Driving aggression in forensic and non‐forensic populations: Relationships to self‐reported levels of aggression,anger and impulsivity

A series of four questionnaires — the Buss‐Perry Aggression Questionnaire (AQ), the Barratt Impulsivity Scale (BIS‐11), the Driving Anger Scale (DAS) and a Driving Violence Inventory (DVI) — were administered to a sample of 473 British drivers consisting of undergraduates (N=185), members of the public (N=106) and offenders (N=182) serving sentences in closed prisons in England (violent=82, non‐violent=100). Offenders consistently rated acts of driving aggression as less severe compared with other drivers. Offender attributions of driving violence differed to other drivers in that they were equally likely to perceive obscene gesturing as high or low intensity responses; they also viewed assault as a high intensity response whereas members of the public rated it more severely. Trait levels of anger and aggression were the predictors of driving violence in all groups but previous aggressive behaviour was only a predictor for the offenders. Gender and age were found to be predictors of aggressive driving in non‐offenders. Even with the effects of age controlled, offenders (and violent offenders in particular) scored higher on measures of driving anger and aggression. These data suggest that offenders differ in their perceptions of aggressive behaviours experienced in everyday driving and as a consequence are more likely to commit acts that other drivers perceive as violent. As offenders are known to display similar perceptual biases in other domains, identified as precursors to their aggressive behaviour, it seems likely that experience effects (as reflected in the trait measures) underpin differences in driving aggression between offenders and non‐offenders.     

A comparison of selected Rorschach variables of violent female offenders and female non-offenders

A national sample of incarcerated violent female offenders (N = 45) and a sample of female non-offenders (N = 30) were compared on nine selected Rorschach CS (Exner, 2003) variables and three of the aggression variables of Gacono and Meloy (1994). The results indicate that an avoidant and inconsistent coping style was more characteristic of the offenders than the non-offenders. The offenders were characterized by social immaturity and limited capacities to cope with stress as compared with the non-offenders. No significant differences were found between the two groups in handling intense emotions. Although the aggressive scores revealed no discrimination between the groups, significant correlations were found between the aggressive content score and childhood victimization. An inverse relation was found between the aggressive past score and the emotional intensity of the violent offense. The study indicates that the selected RCS variables related to adaptive resources for coping discriminate between violent offenders and non-offenders, but that the variables related to affective features need further examination.     

Executive cognitive functioning and the recognition of facial expressions of emotion in incarcerated violent offenders, non-violent offenders, and controls

Violence is a social problem that carries enormous costs; however, our understanding of its etiology is quite limited. A large body of research exists, which suggests a relationship between abnormalities of the frontal lobe and aggression; as a result, many researchers have implicated deficits in so-called "executive function" as an antecedent to aggressive behaviour. Another possibility is that violence may be related to problems interpreting facial expressions of emotion, a deficit associated with many forms of psychopathology, and an ability linked to the prefrontal cortex. The current study investigated performance on measures of executive function and on a facial-affect recognition task in 20 violent offenders, 20 non-violent offenders, and 20 controls. In support of our hypotheses, both offender groups performed significantly more poorly on measures of executive function relative to controls. In addition, violent offenders were significantly poorer on the facial-affect recognition task than either of the other two groups. Interestingly, scores on these measures were significantly correlated, with executive deficits associated with difficulties accurately interpreting facial affect. The implications of these results are discussed in terms of a broader understanding of violent behaviour.     

情绪如何引发暴力犯的攻击?基于情绪调节理论的解释

本文基于情绪调节理论, 以暴力犯为被试, 通过2项研究探究了情绪在攻击产生过程中的作用。研究1采用改编的反应时竞争范式测量个体攻击行为。结果发现, 情绪调节动机在负性情绪与攻击间起完全中介作用, 证实了负面情绪状态下, 暴力犯会为了调节情绪而实施攻击。研究2进一步表明, 攻击的确能起到调节情绪的作用。具体来说, 在暴力犯群体中, 实施反应性攻击之后, 会伴随着正性情绪的提升和负性情绪的下降; 实施主动性攻击之后, 个体的正性情绪和负性情绪都会提升。文章从对攻击结果的预期和攻击的实际效果两个角度, 对攻击的情绪调节理论进行了验证, 为情绪在攻击产生过程中的作用提出了新的解释。今后的研究和实践过程中, 应设法避免个体通过攻击调节情绪, 引导其使用合理的方式调节情绪以减少攻击行为的产生。     

