tags:
Child, Disorder, Behavior, Voice, Protest, Deviation, Refusal, Disorder Conduct disorder (CD) is the term used to designate a syndrome whose key symptoms characterize a persistent inability to control behavior in accordance with established social norms.
“Conduct disorders are characterized by a persistent pattern of dissocial, aggressive or challenging behavior. Such behavior, in its most extreme degree, amounts to a marked violation of age-appropriate social norms and is therefore more severe than ordinary childish malice or adolescent rebellion” (ICD-10).
The diagnosis of conduct disorder can only be made based on the child's age. In early preschool age, outbursts of anger are not a deviation. The diagnosis of disordered behavior is made on the basis of excessive pugnacity, hooliganism, cruelty, destructive acts, arson, theft, deceit, absenteeism from school, leaving home, unusually frequent and violent outbursts of anger, provocative behavior, and outright disobedience. Typically, the basis for an appropriate assessment of behavior is the duration of the described deviations, which is 6 months or more. Behavior characterized by deviation from accepted moral and, in some cases, legal norms is called deviant. It may include anti-disciplinary, antisocial, delinquent (illegal) and auto-aggressive (suicidal and self-harming) behavior.
More often, this behavior is the reaction of children and adolescents to difficult life circumstances. It is on the border between normal and disease and therefore should be assessed not only by a teacher, but also by a doctor. The possibility of behavioral deviations is also associated with the characteristics of physical and psychological development, educational conditions and social environment.
Systematics Behavioral deviations in children are classified differently depending on the criteria and ideas about the etiology. V.V. Kovalev (1995) understands behavioral disorders as a type of psychogenic characterological and pathocharacterological reactions and divides them into reactions of protest, refusal, imitation, compensation and overcompensation, emancipation, grouping, and infatuation. 1.Characterological reaction is a transient, situationally determined change in the child’s behavior, which manifests itself mainly under certain circumstances. It does not lead to disturbances in social adaptation and is not accompanied by somatic disorders. 2. Pathocharacterological reaction - a psychogenic personal reaction, manifested by deviations in the child’s behavior; it leads to disturbances in social and personal adaptation and is accompanied by somatovegetative disorders. Usually it develops on a characterological basis, but in the presence of an unfavorable background (accentuation of character, organic failure, disharmonious age-related crisis) it immediately takes on pathological forms. An indicator of the transition to a pathocharacterological reaction is behavioral disorders that appear outside the situation in which they initially arose, a greater severity of affective disorders and obvious somatovegetative disorders.
8 pages, 3530 words
Features of voice impairment in children with hearing impairment
1 Bashkir State Pedagogical University named after. M Akmully Test work in the discipline Voice impairment on the topic Features of voice impairment in children with hearing impairment Completed by: 4th year student L.A. Sotnikova. UFA-2009 Plan 1. Normal voice 2. Voice impairment 3. Voice impairment in children with hearing impairment 4. Stages of speech therapy work to restore voice 4.1 ...
Behavioral reactions characteristic of children
1. Reaction of opposition or protest. In early preschool age, it can occur when a child’s activity is limited, with excessive or force-feeding, with premature or excessively strict potty training. In older children, the protest reaction is based on deep resentment, injured pride, dissatisfaction, and anger arising from excessive demands, excessive workloads, loss or lack of attention, unfair or cruel punishments. 2.Reactions of active protest. Disobedience, rudeness, destructive actions, defiant or aggressive behavior. 3. Reactions of passive protest. Refusal to eat, leaving home, suicide attempts, refusal to speak (mutism), enuresis, encopresis, repeated vomiting, constipation, violent cough, masked hostility towards the “offender”, isolation, violation of emotional contact. 4. Refusal reaction. Its most typical manifestations occur at an early age. It arises due to the child’s loss of a sense of security, an unsatisfied need to communicate with an emotionally significant figure. The most pronounced manifestations of this reaction are immobility, lethargy, lack of desire to communicate, and disappearance of reactions to what is happening around. The desire to play and enjoy sweets is lost. Depression, sleep disturbance, loss of appetite appear. Weakness from somatic diseases contributes to the occurrence of this reaction. 5. Imitation reaction. It is characterized by copying the behavior of the person most authoritative for the child. A child can imitate the activity of an adult or the behavior of a reference group (an antisocial group of children).
4 pp., 1649 words
Expressive behavior
Expressive behavior in communication and its understanding. Expressive behavior [lat. expressio - expressiveness] - an expressive, vivid manifestation of feelings and moods. The terms expression and expressiveness are used when it is necessary to emphasize the degree of expression of a person’s spiritual world or indicate the means of its expression. Expressive behavior or what is meant by it...
