates when crossing some borders (USA to Canada) suggesting violence is caused by the environment and therefore can be prevented by changing laws, attitudes and government strategies
P2 - Difference in murder rates across countries (25 times higher in Brazil than the UK) suggest nurture. Bandura (1960) Bobo doll, 25% of boys aggressive after seeing aggressive role model, 5% for girls, suggests violence is a learned behaviour // Role models such as on TV can cause this, including parents
P3 - Egger & Flynn (1963) Rat in Cat’s cage, nothing happens until Cat’s amygdala is stimulated and it immediately kills the rat // Wagner (1979) castrated mice drop aggression levels, injected with testosterone again boosts up aggression to pre-castration levels
Conclusion - If nativist is correct, reformation in the prison system may be ineffective as aggression is programmed in our brains, highlighted as US reoffending rates within 1 year of release are 44%, should treat high aggression levels the same as other mental illnesses instead of punishment. // Nurture would say use therapy and counselling, Bandura would remove violent role models. If nativist is the case and biological urges control our aggression, like Charles Whitman, then no amount of counselling can control this
