Describe Forensic Psychology and Aggression-Forensic Psychology

1.Describe Forensic Psychology and Aggression-Forensic psychology is a psychological science involved in describing mental characteristics in regard to law and administrative functions. Forensic psychology assists in legal proceedings when an elaborate and professional statement is required to support or disapprove a suspects innocence. It has been used to shed light on cases where aggressive behavior has led to a crime and thus the need to involve law enforcement personnel.

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Aggression can be defined as human behavior which can result in harm to the individual, other people around them or even the environment around them. The type of harm can either be physical or psychological in nature and often includes physical and mental acts that result in harm CITATION Ken16 \l 1033 (Cherry, 2016).

Causes of aggression are numerous in nature and vary from medical to social in nature. Medications can alter the balance of key body hormones that regulate aggressive behaviour in an individual. Most common examples of such pharmacological agents includes anti-depressants, anti-manic and anti-epileptic drugs.

Illicit drugs and drugs of abuse may also make a person normally meek in nature to turn into an aggressor. Of particular mention is alcohol which causes disinhibition therefore making somebody do what they would not when in a sober state of mind CITATION hea \l 1033 (healthgrades, n.d.). The individual may in turn abuse other people either physically or verbally hence crossing well known social lines that are meant to foster harmony within the society.

Medical conditions can also change the way a person reacts to situations in the environment around them. Autism is one such condition whereby the individual expresses violent behaviour in addition to the mental retardation. The ill individual will show docile nature even during angry outbursts. Epileptics are also likely to exhibit behaviour that is aggressive and out of control. Individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder(ADHD) have a probability of being very aggressive in spite of the fact that they do not even understand why they are acting in such fashion CITATION wis \l 1033 (wiseGEEK, n.d.).

Brain trauma may displace and bruise cerebellar brain tissue hence causing tissue injury. Such injury may harm the parts of the brain responsible for synthesis of neurotransmitters that govern mood and control. Depletion of these neurotransmitters causes the individual to exercise spontaneous moments of violence on anyone in close proximity to them.

Emotional distress can make the individual to act in a violent nature even though they were not like that at first. Critical life changing moments such as death of loved ones, marital and work problems or even accidents can change the way a person reacts to situations making them easily angered and aggressive in nature.

Withdrawal from addictions can cause the individual to become very aggressive in nature. Most of the time people who are trying to stop consumption of tobacco products such as cigarettes will tend to be very aggressive individuals and may easily lash out at anyone without any proper reason.

2.How can you identify people with aggression through distinguishing the different types of aggression?

Aggression types include instrumental, impulsive and hostile aggression. Each of this has distinct properties which will be explained below in further detail.

Instrumental or predatory aggression is characterized by intent on obtaining a certain privilege or greater aim. It is usually premeditated and involve a systemic planning of events. The aggressor has no intention of causing pain or injury but acts in order to obtain a certain desire. For instance, a student who has a larger physique bullys other kids at school by tormenting them or even physically causing pain in order to get their lunch money. From this example, the students aggressive behavior is to obtain the lunch money rather than harming the other kids. Another example can be a car hijacking, where criminals use force to rob people of their vehicles. Their actions lack consideration or empathy on repercussions which may result. At the end of the act all that matters are attainment of the intended goal which in this case would be the car. Instrumental aggression is a proactive process with a means to an end.

Impulsive or affective aggression takes on a more violent physical or verbal form. Individual who manifest this kind of trait tend to be domineering of situations and other people. Hitting, kicking or threatening to harm someone are some of the ways it is usually expressed. Relational aggression is a form of hostile but is directed more to damage towards another peers relationship. Pain inflicted by the aggressor is usually from anger and not much thought is put on the effects of actions taken. For instance, in government agencies or offices where there are long ques a person may decide to skip the que without any regard for the other people also waiting to be served. Another person may decide to protest and even shove the person to prevent him/her from doing this. This irrational act may occur abruptly and emanated from impulsive aggression.

3.Provide real life example of specific aggression and describe it and the situation. Check pages 295 for examples.

Wife battery is a common occurrence in many societies and is a form of impulsive aggression. Most of the times it involves a husband who is chauvinistic in nature and wants to assert an overbearing dominance on his wife just so as to ensure she fears him. Such behavior therefore makes the husband overreact to very simple things and this overly-stretched reflex is hinged around violent outbursts that more often than not lead to fights and physical harm on the wife. In most instances it seems as if the husband had been intent on beating the wife and was just eagerly waiting for a trigger to jolt him into the pre-meditated action. Evidence of this exists in the reasons that make men beat their wives. If one were to listen to the stories of wife battery they would realize that very flimsy reasons are given for such beastly actions. Indicated causes of wife battery are psychological, social stress and ill mental health.

