Aggression in Man an Overview

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Aggression may be conceptualized as a complex pattern of behaviour in an individual, either alone or as part of a group activity, which arises out of a stimulated genetic Grurtdloge and is influenced by past personal and social experiences, a current object stimulus, and the cultural norms of the society in which the individual i s operating. Such narrow definitions as the observation of overt attacking behaviour physical attack, threatening gestures, verbal aggression, intellectual criticism or competitive striving-do not take into account the prolific fantasies existing subjectively in either, or both, of the attacker or the attacked, and take no account of such concepts as drive, motivation, intention, scapegoating, internalized aggression and even subintentioned trauma.