What is aggression
Aggression is a behavior that is intended to and actually harms another person. Aggression has variety of forms among human being and it can be physical, mental, or verbal.
Why There is so Much Aggression in an Adolescent
Aggression is the essential trait of a human being. Satisfying physiological needs like the urge to obtain food requires aggression. Such behavior is inborn and essential for survival and adaptation. Such non destructive kind of aggression is necessary to have.
Aggression is also displeasure like temper tantrum or a rage reaction to situations that are not according to our desires or expectation. It is also emotion and pleasure-related – for example, teasing and taunting. Both are hostile aggression and are not inborn but activated by emotional pain. Hurting a person’s feelings can generate hostile aggression.
How parents treat children influences the amount of hostile aggression that children display to a very large extent. Physical and emotional abuse by parents can all trigger hostile aggression in adolescents. Emotional abuse occurs when parents belittle children saying , “You are never going to make it big” or “You are useless” . These kind of comments can inflict psychological scars and in turn lead to hostile aggression.
Some times children think of setting boundaries or limits and punishments as hostile treatment. Pain and discomfort also increase aggression. Combination of stressful family factors like poverty, severe deprivation, breakup, single parenting, unemployment, lack of support from extended family are other causes of aggressive reaction among children.
Peer pressure can also aggravate the aggression. Watching and imitating behavior of other people can also make adolescent think of aggression as a normal behavior. Exposure to Media and video games also reinforces a Culture of violence.
Signs of aggressions should be taken seriously and a counsellor’s help can be taken to ensure a systematic root cause analysis and mitigation process.