Psychological causes of wife battery are due to self-esteem issues and the lack of proper self-control mechanisms. Of key importance is the fact that men who suffer abuse and trauma in their early years may end up as wife batterers. Social stress results from increased pressure on the men who feel overwhelmed and respond to such stress using violence. Ill mental health may cause the individual to make poor decisions and prompt the husbands into violence CITATION Div15 \l 1033 (Divorce Online, 2015).

The effect of such violent behavior is that women are mistreated and live in constant threat of danger within the home which is ironical considering that the home is intended to be the ideal bastion of peace and tranquil.

4.Consider age, or gender differences and causes of aggressive behaviour.

Aggression differs in the population and manifests in varying degrees among men and women. Gender differences in aggression are mostly evident in preschool years. However, according to The Sage Handbook of Social Psychology, aggression manifests even in early childhood. This is evident from anger facial expressions in infants when provoked by other infants during play time n instance such as grabbing of toys. In pre-school years boys show higher levels of physical aggression than girls at the tender ages of between 2-3 years is when the peak of aggressive behaviour is noted but this rate reduces with time. A principal explanation for this is that the child soon learns to self-regulate their reaction to situations.

However, indirect and verbal aggression levels in girls is similar to greater than in boys. As their advance in age, aggression behaviors continue to increasingly differ. Impulsive aggression in girls tends to rise, while in boys instrumental aggression levels increase. However, both genders have equal engagement in verbal aggression. In a statistical study of arrests rates for homicide in the USA (1990) males portray a much more involvement in cases of violent aggression and the highest incidences of violence occurs dramatically between the age of 15 to 30.

Adolescent stage is quite intense and may take a toll on some individuals. The change in body features and fluctuation of hormones presents a new dimension in in how they interact with peers and adults. If not well handled, this changes may have a detrimental effect and lead to aggressive traits. In a descriptive survey study in Anambra State University on prevalence and incidence of aggressive behaviors in senior secondary schools the sample population consisted of individuals with ages between 12 and 18 with a mean age of 14.7. The study concluded that students manifest aggressive characters such as pushing, bullying and sexual abuse among others. This kinds of aggressive behaviors may emanate from the environment such as exposure to demeaning or abusive situations. The media has also influenced the characters of adolescents greatly CITATION Obi15 \l 1033 (Nnamdi & Ifeoma, 2015).

5.How psychology can help in reducing aggression (anger management and psychotherapy including CBT) in aggressive people and in the real life example you provided.

It is crucial that the main cause of aggressive behaviour is identified before one can make the decision on which method to apply in the reduction of aggressive behaviour. The individual ought to learn how to handle and cope with situations that are stressful and avoiding the causative or trigger agents to aggressive behaviour. The person should find someone to speak to preferably a trained psychologist or a psychotherapist. Cognitive behavioural therapy(CBT) can then be initiated. Standard procedure includes talking to a specialist hence making the individual sensitive to negative thinking hence they are able to see happenings in positive light hence make the best decisions as per the situations at hand CITATION May16 \l 1033 (Staff, 2016).

Steps to manage aggressive behaviour in children include the following: accepting the fact that children cannot effectively control their behaviour, reducing possible causes or triggers to anger and stress. One must teach children to learn how to manage feelings of anger. It is paramount that one shows both power and respect hence making the child look up to you and emulate such behavioural virtues CITATION prw16 \l 1033 (prweb, 2016).

Among adults there are several steps towards dealing with aggression and suppressing the urge to exercise violent behaviour. The first step involves understanding what exactly constitutes aggression, next one should know which emotions may make them become aggressive. After that the individual should learn to express anger and rage in a healthy way; body movements and breathing exercises helps one to control the cardiovascular changes associated with anger. Next one can express the emotion by proclaiming out loud how they feel at the time instead of acting in rage. It is important to communicate about how one feels to others therefore giving dialogue the chance to solve issues in real time before they happen. During the aforementioned process the individual should also seek the support of a trained counsellor or therapist to boost their efforts. In the pursuit of control one is likely to ward off aggressive behaviour if they follow the instructions above hence saving both themselves and other people around them the risk of physical harm CITATION wik \l 1033 (wikiHow, n.d.).

As pertains the issue of wife battery, the aggressor should learn to direct and channel their anger towards less violent causes. For starters the person ought to respect and view...