Behavioral disorders occur when antisocial forms of behavior (foul language, hooliganism, theft, vagrancy) and addictive behavior (smoking, inhaling volatile substances, drinking alcohol) are copied.
This reaction is especially persistently repeated and leads to deeper maladaptation if it develops against the background of disinhibited drives or itself provokes the premature development of instinctive manifestations (for example, sexual ones).
6. Compensation reaction. It can arise as a form of psychological defense, in which children, disappointed by their failure in one area, strive to achieve greater success in other areas. This reaction can form the basis of behavioral disorders if a child who has failed to express himself at school begins to strengthen his authority through antisocial behavior (hooliganism, theft, etc.).
7. Overcompensation reaction. It differs from the previous one in that children overcome their inability or their defect through extreme efforts in the most difficult area of activity for them. If a fearful teenager tries to overcompensate for his fear by attacking other teenagers or dangerously riding a bicycle, motorcycle, or car (stealing them from their owners), then this reaction will become a mechanism for the development of disrupted behavior. 8.Reaction of emancipation. This is the desire to free yourself from the care of parents, educators and all adults in general. This reaction is facilitated by petty care, deprivation of independence, constant pressure, and treating a teenager as an unintelligent little child. The emancipation reaction is manifested by hidden resistance to order or attempts to escape the control of adults. In the first case, this is ignoring advice, directions and instructions, not accepting help, stubborn attempts to do everything on your own, and rejecting the rules and norms established by adults. In the second case, these are attempts to establish an independent life. 9. Grouping reaction. It is carried out by creating informal groups of peers and teenagers, several older or younger in age. These groups usually have a certain resilience. Teenagers who are neglected and neglected are most inclined to unite. The activity of such groups is often antisocial in nature (hooliganism, fraud, theft).
7 pages, 3226 words
Psychological correction of intrafamily factors of deviant behavior in children and adolescents
N. N. Mizina Despite numerous psychological studies of the causes and possible ways of preventing and correcting deviant behavior in children and adolescents, this problem does not lose its relevance. This is due to the peculiarities of socialization of the younger generation in modern socio-economic conditions. Any social behavior of a person is always evaluated (both by himself and ...
11.Reactions of infatuation. They are closely related to the drives, inclinations, and interests of the individual and are manifested by the satisfaction of certain needs and impulses. Information and communication hobbies are distinguished (satisfying the thirst for new information, the need for contacts that allow the exchange of new information); hobbies based on satisfying feelings of excitement (arising from various games, especially for money or other “interest”); egocentric hobbies that allow you to be the center of attention (participation in amateur performances, sports performances), etc. Constant focus on a hobby, affective charge in the process of pursuing one’s hobby allow these reactions in some cases to be considered as super-valuable formations (the implementation of super-valuable ideas).
The morbid nature of these hobbies is also confirmed by the absurdity of the goal that the teenager sets for himself (to compile a collection of insect legs, broken dishes), and the unproductiveness of the hobby (there are no completed results of what years can be spent on.
Behavioral disorders due to psychological characteristics
In younger adolescents, there are disproportions in the level and pace of personality development. The emerging feeling of adulthood leads to an inflated level of aspirations. Emotionality becomes unstable, characterized by sharp mood swings, rapid transitions from exaltation to depressed mood. When a teenager is faced with a misunderstanding of his aspirations for independence, as well as in response to criticism of physical abilities or external data, outbursts of affect arise. The most unstable mood is observed at 11-13 years old in boys and at 13-15 years old in girls. The most pronounced stubbornness occurs at this age. In older adolescents, physical maturation is completed, and emotional instability becomes less pronounced. They are concerned about the right to independence, they are looking for their place in life. A differentiation of abilities and interests occurs, a worldview is developed, and psychosexual orientation is determined. However, determination and perseverance at this age still coexist with impulsiveness and instability. Excessive self-confidence and categoricalness are combined with sensitivity and self-doubt.
4 pp., 1731 words
Features and correction of manifestations of deviant behavior in adolescents from disadvantaged families
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 3 CHAPTER 1 BASICS OF THE INFLUENCE OF FAMILY EDUCATION ON THE DEVIANT BEHAVIOR OF A CHILD 6 1.1 The concept, types of dysfunctional families in modern society.. 6 1.2 The influence of a dysfunctional family on the deviant behavior of a child..12 1.3 Socio-psychological technology of correction and rehabilitation work with disadvantaged children families ..20 Conclusions on the first chapter 23 CHAPTER 2 ...