Low blood glucose nadir in the glucose tolerance test and homicidal spouse abuse

The purpose of the study was to investigate whether homicidal spouse abuse offenders with a low blood glucose nadir in glucose tolerance test (GTT) showed more instances of repeated and severe aggression and criminality than counterparts with more normal GTTs. An attempt was also made to determine whether personality profiles on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) differentiated between the groups. Altogether, 60 male homicidal offenders were studied. Those with low values had been repeatedly violent and impulsive under the influence of alcohol in relationships but also outside the home. The homicidal act usually occurred under the influence of alcohol with no clear recollection. These offenders had normal MMPI but some of them showed motor restlessness and irritability during the GTTs. The possible connections with enhanced glucose and abnormal brain serotonin metabolism among habitually violent and impulsive offenders are discussed.     

Leben ohne Gewalt organisieren

Several runs of a cognitive-behavioral group-based training program for violent offenders in a youth detention center were evaluated. The training aims at reducing disposition towards violence, promoting responsibility and strengthening personal and social resources. The 49 participants were compared to 47 non-participating violent offenders. For the participants a reduction of several facets of aggression and an increase of responsibility for the offence was observed in a pre-post-comparison. However, treatment effects appear to decrease with longer observation time. Competencies such as empathy were not affected by the training. Furthermore, participants showed no difference to non-participants regarding officially recorded violent recidivism.     

精神病态暴力犯执行功能的缺陷*

为了解精神病态罪犯可能存在的执行功能缺陷及其是否受冲动性影响,研究采用精神病态检核表（PCL-R）筛选出30名精神病态组被试和30名非精神病态组被试,通过爱荷华赌博任务（IGT）和河内塔任务（TOH）对两组被试执行功能的特点进行分析,并结合冲动性量表（BIS-11）对其冲动性进行测量。研究发现精神病态组的冲动性显著高于控制组;精神病态组选择高风险的不利牌显著多于对照组,即对惩罚不敏感;精神病态组在河内塔任务中的错误次数及所消耗时间都显著高于控制组;冲动性水平与两任务得分均无显著相关。结果表明,精神病态暴力犯在与前额叶相关的执行功能上存在缺陷,并与个体的高冲动性无关。     

The role of aggression‐related early maladaptive schemas and schema modes in aggression in a prisoner sample

Contemporary social‐cognitive aggression theory and extant empirical research highlights the relationship between certain Early Maladaptive Schemas (EMSs) and aggression in offenders. To date, the related construct of schema modes, which presents a comprehensive and integrated schema unit, has received scant empirical attention. Furthermore, EMSs and schema modes have yet to be examined concurrently with respect to aggressive behavior. This study examined associations between EMSs, schema modes, and aggression in an offender sample. Two hundred and eight adult male prisoners completed self‐report psychological tests measuring their histories of aggression, EMSs, and schema modes. Regression analyses revealed that EMSs were significantly associated with aggression but did not account for a unique portion of variance once the effects of schema modes were taken into account. Three schema modes, Enraged Child, Impulsive Child, and Bully and Attack, significantly predicted aggression. These findings support the proposition that schema modes characterized by escalating states of anger, rage, and impulsivity characterize aggressive offenders. In this regard, we call attention to the need to include schema modes in contemporary social‐cognitive aggression theories, and suggest that systematic assessment and treatment of schema modes has the potential to enhance outcomes with violent offenders.

     

Social learning,sexual and physical abuse,and adult crime

This research examines the relationship between childhood physical and sexual abuse and the types of crimes committed by male adult offenders. We use the method of discriminant prediction to determine whether independent and dependent variables are related in ways that theories predict. Our analyses of data from the Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities suggest that offenders model specific behaviors to which they have been exposed. Male offenders who were sexually abused as a child are more likely to commit sexual offenses, particularly sexual offenses against children, than nonsexual offenses. Offenders who were physically abused are more likely to engage in violent offenses than nonviolent offenses. Further analyses show that sexual offenders, and to a lesser extent violent offenders, are likely to specialize in those offenses. Our results are consistent with a social learning approach. They address a heretofore neglected issue: what exactly do children model when they are mistreated. Aggr. Behav. 35:489–501, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Television violence and children's aggression: testing the priming, social script, and disinhibition predictions

The effect of television violence on boys' aggression was investigated with consideration of teacher-rated characteristic aggressiveness, timing of frustration, and violence-related cues as moderators. Boys in Grades 2 and 3 (N = 396) watched violent or nonviolent TV in groups of 6, and half the groups were later exposed to a cue associated with the violent TV program. They were frustrated either before or after TV viewing. Aggression was measured by naturalistic observation during a game of floor hockey. Groups containing more characteristically high-aggressive boys showed higher aggression following violent TV plus the cue than following violent TV alone, which in turn produced more aggression than did the nonviolent TV condition. There was evidence that both the violent content and the cue may have suppressed aggression among groups composed primarily of boys low in characteristic aggressiveness. Results were interpreted in terms of current information-processing theories of media effects on aggression.     

