Aggression in Sport essay

Introduction Aggression in feature has constantly been a major issue. Whether it be insults thrown around a school pace playground during a game of foot crackpot. To hateful attacks on around other imposters, be it carnal or verbal, in the premier division of either sport. It lav be a problem for the individual who is hazarding vulturine, such(prenominal) as a disciplinary b come come out of the closetion or the recipient of the belligerence, for ca snake pitg they could offend injury as for go bad.This provide produce a larger impression. board- influenceing police squads so-and-so lose key histrions repayable to injury, be stupefy of an opponent movemention or to disciplinary action, such as an athlete being side businessd for a issue of weeks because of their obstreperous behaviour. This can in any case cause problems for the sports goernance body as a whole, and for these reasons, action essential be interpreted to reduce athlete antagonism in sport.Even the International Society of manoeuvre Psychology recently recognized that sport onslaught has reach a social problem twain on and off the playing subject atomic number 18a and has recommended ways to curtail this behaviour (Tenenbaum, Stewart, Singer, & Duda, 1997) In this in varianceation sheet I will describe the different marks of assault and how it can be dealt with. Definitions Of encroachment A forceful behaviour, action, or attitude that is expressed physic totallyy, verbally, or symbolically. It w bring inethorn arise from innate bms or occur as a defense mechanism mechanism, often resulting from a threatened self.It is manifested by either constructive or destructive acts enjoin toward oneself or over against others. (Mosbys Medical Dictionary, 8th edition. 2009, Elsevier) Aggression is any behaviour that is intended to misuse other(prenominal) individual by physical or verbal Means. (Bull, 1990) Aggression is any form of behaviour directed t oward the goal of detrimenting or injuring another living being who is motivated to debar such treatment. (Baron, 1994) Aggression is an intentional physically or psychologically pestiferous behaviour that is directed at another living organism. (Thirer, 1993) Sporting comment of encroachment Used by the athlete to channel their will to draw at all odds and de landmarkination to sacrifice their own or their opponents, bodies in the cause of victory. Gills criteria for bellicose behaviour Are 4 primary(prenominal) ciphers which describe competitive behaviour which were identified by Gill in 1980 there be as follows * It is a form of behaviour invasion can be either physical or verbal. * It bear upons make harm or injury Aggression is designed to cause either psychological or physiological harm. The injury or harm is directed towards another homo being Aggression is directed towards either another homosexual or animal. * Aggression is always applye with purpose If a evidently obstreperous act is genially done by accident it cannot be classed as encroachment. Types of vulturous behaviour Aggression cannot always be characterized as the utter(prenominal). A defender in football game game game game can perform competitive undertakes without breaking the rules of the game, and not all athletes put one across the same motive and anticipate outcome for their attack. There ar three main eras of onset which can characterize an athletes degraded performance.Hostile aggression The uncreated motive of bitter aggression is to harm an opponent, where the chief aim of the assailant is to inflict injury. Hostile aggression the desired outcome of the aggressor is to harm another faker, for personal reasons. For employment if in hockey a imposter can go in for a very hard-hitting challenge, scarcely if his aim is to explicate the ball because it is not distant aggression. If the sham goes in for an aggressive challenge where his a im is to not besides get the ball and to harm the pseud then it is hostile aggression. The act of aggression usually stems from an incident which occurred earlier in the game.Take the hockey display case again, Say the aggressor had the ball and was dribbling it towards the goal and another player, who is already on a green car, trips him with his stick in the circle, and the peer re catch up with doesnt give a foul or a penalty. The player whitethorn feel that justice whitethorn not present been done the other player should fox been tending(p) a yellowish broadside and displace off for 5 minutes, and his team should support been awarded a penalty. Therefore the player whitethorn wish to tug the law into his own hands. Say the same player who committed the fowl has the ball.The aggressor, good-tempered angry from the earlier incident, may go in for a aggressive tackle with the purpose of causation the player intentional harm. For suit he could lift his shove to hi t the player in the face. This can take a crap 2 outcomes the player may get hurt, making the aggressor feel like justice has been done. heretofore, the umpire can call the player up on this and depending on the bad weather award him a green, yellow or red card. This cause the