The desire for broad contacts coexists with the desire to be alone, unceremoniousness with shyness. The development of a teenager’s personality occurs under the influence of the culture and society that educates him, and is associated with socio-economic status and gender. Puberty in modern adolescents ends before the onset of social maturity. The existing freedom to choose a life path lengthens the time of adaptation. At the same time, social maturation occurs unevenly and depends on the completion of education, financial independence or the onset of adulthood. A teenager may be unadapted in some areas of life and have a hard time experiencing his failure. For example, having authority in a group of athletes, a teenager may turn out to be completely immature in relationships with people of the opposite sex. During the life of a teenager, the range of social roles expands: student, amateur performer, member of a sports team, etc. However, mastering them is difficult, which can lead to great emotional stress and behavioral disorders. The subjective significance and correlation of different roles and relationships changes.
Provoking factors
The reasons for a child’s inappropriate behavior are quite varied. Sometimes they can be combined. The main ones:
- Hereditary predisposition.
- Mother's illnesses during pregnancy, stress, exposure to adverse physical and chemical (alcohol, nicotine, drugs) factors on the fetus.
- Intrauterine hypoxia, acute hypoxia during childbirth.
- Difficult family relationships, frequent quarrels.
- Lack of love and attention from parents and others.
- Difficulties in adapting to families and children's groups.
- Serious illnesses and mental disorders.
Other behavioral disorders
1. Conduct disorder limited to the family. It includes antisocial or aggressive behavior (not just rebellious, defiant, rude behavior) that occurs only or almost exclusively at home and/or in relationships with parents and immediate family or household members. There may be theft from the home, mainly of money or belongings of one or two family members. Intentional destruction of the belongings of certain family members: breaking toys or jewelry, damaging shoes, clothing, cutting furniture or destroying valuable property. Cruelty towards some relatives, but not towards others. Deliberate house fires. At the same time, the child does not have pronounced behavioral disorders outside the family environment, and his social relationships outside the family are within normal limits. In most cases, this disorder occurs due to a pronounced disruption of the child’s relationship with his immediate family. In some cases, such a behavioral disorder may be provoked by the appearance of a stepparent or other new family members (step-brothers, sisters) in the family.
4 pp., 1570 words
Psychosomatic disorders in children and their correction
Contents Introduction 3 Chapter 1. Study of reading and writing difficulties associated with neuro-somatic disorders 6 1.1 Neuropsychological approach to the study of writing difficulties 6 1.2 Neuropsychological approach to the study of reading difficulties in primary school 14 Conclusions 16 Chapter 2. Study of psychosomatic disorders in children and their correction 18 2.1 Purpose, tasks, history taking 18 2.2 ...
Situationally determined, these disorders usually do not have a poor prognosis. 2. Oppositional defiant disorder. Typically for children under 9-10 years of age. It is defined by the presence of markedly negativistic, hostile, defiant, disobedient, provocative, brutal behavior and the absence of more severe dissocial or aggressive behavior that violates the law or the rights of others. Children often and actively ignore adult requests or rules and deliberately annoy other people. They are usually irritated, touchy, and easily annoyed by other people whom they blame for their own mistakes and difficulties. They have a low level of frustration tolerance and lose their temper easily. In typical cases, their defiant behavior is of a provocative nature, so that they become quarrel-starters, showing excessive rudeness, reluctance to interact and resistance to authority. This behavioral disorder usually occurs in a familiar situation and is not usually apparent during clinical examination. It is outside the normal level of behavior for a child of the same age in the same socio-cultural conditions and does not include more serious violations of the rights of others, which are noted in aggressive and dissocial behavior (theft, cruelty, fighting, assault and destructive actions). .
This is a less severe type of conduct disorder.
3. Mixed behavioral and emotional disorders. A combination of persistently aggressive antisocial or defiant behavior with significant symptoms of depression or anxiety. In some cases, the above-described disorders are combined with constant depression, manifested by severe suffering, loss of interests, loss of pleasure from lively, emotional games and activities, self-blame and hopelessness. In others, behavioral disorders are accompanied by anxiety, timidity, fears, obsessions or worries about one’s health. 4. Separation anxiety disorder in childhood. Normal infants and children are usually anxious about actual or perceived separation from people to whom they are attached. The diagnosis is made only when a strong fear of separation at an early age becomes the main concern of the child. The disorder is determined by its severity and by its combination with significant social difficulties, i.e., inability to master play skills, self-care, and retardation in speech development. The main symptom is excessive anxiety associated with the fear of separation from a loved one to whom the child is attached.