Family of Origin Violence Predictors of IPV by Two Types of Male Offenders

The aim of this study was to determine the role of family of origin violence in predicting intimate partner violence (IPV). Male participants were divided into generally offending and family-only groups according to whether their violence occurred exclusively within intimate partner and family contexts or toward others outside the family as well. Results showed that exposure to family of origin violence affected IPV differently between the two groups of offenders. For generally offending offenders, exposure to family of origin violence significantly predicted IPV above and beyond demographic factors, alcohol and drug use, and bidirectional aggression. For family-only offenders, witnessing father-initiated violence toward the mother had a significant influence on their violent behavior toward their intimate partners. Clinical implications of these findings are addressed.     

Predicting child behavior problems in maritally violent families

Previous research indicates that children from violent marriages are more likely to suffer from conduct problems and/or anxiety disorders than children from nonviolent, satisfactory marriages. However, knowledge regarding specific factors present in violent marriages relating to child problems is limited. The present study examined the relationships involving interspousal aggression, parent-child aggression, and child behavior problems in a sample of 45 children from maritally violent families. Mothers indicated how often their children witnessed interspousal aggression and were victims of parent-child aggression. Mothers also rated their children's problem behaviors while children reported on their own depressive symptoms. The witnessing of interspousal aggression was highly associated with parental aggression directed toward children. Parent-child aggression related to attention problems, anxiety-withdrawl, motor excess, and conduct problems in children. However, the witnessing of interspousal aggression was not significantly related to child behavior problems. These results are consistent with theoretical predictions linking marital problems to child behavior by virtue of their association with parenting.This research was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid of Research awarded to the first author by Sigma Xi, the Scientific Research Society, and NIMH Grant No. MH35340 awarded to the third author. The authors wish to thank Martha Wray and her staff at VIBS for their help throughout this project.     

Empirically identifying factors related to violence risk in corrections.

The authors used structural modeling to predict institutional aggression among male mentally ill offenders using the predictors of anger, antisocial personality style, current violent offense, ethnicity, and impulsivity. Measures included the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, the Personality Assessment Inventory, age, ethnicity, current violent offense, victim injury from current offense, and institutional incidents of physical and verbal aggression. The model fit the data, and accounted for 94% and 87% of the variance of physical and verbal aggression, respectively. Results indicated anger, antisocial personality style, and impulsivity are stronger predictors of institutional aggression than are ethnicity and current violent offense; anger was the best predictor. Results suggest dynamic variables such as anger can be targeted for clinical intervention to reduce institutional violence.     

Cholesterol and aggression

Best known for its etiological influence in the cardiovascular disease process, serum cholesterol also plays a role in numerous psychological processes, including affect, cognition, and overt behavior. Prominently, it is related to aggression in humans and other primates. Lipid studies of violent offenders, primary prevention trials of cholesterol reduction, and experimental dietary manipulations in nonhuman primates all point to a significant negative association between cholesterol and physical aggression. By contrast, a positive though inconsistent association between serum cholesterol elevations and verbal aggression (e.g., hostility) has been reported in many studies and often ascribed to a neurophysiological response to acute or chronic stress. We review the numerous studies that have examined the link between serum cholesterol, verbal and physical aggression, and integrate current findings.     

Shame and aggression: Different trajectories and implications

We review the largely separate literatures on aggression and shame, concluding that both internalized shame and maladaptive shame-regulation are key factors in a number of psychopathologies and that the latter may in turn lead to violent outcomes. Our review is consistent with, and provides further evidence for, the evolutionary and psychobiological links from shame to anger and aggression described in Elison, Garofalo, and Velotti (2014). Within the aggression literature, our analysis of studies on partner violence, incarcerated violent offenders, and personality disorders (Narcissistic, Borderline, Antisocial) focus on the role of shame as a common antecedent to violence. The review includes an introduction to different facets of shame, and goes on to discuss the trajectories that link shame and aggression, with particular regard to self-esteem and rejection sensitivity. We outline the diverse ways through which aggression could be better explained by acknowledging the triggering emotions and the contextual situations that characterize the aggressive act — especially focusing on partner violence. Finally, we argue that shame and shame-regulation should serve as useful points of intervention for reducing violent behavior and its underlying pathology, highlighting implications for both clinical and research purposes.     

