Chapter 2 Theories of Violence Flashcards
Intermale Aggression
Young men competing for status by being the toughest and the strongest.
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Territorial Agression
Concerns animals that fight to control a piece of land they have marked or defined as their own.
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Dominance
A higher rank or status in relationship to others, usually among males. To achieve dominance, males will commonly resort to violence. Once dominance is achieved, violence falls dramatically.
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Status
Place in a hierarchy; men may act out violently when competing with other men for the higher status or rank in a group.
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Atavisms
Evolutionary throwbacks; the idea that individuals are born to be violent and criminal, and they are identifiable through a number of distinguishing physical characteristics, including a small head with a large facial area; a sloping forehead; large, protruding ears; bushy eyebrows that meet over the nose; abnormally large teeth; and tattoos.
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Serotonin
A substance that helps relay messages over the gap (the synapse) between nerve cells and allows the messages to proceed. Low levels of serotonin are linked to a variety of issues, including depression, suicide, and anxiety as well as impulsive acts of aggression.
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Testosterone
A hormone; high levels of this hormone are linked to aggression.
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Warrior Gene
A gene that produces an enzyme known as monoamine oxidase A (MAOA), which breaks down brain neurotransmitters such as serotonin. Some people have a variation of the gene that results in low levels of this enzyme being produced. A growing body of research strongly suggests that it correlates with higher levels of delinquency; antisocial, impulsive, and aggressive behaviour; and hypersensitivity to real or imagined slights.
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Phrenology
The study of the shape of the skull
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Eugenics Movement`
Attempts to improve the human race through selective breeding practices, forced sterilization programs, and similar kinds of policies. These ideas formed the philosophical justification for many discriminatory laws, beliefs, and policies.
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Brain Dysfunctions
Abnormalities in the brain that may predispose a person to become violent; for example, one study using electroencephalographic (EEG) brain scans found that those who showed a long-term pattern of violent behaviour were three times more likely (65%) to have abnormalities in their EEG readings than those who were rarely violent.
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Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy
CTE
A neurodegenerative disease characterized by an abnormal accumulation of tau protein in the brain.
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Antisocial Personality Disorder
Characterized as being very narcissistic, reckless, and emotionally shallow; people with this disorder are unable to empathize or feel compassion for others.
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Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis
Contends that violence is one possible response for individuals who feel frustrated and thwarted in achieving something.
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Sadism
The ability to derive pleasure from harming others.
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Superpredators
A type of violent offender popularized by criminologist John Dilulio; radically impulsive, brutally remorseless youngsters (including preteen boys), who murder, assault, rape, rob, burglarize, deal deadly drugs, join gun-toting gangs, and create serious communal disorders.
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Stress
Related behaviour outcomes, including violence.
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Economic Deprivation
Poverty.
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Relative Deprivation
A type of inequality; being poor and living within a relatively affluent community.
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Shame
The painful feeling arising from awareness of something improper or dishonorable done by oneself or another.
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Strain Theories
Theories that contend that blocked or frustrated needs and desires may result in criminality and violence.
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General Strain Theory
Anomie theory refined by Robert Agnew to include strains other than economic conditions. Agnew argues that there are three main sources of strain: An individual is stopped from achieving a goal, something an individual possesses or values is removed or threatened, or something negative or unwanted is imposed on an individual. When somebody experiences one of these three situations, and when that occurrence is accompanied by difficulty in coping and a sense of anger, then violence may result as that person lashes out to resolve the situation through force and aggression.
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Anomie
A state that results when people living in impoverished circumstances have limited access to conventional and legitimate means of success; anomie theory suggests they turn to violence as means to achieve success.
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Institutional-Anomie Theory of Crime
Links crime to the existing social structure. Suggests that the high rates of crime and violence found in U.S. society can, in part, be explained with reference to the notion of the “American Dream,” which suggests that economic success can be achieved by anyone who works hard, plays by the rules, and is willing to engage in competition with others for jobs, income, and status. Our culture pressures people to strive relentlessly for success - primarily monetary success. Relentless pressure for financial success causes some to turn to crime.
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