2 pages, 963 words
Text of the book “Psychology of Children with Behavior Disorders”
Chapter 2
Modern psychological classifications of behavior disorders
Psychological research shows that most children have various kinds of problems and difficulties, among which behavioral disorders occupy one of the leading places. However, in the psychological literature it was not possible to find definitions of the concept and typology of behavior disorders in children.
According to the reference psychiatric literature, behavior
defined as the psychological and physical manner of behaving in accordance with the standards established by the social group to which the individual belongs.
In this regard, behavioral disorders
are considered as repeated stable actions or behavior, including mainly aggressiveness of a destructive and antisocial nature with a picture of deeply widespread maladjustment of behavior. They manifest themselves either in the violation of the rights of other people, or in the violation of social norms or rules characteristic of a given age.
At the same time, the main diagnostic criteria
behavioral disorders include theft, running away from home, deliberate lying, truancy from school, participation in arson, vandalism, attacks on people, destruction of other people's property, physical or sexual violence, cruelty towards people or animals.
Types of conduct disorders
From a destructive
Three types of conduct disorders can be considered.
Behavioral disorders - single aggressive type.
In addition to the above general diagnostic criteria for behavioral disorders in children of the described type, there is also a dominance of aggressive behavior in physical or verbal terms. It is mainly directed against adults and relatives. Such children are prone to hostility, verbal abuse, arrogance, disobedience and negativity towards adults, constant lies, truancy and vandalism.
Children with this type of disorder usually do not even try to hide their antisocial behavior. They often become involved in sexual relations early and use tobacco, alcohol and drugs. Aggressive antisocial behavior can take the form of bullying, physical aggression and cruelty towards peers. In severe cases, behavioral disorganization, theft and physical violence are observed.
Many of these children have impaired social connections, which is manifested in the inability to establish normal contacts with peers. These children may be autistic or isolated. Some of them are friends with much older or, conversely, younger than them, or have superficial relationships with other antisocial young people.
Most children classified as the solitary aggressive type have low self-esteem, although they sometimes project an image of toughness. It is characteristic that they never stand up for others, even if it is beneficial to them. Their egocentrism manifests itself in their willingness to manipulate others in their favor without the slightest attempt to achieve reciprocity. They are not interested in the feelings, desires and well-being of other people.
They rarely feel guilt or remorse for their callous behavior and try to blame others. These children often experience severe frustration, have an exaggerated need for dependence, and do not obey discipline at all. Their lack of sociability manifests itself not only in excessive aggressiveness in almost all social aspects, but also in a lack of sexual inhibition. Such children are often punished. Unfortunately, such punishments almost always increase the expression of maladaptive rage and frustration rather than helping to resolve the problem.
The main distinguishing feature of such aggressive behavior is the solitary rather than group nature of the activity.
Behavioral disorders - group aggressive type
. A characteristic dominant feature is aggressive behavior, manifested mainly in the form of group activity in the company of peers, usually outside the home. It includes truancy, disruptive acts of vandalism, serious physical aggression, or attacks on others. Absenteeism, theft, and fairly minor offenses and antisocial behavior are the rule rather than the exception.
An important and constant dynamic characteristic of this behavior is the significant influence of the peer group on the actions of adolescents and their extreme need for dependence, expressed in the need to be a member of the group. Therefore, children with such disorders usually make friends with their peers. They often show an interest in the well-being of their friends or members of their group and are not inclined to blame or report them.
Behavioral disorders such as insubordination and disobedience
. An essential feature of behavior disorder with rebellion and disobedience is defiant behavior with negativism, hostility, often directed against parents or teachers. These behaviors, which occur in other forms of conduct disorder, do not include the more serious manifestations of violence against others. Diagnostic criteria for this type of behavior disorder are: impulsiveness, irritability, open or hidden resistance to the demands of others, resentment and suspicion, ill will and vindictiveness.
Children with these signs of behavior often argue with adults, lose patience, are easily irritated, scold, become angry, and become indignant. They often do not fulfill requests and demands, which provokes conflict with others. They try to blame others for their own mistakes and difficulties. This almost always manifests itself at home and at school when interacting with parents or adults, peers whom the child knows well.
Disorders such as disobedience and insubordination always interfere with normal relationships with other people and successful learning at school. Such children often have no friends, they are dissatisfied with the way human relationships develop. Despite normal intelligence, they do poorly in school or fail at all because they do not want to participate in anything. In addition, they resist demands and want to solve their problems without outside help.
From a social perspective
distinguish between
socialized antisocial behavior
and
unsocialized aggressive behavior
.
To the first group
These include children who do not have pronounced mental disorders and easily adapt to various social conditions due to a low moral-volitional level of behavior regulation.
