An Integrated, Multi-Level Approach to Interpersonal Aggression and Family Violence

Abstract

The study of interpersonal aggression has been carried out for the most part in separate spheres by experts from an array of academic disciplines. To advance a deeper understanding of these issues, however, requires a more conciliatory and interdisciplinary approach. The article offers just such an integrated approach, using a multi-level heuristic framework that has direct parallels with ecological modeling. In addition, the approach expands the analytic focus to reflect different aspects of complex human behavior, which include: 1) the behavioral investment framework, or the bio-psychological reality of the human animal; 2) the socialization framework, or the social psychological aspects of human learning and development; 3) the justification framework, or the language, knowledge, and meaning systems that one acquires to facilitate interpersonal communication and to justify one’s actions; 4) the social location framework, or the social interactional dynamics of interpersonal relationships that animate one’s daily life as a member of various groups and social networks; and 5) the societal context framework, or the broader institutional forms and sociocultural conditions within which individuals and groups are situated. The current approach bridges human neurophysiology and psychology with sociology in a developmental, ecological context that examines each dimension of human behavior. While the five dimensions can be separated analytically, in practice these overlap to exert multiple influences. Such a conciliatory framing permits a more comprehensive analysis of human social animals as situated within their natural environments. The paper outlines how each of the five levels contributes to expressions of interpersonal aggression by elaborating on key mechanisms that operate across the different levels of informational complexity. Several examples of empirical research are cited to illustrate the core principles that operate within and across the five complementary frameworks. Keywords: interpersonal aggression, violence, ecological model, integrated framework