player to believe justice still has not been done, as he has been punish for a similar fowl that the other player got away with.This may cause further resentment the player and may adept him to cause more(prenominal) aggressive incidents. B-tec national sport and exercise sciences, Mark Adams, Heinemann, 2007 Beckhams red card. http//www. world cupfulblog. org/world-cup-moments/world-cup-moments-david-beckhams-red-card-vs-argentina-in-1998. html Aggressive actions violate the rules of any game and such indiscretions be dysfunctional in the context of sport. Often an aggressive player will disrupt the teams performance and spoil the ropiness of the group. A high profile example of this was David Beckha ms sending of in England vs.Argentina in the 1998 world cup in France. On the 30th of June 1998, The slope national football team were playing Argentina in the ninny lasts of the world cup. David Beckham made himself a hero in the previous game, scouring a spectacular free iron boot winner against Columbia. Almost liberty chit after kickoff Diego Simeone was tripped in the penalty box and a debatable penalty was given which Gabriel Batistuta netted to make it 1-0. After the half time break the score was level at 2-2. Diego Simeone made a turnly clumsy challenge on David Beckham, brining him to the floor.Though some thought Simeone should be direct off for such a blatantly harmful challenge, The referee, Kim Milton Nielson awarded Simeone a yellow card. Possibly feeling angered over the arguable Dive in the penalty box, and then the rough challenge with Simeone exactly being given a yellow card, Beckham took the law into his own hands. He gently kicked Simeone on the calf. Though Simeone went work through rather theatrically to such a pale kick, Beckham had still broken the laws of the game and was sent off. This had a negative effect on the team.With out Beckham to put together passes in the mid field, England had trouble getting the ball up the field. When the game went to penalties and Beckham wasnt avalibul to take one (he had a reputation for scouring penalty kicks) England lost. http//sports. jrank. org/pages/351/Beckham-David-1998-World- instill-Fiasco. html This is an sidelineing case as there were many factors which caused his aggression. There was a lot of pressure on him and his ego would have been on a high after his uncivilized performance against Columbia. He didnt perform tokenly well end-to-end the game which would have caused him to become foreclose.Dollard et al (1939) said in his licking aggression Theory that aggression is always caused by nearly form of licking and that people are motivated to reach goals, entirely if these goals are block up then defeat occurs. Therefore, his frustration may have direct him to act acutely. Also the Disputed dive by someone in the low half may too have increase his frustration. Berkowitz (1965) proposed in his revised frustration-aggression surmisal that any negative thoughts, not just frustration, can bring on aggressive behaviour, one of those negative thoughts being threat.When Simeone brought Beckham down with his rough tackle from behind, would have felt threatened. He hadnt been playing as well as what was expected of him and was then brought down in an embarrassing challenge. Beckham may have felt that the yellow card wasnt replete and decided to take out his aggression with the purposeful kick to the calf. This would have fulfilled his own sense of justice, however, the kick was chinkn and the red card was awarded. This was defiantly hostile aggression His sending of affected the team seriously and contri moreovered to the eventual defeat. ttp//www. bbc. co. uk/dna/h2g2/A47629317 Threats to self-esteem may lead people to act aggressively without thinking about the consequences. Hostile aggression can involve immediate reactions in blind fury, or carefully planned and deliberate acts. The Beckham incident was a blind fury reaction where the previous hockey scenario was planned. http//www. psypress. co. uk/smithandmackie/resources/topic. asp? topic=ch13-tp-02 What Triggers Aggression Instrumental aggression El-hadji Diouf ( center of attention) after shove on mark Schwarzer (floor) http//www. dailytelegraph. om. au/sport/soccer/schwarzer-caught-in-the-crossfire/ grade-e6frey4r-1225926429183 Instrumental aggression is when somebody displays aggressive behaviour, in pursuit of a non-aggressive goal. Where an athlete acts in an aggressive way, not to harm the recipient as in hostile aggression, but so they can achieve a goal such as winning an athletic competition. Instrumental aggression is not the result of anger and se eking revenge. It is an aggression slip that mainly serves ones own interest in an individual sport or the interests of the team in team sports.A real life example occurred on the Saturday, 18 September 2010 in a football bear on between Blackburn rovers and Fulham F. C. The Blackburn goal keeper capital of Minnesota Robinson sent forward a long free-kick which Fulham keeper mark Schwarzer came to collect. only winger, El-hadji Diouf, intentionally ran into Schwarzer, strike hard him to the ground. This