To the second group
These include children with a negative emotional state, which is the child’s reaction to a tense stressful situation or mental trauma, or is a consequence of an unsuccessful resolution of some personal problems or difficulties.
A similar classification of behavioral disorders is proposed by V.T. Kondrashenko, defining them as a deviation from the norm of externally observable actions (deeds), in which a person’s internal motivation is realized, manifested both in practical actions (real behavioral disorder) and in statements and judgments (verbal behavioral disorder).
Considering behavioral disorders as deviations in the behavior of a healthy person, he distinguishes deviant behavior and behavioral disorders in neuropsychiatric diseases.
Deviant
, or
deviant behavior
, is a socio-psychological concept, since it is not caused by neuropsychic diseases. It denotes a deviation from the norms of interpersonal relationships accepted in a given historical society: actions, deeds and statements made within the framework of mental health.
In this regard, social, psychological and other criteria are needed to assess its severity.
In the domestic literature, it is customary to distinguish between non-pathological and pathological forms of deviant behavior. Non-pathological deviations
- These are behavioral disorders in a mentally healthy person.
In any case, deviant behavior retains its connection with gender and age characteristics of the individual and its non-pathological deviations, which in relation to children include: psychological characteristics of age-related development, age-related non-pathological situational and personal reactions, character traits and socio-pedagogical neglect.
Pathological forms of deviant behavior
– a concept that brings together psychological deviations with personality pathology. These forms of behavior manifest themselves in such borderline neuropsychiatric disorders as are common in child and adolescent psychiatry, such as pathological situational and personal reactions, psychogenic pathological personality formations, borderline forms of intellectual disability, including a delay in the rate of mental development.
Obviously, to characterize the second group of behavioral disorders, medical criteria are needed, since in this case we are talking about the clinical manifestation of the disease in its non-psychotic and psychotic forms of manifestation.
There are also other classifications in the medical and psychological literature. So, A.A. Aleksandrov divides violations into three groups: 1) reactively caused
caused mainly by a traumatic situation (running away from home, suicide);
2) caused by the pathology of drives
(sadism, dromomania);
3) caused by a low moral and ethical level of the individual due to improper upbringing
.
A.G. Ambrumova, L.Ya. Zhezlova distinguishes four main types of disorders in children and adolescents: antisocial
(antisocial),
delinquent
(illegal),
anti-disciplinary
and
auto-aggressive
.
Analysis of classifications shows that, regardless of the direction and characteristics of behavior, in most approaches aggressiveness
and
aggressive behavior
are the main qualitative characteristics of conduct disorders.
Typology of aggressive behavior
Aggression can be divided into different categories.
By direction to the object
share
to external (hetero)
characterized by the open manifestation of aggression towards specific individuals (direct aggression) or towards impersonal circumstances, objects or the social environment (displaced aggression).
The child attacks his offender with fists or “takes out his anger” on others, mocks animals, spoils the offender’s things, etc.;
internal (auto)
characterized by the expression of accusations or demands addressed to oneself. The child suffers from “remorse,” engages in self-punishment (“Mom, I’ll go and stand in the corner because I broke the cup!”), and sometimes self-torture (bites his nails, bites, scratches, hits himself on the head, etc.) .
By way of expression
exists
free
, arising from the desire, intention to hinder, harm someone, treat someone unfairly, offend someone. For example, a teenager who does not want his parents to come into his room expresses his dissatisfaction with them in a rather rude manner. This also includes hatching plans for revenge for an insult, waiting for an opportune moment to strike back;
involuntary
, which is an unfocused and quickly ending explosion of anger or rage, when the action is beyond the control of the subject and proceeds as an affect. The most illustrative example in this case may be a child's hysteria, when a child throws everything that comes to hand at the offender, insulting everyone.
According to the final goal
allocate
instrumental (constructive)
when actions have a positive orientation and are aimed at achieving a goal of a neutral nature, and aggression is used only as a means (here we consider individual instrumental-selfish and disinterested, as well as socially motivated instrumental-asocial and prosocial aggression). For example, a doctor who performs an operation on a patient in order to save his life causes him absolutely certain physical pain and mental suffering;
hostile (destructive)
when the actions show a desire for violence, and their goal is to harm another person. Most crimes against the life, honor, dignity, rights and property of other people can be classified as aggression.
According to the form of expression
differentiate
physical aggression
– preferential use of physical force against another person (fighting, pushing, tripping, etc.);
verbal aggression
– expression of negative feelings either through the form (screaming, screeching) or through the content (insults, swearing, gossip, spreading rumors) of verbal responses;
indirect aggression
- actions directed in a roundabout way at another person, at least somehow connected with the offender (for example, when a student unfairly punished by a teacher hits the teacher’s pet) or not directed at anyone (throwing objects on the floor, punching the table, stomping feet);
negativism
– an oppositional form of behavior, usually directed against authority or leadership; this behavior can increase from passive resistance (often childish stubbornness, “non-talk”) to active struggle against established customs and laws (strikes, rallies).