Television viewing, aggression, and ethnicity.

For 416 college students, questioned about their experiences with aggression and television viewing, only very weak correlations between preference for violent shows and aggression were observed. Black males watched significantly more television than other respondents. These findings suggest that the frequently reported correlation between viewing televised violence and aggression may not appear when sex, ethnicity, and education are controlled in a sample of young adults.     

Gender symmetry in prevalence, severity, and chronicity of physical aggression against dating partners by university students in Mexico and USA

The paper reports results from analyses of the physical aggression against dating partners by four samples of university students in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Mexican Americans and Non-Mexican Whites in El Paso and Lubbock Texas, and New Hampshire (N=1,544). The percent reporting partner violence (PV) was high in all samples, but also differed significantly between samples. The lowest rate was in New Hampshire (29.7%), followed by Texas, Non-Mexican Whites (30.9%), Texas Mexican American (34.2%), and the highest rate was in Juarez (46.1%). When only severe assaults were compared, the differences between samples was similar, i.e., lowest in New Hampshire and highest in Juarez. In all four samples, there was no significant difference between males and females in either the overall prevalence of physical aggression or the prevalence of severe attacks. Among the 553 couples where one or both of the partners were violent, in almost three quarters of the cases (71.2%) there was gender symmetry in the sense that both partners engaged in this type of behavior. When only one partner was violent, this was twice as likely to be the female partner (19.0%) as the male partner (9.8%). Among the 205 couples where there was an act of severe aggression, symmetry was less prevalent (56.6%), but when only one partner was violent, it was again twice as likely to be the female partner (29.8% female only versus 13.7 male partner only). These results are consistent with the gender symmetry in PV found in many studies. They extend those results by showing that gender symmetry prevails in four different cultural contexts. The presence of gender symmetry in these different cultural contexts, combined with studies showing that women are injured more often and more seriously by partner-assaults, and studies showing that women initiate PV as often as men, suggests that programs and policies aimed at primary prevention of PV by women are crucial to ending PV and for reducing the victimization of men and women.     

Mentalisierung und externalisierende Verhaltensstörungen in der Adoleszenz

Social cognition creates the conditions for successful human interaction. Externalizing disorders are characterized by a failure of adequate social cooperation. Therefore, social cognition seems to be a key factor in understanding externalizing behavior, its etiology and treatment options. The present article combines the clinical theory of mentalization with the state-of-the-art of empirical data on externalizing behavior and of the theory-of-mind research as well as research on social information processing. Empirical evidence suggests that there are distinct deficits in social cognition depending on the type of aggression (proactive or reactive). However, even though it is known from a neurobiological perspective that social cognition is reorganized in adolescence, research on externalizing behavior and social cognition in adolescence is limited. Hence the analysis of two studies is presented which compared reflective functioning between a group of late adolescent violent offenders and a control group. A total of 42 young men participated in the studies and were interviewed with the adult attachment interview. Interviews were coded with the reflective functioning scale. Results showed that violent offenders scored significantly lower on the reflective functioning scale than age and gender matched controls. This result is independent of intelligence. Instrumental proactive aggression and psychopathic tendencies are also strongly associated with lower reflective functioning. The results underline the importance of therapeutic interventions for externalizing adolescents which enhance reflective functioning.     

暴力媒体接触程度对攻击行为的影响——规范信念和移情的作用

研究引入攻击行为的规范信念和移情两个概念,使用攻击性发展稳定的大学生为被试,探讨暴力媒体对攻击行为的作用机制。采用问卷调查法,使用Anderson等人编写的暴力媒体接触程度问卷、攻击行为规范信念量表（NOBAG）、攻击问卷（AQ）和人际活动指标问卷（IRI）对来自北京、福州和成都三地的680名被试进行实地调查,了解其暴力媒体接触程度、攻击行为规范信念、攻击行为和移情能力间的关系,并在此基础上构建了暴力媒体接触程度、移情、规范信念和攻击行为的结构方程模型。研究结果表明：（1）不同性别的攻击性差异显著,男性更经常使用暴力媒体,具有更高的攻击行为规范信念,且倾向于出现攻击行为;（2）暴力媒体对攻击行为的预测作用显著,且不同媒体形式间存在差异,暴力视频游戏的作用显著强于暴力电视和暴力电影/视频;（3）规范信念可以有效预测攻击行为,在暴力媒体接触程度和攻击行为间、移情和攻击行为间起中介作用。