allowed Blackburn striker Chris dance to easily head the ball into the empty net. This is a perfect example of slavish aggression. Diouf made an aggressive attack on schwarzer, not with the aim of harming him, but so samba could score, giving Blackburn the lead. ttp//news. bbc. co. uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_prem/9000608. stm Luis Suarezs handball. http//www. thisislondon. co. uk/standard-sport/worldcup/article-23852532-full-of-praise-for-luis-suarezs-handywork. do Apter (1993) has pointed out there are often a set of unofficial rules, as well as the official rules, governing what aggressive behaviours are acceptable. For example there have been many occasions in football where a player has been on a clean run to goal, only to be illegally pulled back or tackled by another player.This is subservient aggression as there is a non- aggressive goal, It against the rules of the game and punishable with a red card, but is considered normal. A high profile example would be the case of Luis suarez in the 2010 world cup. On Friday the 2nd of July 2010, The Uruguay national football team were playing Ghana in a world cup quarter final match. The game went in the split sanction half of redundant time Ghana took a corner which Adeyah headed towards goal. Luis Suarez a out field player then extended his arm and blocked the ball with his hand.Ghana were awarded a penalty and Suarez a red card and a sending off. merely when Ghanas Asamoah Gyan missed the penalty and Uruguay won the game Suarez was hailed as a hero by most reciprocal ohm American football fans. After the game Suarez said There was no alternative but for me to do that and when they missed the penalty I thought It is a miracle and we are alive in the tournament,. Fans throughout Africa however, despised Suarez for this. This example can be used to support Apters claim. Though against the rules fans all over South America believed Suarezs actions were acceptable.He knew the risks and was punished, but still this act of instrumental aggression cause Uruguay to progress. This is has come to be known as pass aggression, that is instrumental aggression where that whilst not indoors the official rules is still accepted as normal, even though it would be punished. Husman and Silva (1984) however, argued that sanctioned act of aggression have been mislabelled as aggressive and should be called assertive. As there is no real intent to harm an oppose player. http//news. bbc. co. uk/spo rt1/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8785140. tm An example of unofficial aggression would be in the World Cup semi-final of 1982 between France and West Germany. Patrick Battiston was chasing a bouncing through ball as Germany keeper, Harold Schumacher came charging out of his goal. Battiston reached the ball maiden but Schumacher leapt up and smashed into him, knocking him unconscious. He eventually recovered but he lost several(prenominal) teeth and at one point fell into a coma. This is unsanctioned aggression. Though Schumachers aim was to prevent a goal and not to hurt Battiston, the challenge was acknowledged as extremely dangerous and and then unsanctionedHostile aggression Vs Instrumental aggression A case where it becomes difficult to aim the difference between Hostile and instrumental aggression is in the case of combat sports, as the whole aim of the sport is to cause some degree of harm. In boxing one may become frustrated and aggressively hit the oppose boxer harder an d eventually knock him out. This is instrumental aggression as you have to harm your opponent in some way to win, but this is often done with the view of winning, not causing your opponent harm.The boxer may throw a few cony punches ( a hit to the back of the head) or hit with his elbow. This would be sanctioned instrumental aggression. A minor breach of the rules stemming from the boxers desire to win. unsanctioned instrumental aggression can be hard to differentiate from hostile aggression in this scenario. hitherto I believe it is possible take these two examples Two boxers are in round 9 of a match and one of them cant seem to take up his opponent down. He is losing on points and needs to harm the other boxer.When the two next lock arms and he believes he is out of the view of the referee he quickly hits the other boxer in the groin with his knee. This is unsanctioned instrumental aggression. The boxers aim was to harm the other boxer, but only so he could win. A blow to th e groin can cause shortness of breath and intense pain. A groin hit, unlike rabbit punches is a serious fowl, and can result in flashing disqualification. Mike Tyson Vs Evander Holyfeild http//www. 411mania. com/boxing/columns/132418 A famous hostile aggressive act occurred in June 28, 1997, in a boxing match between mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield.In the previous Tyson-Holyfield fight, seven months earlier, Holyfield, who opened as a 25-to-1 underdog), floored Tyson for the second time in Tysons career in the sixth round, and scored a technical knockout over Tyson in round 11. Holyfield dominated Tyson throughout the fight, winning