Regulation of aggressive behavior
Considering aggressive behavior as a mental phenomenon, it is equally important to know the mechanisms of its regulation, highlighting the motivational, emotional, volitional and moral components.
Motivational component.
A number of researchers consider aggressive motivation as a special kind of energy, the accumulation of which occurs until it is discharged as a result of exposure to the corresponding trigger stimulus. However, such a view seems to exclude the participation of the person himself in regulating his own behavior. In this case, the implementation of aggressive motivation will likely depend on the person’s ability to use inhibitory mechanisms of aggression.
Emotional component.
Often a person at all stages of an aggressive state (during the preparation of aggression, during the process of its implementation and when assessing the results) experiences a strong emotion of anger, sometimes taking the form of affect, rage. But aggression is not always accompanied by anger and not all anger leads to aggression. Moreover, it would be completely wrong to consider all anger as provoking aggression. There is “powerless anger” during frustration, when there is no way to remove the barrier that stands in the way of the goal. For example, teenagers sometimes experience anger towards their elders, but this anger is usually not accompanied by aggression, even in verbal form.
The emotional side of aggression is not limited to anger. A special nuance to this state is given by experiences of ill will, anger, vindictiveness, and in some cases, a sense of one’s strength and confidence. It also happens that the aggressor experiences a joyful, pleasant feeling, the pathological expression of which is sadism.
Volitional component.
This refers to all manifestations of the qualities of will: purposefulness, perseverance, determination, in some cases, initiative and courage. Since an aggressive state often arises and develops in struggle, as a result of rivalry, any struggle requires the manifestation of volitional qualities.
Moral component.
The implementation of aggression largely depends on the strength of the “Super-I”. Here we can distinguish two components that regulate the manifestation of aggressiveness: conscience and guilt. Conscience (the limiting “Super-I”) influences aggressive motivation before committing an act. P.Ya. Halperin noted that a moral assessment made before the commission of an act means a delay in the impulsive impulse and, therefore, the possibility of its “prohibition.” The feeling of guilt (reproaching the “super-ego”) corrects behavior after committing an act and is associated with the expectation of punishment for what has been done, accompanied by fear and increased anxiety. Thus, the difference between conscience and guilt is that the first is an “internal” and the second is an “external” regulator of aggression.
When regulating aggressive behavior, a complex interaction of all these components occurs. Aggressive behavior begins with an affect of anger caused by some obstacle, threat or pain caused to the subject. If, as a result of cognitive evaluation processes, the situation is perceived as “really deserving of anger,” then the current motivational state is divided into the processes of setting an aggressive goal, planning actions leading to it, and anticipating the possible consequences of achieving the goal. What is important here is that individuals with a high motive for aggression have a low threshold for anger, and therefore first experience anger and only then adequately assess the situation that caused anger, while less aggressive individuals weigh the situation more carefully before becoming angry. This is probably due to the fact that the affect of anger during the objectification of self-awareness, filling all the feelings of the subject, obscures not only the significance of normative values in the self-regulation of actions, but also negates the influence of intellectual processes.
In addition, the level of development of the self-regulatory function in the control of impulsive acts also plays an important role. It has been established that the most effective in regulating aggression are signs of internal rather than external inhibition. According to other data, an aggressive style of behavior is formed when individuals lack suppression of the external or behavioral aspect of aggression (weak self-control) and neutralization of the internal or emotional aspect of aggression (uncontrolled expression of impulses, a large number of open reactions).
The motive for inhibiting aggression turns out to be a decisive determinant in the motivational process of expecting the negative consequences of aggression, such as feelings of guilt or fear of punishment.
Chapter 3
Psychological theories of the occurrence of behavioral disorders
In psychological theories that explain the nature and etiology of aggressiveness, there are three different approaches. All of them reflect the views and empirical experience of specific researchers and psychological schools of different times.
Psychodynamic model
Theory of drives, instincts
(psychoenergetic model).
One of the founders of this theory, without a doubt, is Z. Freud. He believed that there are two most powerful instincts in a person: sexual (libido)
and
the death instinct
. The first was considered as aspirations associated with creative tendencies in human behavior: love, care, intimacy. The second carries the energy of destruction, its task is to “bring everything organically living to a state of lifelessness” - this is anger, hatred, destructiveness.
