3.4 Influences on Aggression (Institutional and Media)

Question 1

What is institutional aggression?

Answer 1

Aggressive or violent behaviour that takes place within the social context of a prison or other organised institutional settings

Question 2

Who created the importation model and what does it suggest?

Answer 2

• Irwin and Cressey (1962)
• Suggests that inmates come from the outside world and import a subculture typical of criminality
• This includes e.g beliefs/attitudes as well as personal characteristics e.g gender/ethnicity
• The willingness of inmates to use violence within prison depends on their life before they were imprisoned

Question 3

Describe DeLisi et al (2011) research into the link between prisoner characteristics and outcomes

Answer 3

• Studied group of juvenile offenders in institutions with negative backgrounds e.g childhood trauma, substance abuse
• The individuals imported these characteristics into prison
• The group was compared with control group who did not have negative features
• The negative inmates more likely to engage in suicidal activity and acts of aggression

Question 4

Who created the deprivation model and what does it suggest?

Answer 4

• Clemmer (1958)
• Suggests that the causes of institutional aggression are a result of harsh conditions e.g psychological (freedom/sexual intimacy) and physical (goods/services) deprivation

Question 5

Describe Steiner (2009) research into the link between prison-level factors and outcomes

Answer 5

• Investigated predicting factors of aggression in 512 US prisons
• Inmate violence more common in prisons where there was a higher proportion of female staff, overcrowding and more inmates in protective custody

Question 6

Describe the deprivation model

Answer 6

• Harsh prison conditions are stressful for inmates = resort to aggression/violence
• Deprivation of material goods increases competition amongst inmates, causing aggression
• Aggression influenced by nature of the prison regime (e.g if unpredictable/use of lock-ups = creates frustration)

Question 7

What is a dispositional explanation?

Answer 7

An explanation of behaviour that highlights the importance of an individuals personality

Question 8

What is a situational explanation?

Answer 8

An explanation that identifies the causes of behaviour as existing within the environment

Question 9

AO3 for dispositional explanations of aggression

Answer 9

1. Research support:
- support for importation model
- Camp + Gaes: studied 561 inmates with similar histories/ predispositions to aggression
- randomly placed half in low-security and half in high-security prisons
- within 2 years no significant difference in prisoners involved in aggressive misconduct (33% & 36%)
- concluded that features of the environment less important predictor than characteristics

2. Ignores key factors:
- Dilulio: importation model ignores factors that influence prisoners behaviours e.g way the prison is run
- suggested administrative control model (states poorly managed prisons more likely to have inmate violence)
- e.g weak leadership/unofficial rules
- importation is an inadequate explanation

Question 10

AO3 for situational explanations of aggression

Answer 10

1. Research support:
- Cunningham et al: analysed 35 inmate homicides in Texas prisons
- perpetrators motivations for violence linked to deprivations identified in model
- many homicides followed arguments between cell-sharing inmates, drugs, sexual activity and personal possessions
- supports models validity

2. Contradictory research:
- model predicts lack of heterosexual contact should lead to high levels of aggression
- Hensley et al: studied 256 male and female inmates in the Mississippi which allows conjugal visits
- found no link between involvement in these visits and reduced aggression
- situational factors do not have a substantial effect

Question 11

Describe Robertson et al’s (2013) research for the effect of excessive TV viewing on aggression

Answer 11

• Measured the TV viewing hours of over 1000 New Zealanders at regular intervals until age 26
• Found that excessive TV during childhood/adolescence was a reliable predictor for aggression in early adulthood
• Excessive TV associated with reduced social interaction and poorer educational achievement (indirect)

Question 12

Describe Bandura et al’s (1963) research for the effect of violent film content on aggression

Answer 12

• Investigated the effect of aggression viewed on a screen
• Replicated the earlier study but instead children watched a film of the ‘bobo’ doll being beaten by an adult
• The outcome was similar (children imitated the behaviour of the role model)
• Shows that social learning process also occurs through screen as well as face to face

Question 13

Describe Paik and Comstock’s (1994) research for TV/film effects not being strong

Answer 13

• Carried out meta-analysis of around 200 studies
• Found significant positive correlation between viewing TV/film violence and antisocial behaviour
• HOWEVER estimated that TV/film violence only accounted for 1-10% of variance in aggression
  = minor role compared to other sources of aggression

Question 14

What are 2 reasons why computer games may have a more powerful effect on aggression?

Answer 14

1. The player takes a more active role compared to a passive viewer
2. Game-playing is more actively rewarding for the player (operant conditioning)

Question 15

What is an advantage and a disadvantage of using lab experiments to study aggression

Answer 15

• Demonstrates cause and effect (as there is control of the variables)
• Unethical, deliberately exposing participants to violence to encourage aggressive behaviour

Question 16

Describe Bartholow and Anderson’s (2002) lab experiment into aggression

Answer 16

• Participants deliver white noise at chosen volumes to punish an opponent
• Found students who played violent computer game for 10 minutes, selected highly significant volumes of white noise than those who played non-violent game

Question 17

How do correlational studies support aggression?

Answer 17

Supports the findings that several measures of aggression are positively correlated with time spent playing violent video games

Question 18

AO3 for media influences on aggression

Answer 18

1. Defining aggression:
- aggression defined in various ways
- DV in most studies is violent behaviour e.g volume of white noise blasted at opponent + criminal convictions
- HOWEVER violence and aggression are not exactly the same behaviour
- all violence is aggression but not all aggression is violence
- effects found in studies depend on how clearly aggression is defined
- findings of studies hard to compare

2. Unsupported conclusions:
- many research studies methodologically weak (e.g confounding variables, sampling methods)
- if poor quality studies are included then analysis will be poor quality
- many studies correlational (cause/effect unjustified)
- experimental studies lack validity so cannot be generalised
- conclusions based on invalid findings

3. Explaining research findings:
- findings explained using SLT
- Anderson et al: presents SLT as ‘convincing theoretical framework’
- widely accepted that exposure to violence at home is harmful to children
- computer/video games forms of social learning
- children more likely to imitate aggressive behaviour when they are rewarded
- even more when children identify with on-screen characters