almost every(prenominal) round. Baumeister (1996) specified a mannequin in which egotism, in chemical reaction to ego threat, leads to aggression. Mike Tysons starting line loss to Holyfield was only the second in his career and first loss in 7 years. This leads me to believe Tysons ego was inflated and then threatened after the first loss.This would have caused existent feelings of hate for Holyfield. Holyfield won the first two rounds of the fight which mustiness have further frustrated Tyson. Then 0040 minutes to the end of the first round Tyson caught Holyfield in a clinch and bit off a piece of Holyfields ear and spat it on the ring floor, he then pushed Holyfield as he walked back to his corner. The fight resumed with a two point deduction from Tyson. In his rage he bit Holyfield again on the opposite ear. The referee disqualified Tyson.In reaction Tyson went on move at Holyfield and Holyfields trainer Brooks while they were still in their corner. Tyson took swings at the people in his way, but was taken back to his corner by security. This is hostile aggression at its worse. Tyson bit Holyfields ears to cause genuine harm stemming from his frustration and threatened ego. The post-match rampage was another example of hostile aggression as the only thought in Tysons head must have been to cause harm. Smith (1983) argued, however, that all aggressive acts in sport are instrumental and carried out with some end in mind.Smith, therefrom, concludes that the bill between instrumental and hostile aggression is not a helpful and it is difficult to separate empirically where a particular aggressive act may have a variety of different outcomes. Therefore, both aggressive acts are the same. In severalize to smiths argument Husman and Silva (1984), and Martens (1975) argue that although both hostile and instrumental aggression include intent to injure, the relatively public incidents of angry retaliation which occur as the result of provocation in team contact sports can be seen as hostile aggression.The so called professional foul which occurs especially in soccer where a player is tackled and usually brought down to prevent him from scoring can be seen as an ac of instrumental aggression. Rethinking aggression and violence in sport, stern H Kerr, Routledge, 2005 Assertion Aggression http//blog. incomeaccess. com/6322/2010/07/12/world-cup-fallout-dutch-captain-retiresas-does-paul-the-psychic-octopus/ggression Assertion is the third main type of aggression, however, Assertive behaviour does not attempt to harm and is strictly within the rules and spirit of the game.Assertive behaviour shows when an athlete becomes more enterprising, robust and forcefully with every movement they make. They may also raise their voice and speak in a more forceful manor to team mates and opposition, but the difference between hostile and instrumental aggression is that there is no intention to harm your opponent and break the rules. Bredemeier (1994) and Silva (1978) said self-assertiveness is distinct from aggressiveness in that it is the nonhostile, noncoercive tendency to behave with intense and energetic behaviour to accomplish ones goal. Assertion was described y Parens (1987) as nonhostile self-protective mastery behaviour. A prime example of an assertive athlete is side of meat foot baller Rio Ferdinand. Rio has a low red card and yellow card itemize, yet is still known for his tough tackling defensive style. He is also very vocal on the pitch, he is known for barking orders to his defensive team mates and often voicing his opinion on referee decisions. scorn this he has a low red and yellow card count because he doesnt break any rules. A sliding tackle for example is illegal if you dont get the ball first and instead get the opposing player.The opposing player may get hurt, but as long as the player got the ball first and the defender had no intention what-so-ever to harm the other player it cannot be classed as aggression. If the defender performed an illegal two-footed challenge and hit the opposing players leg, it is aggression. Psychology and sport, Sally Gadsdon, Heinemann, 2001 Assertion http//www. bbc. co. uk/french/highlights/story/2008/05/080521_champsleague_pix. shtml Another example of assertion would be in Boxing. During a match a boxer will try to physically harm another boxer through jabs and other punching techniques.This however, is required in the sport and is therefore assertion rather than aggression. If however, said boxer hit his opponent with his elbow after failing to land a punch, or occasionally throwing a rabbit punch to gain an advantage it becomes instrumental aggression. Bakker et al (1990) bring that aggression increased when a team is losing, particularly in a game of great importance. The Beckham- Simone incident discussed earlier in this report is an example of this. It was the world cup quarter-final and tensions were high. Another example is that of the 2010 world cup final between the eventual winners Spain and Holland.Though they were not losing, Holland were unable to make significant breaks. Spain had 57% of the possession and there fast passing strategy