According to S. Freud, the emergence and further development of aggressiveness was associated with the stages of child development. He noted that aggressiveness appears already at the first stage of libidinal development - oral (cannibalistic)
.
K. Abraham distinguished the stages of sucking and oral-sadistic within the oral stage.
The latter, coinciding with the appearance of teeth, is associated with the first manifestations of aggressiveness in a child, since biting and swallowing involve the destruction of an object. M. Klein adhered to the point of view of S. Freud, arguing that aggressiveness is the very first relationship of a child to the mother’s breast, although at this stage it, as a rule, is not expressed by biting. She refutes Abraham's distinction between sucking and biting during the oral stage, believing that the desire to suck is accompanied by the destructive goal of sucking, emptying, exhausting by sucking, therefore for her the oral stage is entirely presented as oral-sadistic. Based on this, such a psychoanalytic “new formation” as oral sadism
. It is the pleasure of inflicting pain on someone by biting them. In this case, pleasure is achieved, if not directly, then in fantasies about biting and destructive absorption, eating (cannibalism).
Fixation plays an important role in the ontogenetic development of aggression
- the process by which a person becomes or remains ambivalently attached to an object, method and conditions of instinctual satisfaction relevant at an earlier stage of development.
Fixation at the oral stage of development can lead to the formation of an oral character
and such aggressive traits as a tendency towards sarcasm and gossip, as well as demandingness, impatience, envy, greed, jealousy, vindictiveness.
Aggression is also present at the next stage of libidinal development - anal
. Within its framework, there are also two stages: at the first, the sadistic drive is aimed at the destruction of the object (destruction), and at the second, the sadistic drive is associated with self-control and self-control (retention).
, anal sadism can become a “new formation”
, which manifests itself in sadistic fantasies involving cruelty, “getting dirty,” “throwing mud,” etc.
Fixation at the anal stage can lead to the development of an anal character
, a distinctive feature of which is stubbornness, sometimes turning into stubbornness, to which a tendency to anger and vindictiveness are easily added. In addition, the anal character is characterized by a desire for power and control, a strong intrapersonal conflict “to obey - to rebel.”
Similar mechanisms for the implementation of aggression are observed in the urethral
stages of libidinal development. However, here pleasure manifests itself as sadistic pleasure, corresponding to active penetration with fantasies of damage and destruction.
Urethral sadism
manifests itself in fantasies that contribute to the creation of an image of the penis as an instrument of violence. M. Klein wrote that: “In the process of psychoanalysis of adults and children, I constantly encountered fantasies in which urine appeared as a burning, dissolving, destructive liquid, as a mysterious and dangerous poison.”
Fixation at this stage of development can lead to the formation of a urethral character
and such aggressive traits as ambition and competitiveness.
Peculiarities of boys' and girls' experiences of "penis envy" on the phallic
The stages of libidinal development determine the basic character traits that are formed as a result of fixation: aggressiveness and provocative behavior as an anticipation of attacks on oneself. In addition, this is a lust for power, boasting, arrogance, demonstrativeness, competitiveness, the desire for success, in behavior - an emphasis on male potency, masculinity.
Subsequently, aggressiveness manifests itself at the genital stage of development in the form of antisocial and destructive behavior, i.e., violation of social norms.
S. Freud's views were largely shared by other non-psychoanalytic psychologists of that time, who considered the aggressive component of motivation as one of the fundamental ones in human behavior.
The theme of the conditionality of human aggression, mainly by biological factors, received a new form in the “psychohydric model” of K. Lorenz . He argued that the aggressive instinct meant a lot in the process of human evolution, survival and adaptation. The rapid development of scientific and technical thought and progress has overtaken the naturally occurring biological and psychological maturation of a person, leading to a slowdown in the development of inhibitory mechanisms of aggression, which inevitably entails periodic external expression of aggression. Otherwise, internal tension will accumulate and create “pressure” inside the body until it leads to an outbreak of uncontrollable behavior (the principle of letting off steam from a locomotive boiler).
However, what follows about K. Lorenz was mainly based on the often unjustified transfer of research results obtained on animals to human behavior.
One of the weak points of the theory of instincts was the predetermined ways of controlling aggression. It was believed that a person would never be able to cope with his aggressiveness. And since the accumulating aggression must certainly be responded to, the only hope remains to direct it in the right direction. Proponents of the theory of instincts believe that the most civilized form of discharge of aggression for a person is competition, various types of competitions, physical exercise and participation in sports competitions.
At the same time, many psychoanalysts moved away from the rigid schemes of the Freudian concept and began to consider not only the biological, but also the social side of aggression.
The theory of aggression in individual psychology.
