Environmental Effects on Aggression Related to Adolescents

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Article Review: Environmental Effects on Aggression Related to Adolescents Susan E. Smith Montreat College Aggression is considered behavior that is directed toward another individual with the intent to cause harm. The prevailing school of thought with regard to aggressive behavior, in adolescents in particular, is that the behavior is related to the individual without much consideration of any outside or environmental influences (Wettstein, 2012). The study posed a different set of circumstances and divided behavioral influences into three categories. The first category is biological. Biological influences have to do with inherent capabilities the individual possesses from birth, such as the ability to perceive and act during a set of events. The Fight or Flight response is triggered by the flood of hormones to the brain and cause a physical reaction in the individual. The second influence is the psychic. Psychic influences refer to the individual’s innate perception of an event, that is to say that events or occurrences are considered subjective based on the psychic perception of the person interacting in the situation. The study cited physically abused children who developed the ability to perceive anger in facial expressions quickly. This is a psychic development in reaction to their experience of having been abused in anger. The third influence is the social. Social environment is the set of circumstances or setting the individual finds themselves in. What might be considered an aggressive act in a school or learning environment could be considered entirely acceptable at a sporting event. By focusing on aggression as being individual-based, the influence of the social environment may be overlooked. “Specific events and processes relating to aggression occur in each of the three systems involved: impulsive

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