Abstract
Violent behavior can be intrinsically rewarding; especially combatants fighting in current civil wars present with elevated traits of appetitive aggression. The majority of these fighters were recruited as children or adolescents. In the present study, we test whether there is a developmental period where combatants are sensitive for developing a robust trait of appetitive aggression. We investigated 95 combatants in their demobilization process that were recruited at different ages in the Kivu regions of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Using random forest with conditional inference trees, we identified recruitment at the ages from 16 and 17 years as being predictive of the level of appetitive aggression; the number of lifetime, perpetrated acts was the most important predictor. We conclude that high levels of appetitive aggression develop in ex-combatants, especially in those recruited during their middle to late teenage, which is a developmental period marked by a natural inclination to exercise physical force. Consequently, ex-combatants may remain vulnerable for aggressive behavior patterns and re-recruitment unless they are provided alternative strategies for dealing with their aggression.
Highlights
Former combatants have been found to present with a proclivity toward aggressive behavior
In a slightly varied model excluding lifetime perpetrated acts, 10% are explained by recruitment-related age-variables; being in an armed group at the age of 16 and 17 years remain the most important predictors and can, be considered as the most critical sensitive periods in the development of a robust trait of appetitive aggression
We explored the periods sensitive for the development of appetitive aggression
Summary
Former combatants have been found to present with a proclivity toward aggressive behavior This may be reactive, i.e., result from attempts to cope with potential threats. From a clinical point of view, the latter bears the potential for a “process” or “behavioral” addiction [4] – the compulsive approach of “mood-altering events” as seen for instance in sex or food addiction or in gambling [5, 6]. Within these contexts, the fact of having been repeatedly traumatized fuels the gateways to aggressive outbursts. Such changes in personality seems highly adaptive in hostile conditions like war and (para)military contexts rendering the development of alternative strategies to deal with one’s appetite for violence unnecessary
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