One of the first to adhere to this point of view was A. A dler. In fairness, it should be noted that A. Adler postulated the existence of an aggressive motive in psychoanalysis 15 years earlier than S. Freud. A. Adler recognized that aggressiveness is an integral quality of mental life that organizes human activity.
The emergence of an aggressive motive is due to the difficulty of obtaining organic satisfaction. The aggressive motive is the sum of sensations, excitations and their discharge (release), the organic and functional carrier of which is innate. An unstable psychological balance is always restored by the fact that primary motives are satisfied through the excitement and discharge of the aggressive motive.
The aggressive motive dominates motor behavior and this motor embodiment most often manifests itself in childhood. Crying, screaming, restlessness, throwing objects on the floor, biting and pinching are the simplest forms of aggression, which often occur in later life.
The aggressive motive also dominates consciousness (for example, in anger). It controls attention, interests, feelings, perception, memory and reproduction, fantasy, directing them along the path of implementation in the form of explicit or modified aggression.
The aggressive motive can be directed outward and manifest itself in an obvious, open form: fight, combat, harshness, duels, war, thirst for power, religious, social, national, racial struggle, combat sports. When the aggressive motive is directed inward, turned against itself, it is embodied in such traits as submission, submission, humility, devotion, opportunism and masochism. Let us also note that this transformation of the aggressive motive is also associated with some features of human cultural development, such as the ability to learn and faith in authority, as well as suggestibility and hypnotizability. The extreme of this is suicidal tendencies.
A. Adler noted several ways to implement the aggressive motive.
1) An excited but restrained aggressive motive leads to the creation of harsh images in art and fantasy, description of the horrors of history and individual life. The peculiarities of the mental life of an artist, sculptor and especially a tragic actor or poet, who with their creativity want to awaken “fear and pity”, are determined by the fusion of strong actual motives of “seeing, hearing, touching”. Their activities provide a good illustration of the transformation of these motives.
2) A strong aggressive motive also determines preferences in the choice of activities. Not counting criminals, revolutionary heroes and adventurers, these are the professions of judge, policeman, teacher, minister, doctor and many others, which are chosen by people with a high aggressive motive. These preferences are clearly visible in children's games. Some fairy tales, sagas and legends about various heroes and their worship are created with an aggressive motive and for an aggressive motive.
3) Another embodiment of the aggressive motive is politics with its countless opportunities for activity and the logical explanation for any attack.
4) Interest in funerals and attention to death, superstition, fear of illness and infection, fear of being buried alive, interest in cemeteries often reveals the secret of lustful cruelty, although the aggressive motive may be suppressed.
5) An aggressive motive can turn into its opposite. Charity, sympathy, altruism and stinginess represent new types of satisfaction, embodying a motive that has at its core a desire for cruelty. This may seem strange, but, as A. Adler believed, a real understanding of suffering and pain can only come from a genuine interest in the world of suffering.
The more pronounced the aggressive motive, the stronger the cultural transformation will be.
Subsequently, however, a decisive change in Adlerian theory was that the aggressive motive was no longer viewed as innate and independent, but was subordinate to a stronger desire for superiority. A. Adler believed that aggression is a reactive form of behavior, and not a psychological phenomenon based on an innate tendency, independent of the individual’s experience and his attitude to life.
A. Adler adhered to the point of view that the feeling of inferiority that arises as a result of defects, weakness and helplessness is overcome by the emergence and strengthening of a sense of superiority. At first, he viewed the struggle for superiority as a manifestation of aggressiveness (initiative to overcome obstacles, struggle for survival, self-improvement, self-affirmation). Later, he turned to the idea of the desire for power as an opportunity for the manifestation of a person’s aggressive aspirations.
At the same time, he believed that the modality of aggression depends on the level of development of social interest. If the goal of excellence includes social interest, then the development of personality and behavior is constructive. If it doesn’t turn on, neurosis forms and behavior takes on a hostile overtones. According to this point of view, aggression is an abnormal form of behavior that manifests itself in cases where social interest develops incorrectly.
Aggressive or, in the words of A. Adler, “agonizing” consciousness can give rise to various forms of aggressive behavior from open to symbolic. This, for example, is boasting, the purpose of which is the symbolic realization of one’s own power and superiority. This is due to the fact that the aggressive instinct includes a female narcissistic component that demands recognition and admiration. Aggressiveness, interwoven into the context of culture, acquires other symbolic forms (rituals, ceremonies), as well as other types of social activity. Moreover, according to A. Adler, any counter-coercion, i.e. retaliatory aggression, is a natural conscious or unconscious human reaction to coercion, resulting from the desire of each individual to feel like a subject and not an object.
