Studying aggression in school children: The use of a wireless microphone and micro‐video camera

This paper describes a wireless microphone and micro‐video camera used successfully by the present authors to study direct, indirect, and relational forms of aggression in schools. Two major advantages of this equipment are identified; first, it avoids some of the potential biases and difficulties associated with the other methods and, second, it allows researchers to record and analyze a large number of significant variables that may otherwise be difficult to assess. The importance of this kind of data is discussed in relation to the development of effective interventions aimed at reducing aggression in schools. Aggr. Behav. 28:356–365, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Agonistic behavior and growth in newly emerged brown trout (Salmo trutta L) of sea‐ranched and wild origin

Selection experiments and game theory models have revealed that the changes in agonistic behavior following selection for rapid growth rate of fish depend on the access of food. If food is spatially restricted and in excess of demand, the intensity of agonistic behaviors will decrease. This prediction was tested in an experiment on wild and sea‐ranched brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) fry originating from a common stock. Agonistic behavior, activity, and specific growth rate were studied in tanks (56 × 56 cm) at high (159.4 fry/m²) and low (9.6 fry/m²) stocking densities given either a large or small food ration (3.0% and 1.5%, respectively, food per total body weight and day). Observations were done during 4 days in each trial. Generally, fry of sea‐ranched origin had a higher growth rate. No differences in activity were found. Intensity of agonistic behavior was higher among wild groups. There was a tendency for interaction between density and strain, e.g., wild fish were relatively more aggressive at higher densities. Food ration had no effect on level of agonistic behavior. These results indicate that the selection for rapid growth in hatcheries may indirectly select for reduced aggressiveness. Genetic integrity and diversity of wild populations may be threatened when interbreeding occurs between wild and hatchery fish. Aggr. Behav. 28:145–153, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Aggression,depression, and bullying others

A questionnaire survey of a representative sample of 2083 Norwegian pupils in Grade 8 revealed a positive and significant correlation between depressive symptoms and bullying others and a strong positive correlation between both power‐related (ProPow) and affiliation‐related (ProAff) proactive aggressiveness and bullying others among both boys and girls. We investigated whether the correlation between Depressive Symptoms and Bullying Others was spurious. For boys, a multiple‐regression analysis with Bullying Others as the dependent variable revealed that both ProPow and ProAff had strong separate effects on Bullying Others, whereas the separate effect from Depressive Symptoms was not significant. Interactions between Depressive Symptoms and ProPow and ProAff on Bullying Others were not present. It was concluded that the significant correlation between Depressive Symptoms and Bullying Others was spurious for boys. For girls, ProAff, and ProPow × Depressive Symptoms had significant and rather strong separate impacts on Bullying Others. Implications for intervention and further research were discussed. Aggr. Behav. 28:198–206, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Gender,the Perception of Aggression,and the Overestimation of Gender Bias

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the gender of aggressor, target, and observer influences the perception and evaluation of aggression. One hundred seventy-one university students (predominantly White) read 1 of 8 vignettes that described an aggressive act. The aggressor–target gender combinations and the aggressive act were varied. Data did not support the hypothesis that, because of the impact of gender stereotypes, participants would perceive more aggressiveness in men's aggression than in women's aggression. Participants rated women's aggression as more acceptable than men's aggression, and male participants considered the aggression more acceptable, apparently because they saw the act as less aggressive. In addition, participants estimated how most men/women would perceive and evaluate the aggression. Results suggest that people overestimate how biased others are toward members of their own gender.     

Young Children's Responding to Interparental Conflict: Associations with Marital Aggression and Child Adjustment

We designed this study to examine children's self-reported and observed emotional and behavioral responding to marital conflict as a potential mechanism linking marital physical aggression (as reported by the parents) and children's behavioral adjustment (as reported by their preschool teachers). In a sample of 48 preschoolers, parental marital physical aggression was positively associated with children's observed dysregulated responding to interparental conflict and negatively associated with children's self-reported behavioral disruption. Marital aggression and children's self-reported responding to marital conflict predicted teacher-reported behavior problems, with both variables adding unique variance. Our findings suggested a potential pathway linking exposure to marital conflict, children's regulatory strategies, and children's behavioral adjustment outside the home.     

