The Psychology of Violent Behaviour

Violence

Intentional act of threatened, attempted, or actual physical and/or psychological harm against a nonconsenting individual.

Physical violence

Encompasses punching, strangling, weapon use, stabbing, shooting, and implicit actions including threats, psychological intimidation, coercion, and attempts at bodily harm.

Motivation-based categories of murder

The FBI's Behavioral Analysis Section classifies murder into four motivation-based categories.

Reactive violence

Emotionally driven violence.

Instrumental violence

Goal-oriented violence.

Single-violence offenders

Research reveals that they commit reactive violence.

Distinction between instrumental and reactive violence

Different processes and mechanisms underlie them.

Darwin's theory of evolution

Focuses on species members' survival and reproduction.

Evolutionary psychology

Explores how natural selection impacts our minds and behavior.

Psychological adaptations for murder

Developed by humans to solve time-period-specific adaptive challenges.

Homicide Adaptation Theory (HAT)

Posits that killing another person provided evolutionary benefits that self-defense in the face of imminent death did not.

Ancestral situations where murder would have benefited

Include eliminating a cost-inflicting intrasexual competition, obtaining rivals' reproductively relevant resources, obtaining fruitful partners, building and sustaining a reputation that deters exploitation, stopping conspecifics from exploiting, protecting territory, resources, shelter, and food from competition, removing non-related people that waste resources, and removing genetic relatives who interfere with investment in other vehicles better able to transform resource investment into genetic fitness.

Prenatal problems

Issues that occur during pregnancy that may affect the development of the fetus.

Postnatal problems

Issues that occur after birth that may affect the development of the child.

Prenatal lead exposure

Exposure to lead during pregnancy that has been found to be a risk factor for delinquency and violent behavior.

Prefrontal cortex

The part of the brain responsible for decision making, impulse control, and other executive functions.

Baby temperament

The innate characteristics and traits of a baby, such as their activity level, adaptability, and mood.

Externalizing behavior

Behaviors that are directed outward, such as aggression or defiance.

Hunger in childhood

The experience of not having enough food during childhood, which has been linked to developmental difficulties and violent behavior.

Trait Psychology

The study of human personality and behavior, which has been used to investigate the relationship between personality and violent conduct.

Impulsivity

The tendency to act without thinking, which includes both adventurism and sensation-seeking.

Frustration-aggression hypothesis

Berkowitz's theory that aversive situations cause negative affect, leading to aggressive conduct.

Cognitive Neoassociation Model

Berkowitz's updated theory that negative emotion initially stimulates a fight-or-flight response, which is activated by a network of connected thoughts, feelings, and physiological reactions.

Cognitive Neoassociation and Excitation Transfer paradigm

The second phase of the Cognitive Neoassociation Model, which examines the roles of affect and cognitions in violent conduct.

General Affective Aggression Model (GAAM)

A theory that suggests individual and situational aspects influence a person's arousal, affect, and cognition, which are subject to evaluation and decision processes that result in a behavioural reaction.

Distal variables

Biological or environmental factors that influence behaviour.

Proximal factors

Qualities of the immediate surroundings that exhibit a direct influence on behaviour.

Instant evaluation

A quick, impulsive decision-making process that can lead to unconsidered acts, such as violence.

Reevaluation

A process in which individuals search for more social clues, recall pertinent experiences, and explore alternate interpretations for what occurred.

Media violence

A connection between media violence and actual aggressiveness, intimate partner violence, and stalker behaviour that can be explained using the GAAM.