ATTENTION TO AGGRESSION IN THE LITERATURE

Question: "Why is aggression given so much attention in the child-development literature?"

Aggression is at the root of many of humanity's major ills, from domestic violence to urban muggings, to international warfare. One basic goal of the helping professions is to ease human suffering and pain (Hippocrates, 300 BCE). According to Lion (1987, p. 10), "Violence is a behavior traditionally associated with parental deprivation, alcoholism, and traits seen in delinquent and antisocial individuals." It follows to reason, then, that the aggression would receive a great deal of attention in child-development literature.

Montague (1968, back cover) expresses a desire to correct what he views as the error of the Hobbesian view of humanity's aggressive drive, which is "-..possibly older than the doctrine of Original Sin...to put the record straight, to correct what threatens to become an epidemic error concerning the causes of man's aggression, and to redirect attention to a consideration of the real causes of such behavior... a need to legitimize our contemporary competitive society and war morality by recourse to pseudoscience and hoary antiquity." REFERENCES Hippocrates (300 BCE). The oath. In W. Benton (1952), Hippocratic Writings, Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.

Lion, John R. (1987). Clinical assessment of violent patients, in Roth, Loren: Clinical Treatment of the Violent Person, New York: Guilford Press.

Montague, M.F. Ashley (1968). Man and Aggression, London: Oxford University Press (paperback edition).

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Thomas S. Rue, MA, NCC
December 21, 1991

Psychological and Quantitative Foundations 7P:109
The University of Iowa - College of Education
Socialization of the School Age Child - Assignment #1
© 1991, Thomas S. Rue

Thomas Rue 1991-1993.
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