Preventing School Violence by Promoting Wellness

This paper presents a framework for school-based health promotion and prevention programming that can serve to guide planning and action. Rather than separating specific prevention programs (such as violence prevention, substance abuse prevention, etc.) from more broad-based youth development efforts, this approach provides an integrated framework that: (a) identifies benchmarks of healthy development and strategies to support this development across contexts; (b) specifies additional factors that contribute to identified problems that are not directly linked to healthy development; and (c) provides for matching services to individual needs. Suggestions for application of this framework are discussed, with a particular focus on its application to the development of school-based Wellness Centers.     

Teasing,rejection, and violence: Case studies of the school shootings

Media commentators have suggested that recent school shootings were precipitated by social rejection, but no empirical research has examined this claim. Case studies were conducted of 15 school shootings between 1995 and 2001 to examine the possible role of social rejection in school violence. Acute or chronic rejection—in the form of ostracism, bullying, and/or romantic rejection—was present in all but two of the incidents. In addition, the shooters tended to be characterized by one or more of three other risk factors—an interest in firearms or bombs, a fascination with death or Satanism, or psychological problems involving depression, impulse control, or sadistic tendencies. Implications for understanding and preventing school violence are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 29:202–214, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Retaliatory motivation enhances attributions of hostility when people process ambiguous social stimuli

We hypothesized that provocation and readiness to aggress (Retaliatory Motivation) would increase the tendency to construe the ambiguous actions of others as reflecting hostile intent. Male undergraduates were either verbally provoked or not provoked by a male experimenter and half were led to believe that they would be allowed to retaliate anonymously against the provoker in the form of a potentially damaging written evaluation. Participants then rated the hostility and aggressive intent of the characters in brief ambiguous scenarios of interpersonal conflict. According to prediction, men who were provoked and anticipated retaliation against their provoker rated the scenarios as containing hostility and aggression to a significantly greater extent than did non‐provoked or merely provoked participants. Results are discussed within a motivation‐based affective relevance model of perception. Aggr. Behav. 29:155–172, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Staff survey results and characteristics that predict assault and injury to personnel working in mental health facilities

The purpose of this study was to complete a mental health staff opinion survey to identify patient and staff characteristics associated with staff assault and injury in psychiatric treatment settings and to develop a model of prediction for staff assault and injury utilizing these survey variables. The data consisted of opinion surveys sent to staff of 15 child, adolescent, and adult psychiatry inpatient units in the United States. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the level of assault and staff‐reported injury prediction that could be obtained from the staff‐completed opinion survey. Responses indicated a high prevalence of reported aggression, with 62.3% of staff endorsing verbal and physical aggression, property destruction, and self‐injurious behavior as being prevalent at their site, whereas only 4.1% rated none of these as prevalent. Staff working with children and adolescents in settings with high rates of psychiatric diagnoses reported increased frequency of assault and injury compared with those working with adults. Younger, less experienced staff reported higher rates of assault and injury. Staff working with female patients reported similar rates of assault and injury to those working with males. A logistic regression analysis using staff‐reported survey results of both staff and patient characteristics predicted assault correctly 73.7% of the time and injury 66.1% of the time. Resources for violence prevention and staff training programs in violence prevention are needed in child and adolescent psychiatry wards. Results are consistent with theories emphasizing the importance of negative emotions and affects, impulsivity, and frustration in goal‐directed activities in human aggression. Aggr. Behav. 29:31–40, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Do beliefs about aggression predict physical aggression to partners?

Three hypotheses concerning the association between instrumental (I) and expressive (E) beliefs about aggression and physical aggression were assessed among a sample comprising students (n=40), women from a domestic violence shelter (n=29), and male prisoners (n=46), all of whom had committed at least one act of physical aggression to a partner. Participants completed an adapted version of the EXPAGG [Archer and Haigh (1997a): British Journal of Social Psychology 35:1–23] to measure I and E beliefs about aggression, the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS) [Straus (1979): Journal of Marriage and the Family 41:75–88] for themselves and their partner, and measures of fear and injuries resulting from partner violence. I beliefs predicted self‐reported physical aggression to the partner, most CTS acts of physical aggression, and injuries to the partner, with only minor and limited associations for E beliefs. Correlations for the student and prisoner samples, and for men and women, showed different strengths. The findings supported a general link between I beliefs and aggression but offered no support for the predictions that the link would be restricted to men or to men who showed a persistent pattern of violence to their partners. Aggr. Behav. 29:41–54, 2003. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.