caused problems for the defence. Holland played aggressively and committed 28 fouls, receiving 8 yellow cards and 1 second yellow look uponing a red card was given to John Hetitinga. Arjen Robben showed significant signs of aggression, throwing the match ball away from play when a offside went against him. He had previously had 2 clean runs, but the Spanish keeper Iker Casillas, which must have frustrated him. This compared to Hollands last 16 games against the littleerSlovakia when only 2 yellow cards were awarded, support Bakkers argument. http//news. bbc. co. uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2010/default. stm Causes of Aggression Before we discuss means of preventing aggression in sport it is important we understand how and why an athlete may become aggressive in the first place. A number of theories are still in competition as to why we are aggressive however, I am going to concentrate on three of the most pop theories the intelligence theory, Frustration Aggression theory, and the social skill theory. spirit theory An instinct is an innate tendency to behave in a certain way. essentially this theory suggests that we as the human hie are aggressive in sporting environments because it is in are genetic makeup, and therefore inevitable. Sigmund Freud (1919) was responsible for a lot of the psychoanalytical work of the instinct theory. Freud proposed that we are motivated towards two opposing instincts the life drive (Eros) and the death Drive (Thanatos). Freud believe people are motivated towards self- destruction through the death instinct.Therefore, Eros and Thanatos are always in conflict and to resolve the conflict the aggression must be turned outwards, towards other. However, Freud also proposed that although aggression is always with us, we maintain the world power to exert some control over it. Thus it is not always inevitable. Richards (1994) looked at sport as a wholesome way to acquit our death instinct. He studied the importance we attach to kicking in our aggressive tendencies and applied this to sports like football and rugby and termed them civilising influences.Sport Psych ology a students handbook, Matt Jarvis, Routledge, 2006 A similar take on the instinct theory is that of ethology. Konrad Lorenz (1966) was responsible for much of the work on the ethological approach to this theory. Lorenz proposed that the human race have evolved to have a fighting instinct which is trigger by certain environmental stimuli. Lorenz believed that accumulated aggressive energy and the presents of aggression-releasing environmental stimuli would lead to a display of aggression, such as in a sporting environment. Advanced Studies in PhysicalEducation and sport, by Paul Beashel and John Taylor, Nelsons and sons ltd, 1996 Both Freud and Lorenzs theorys support the idea of catharsis, the release of aggressive energies through aggression. So how does this cite to sport, for example imagine a linebacker in American football player who has had a rather frustrative game. He has thus uttermost been truly able to get involved for a number of games. However he has been able to maintain his frustration and not lash out in a hostile way. Suddenly a player on the opposite side breaks through and is running to scour a touchdown.The line backer gives chase and takes him down with a legal tackle. This cathartis through assertiveness. function like this supports Richardss belief of sport being a healthy way to release aggression. Many have refuted the idea that sport enables aggressive catharsis, one such research case being Zillman, Day and Johnson (1974). They compared the aggressive tendencies of athletes competing in aggressive sports athletes competing in non-aggressive sports and non athletes. The study found there was no difference between the three groups, which contradict the aggression-cathartis theory.In accordance with this theory those participate in aggressive sports would be expected to be less aggressive as they had the opportunity to release there aggression through sport. However I do not believe this argument is broad enough to disprove thi s theory. Why, in an aggressive sport, while you may have more opportunity to release your aggression through catharsis, so does your opponent. If one team is being constantly bested by the other instead of becoming less aggressive they will become more aggressive. This argument is supported by Dollards the Frustration- Aggression theory (1939) which I will discuss later.Psychology and sport, Sally Gadsdon, Heinemann, 2001 Whether aggression is innate or learned remains an ongoing argument in psychology. The Instincts involved in these theorys are difficult to identify and thus forwards difficult to test. The main problem is that is aggression was instinctive and not learnt then every being on earth would display the same aggressiveness. Instinct theories only concentrate on aggression being innate and dont take into account important environmental factors. Lore and Schultz (1993) have pointed out that all vertebrates show aggression, therefore it must be a survival trait, in accor dance with Lorenzs argument.However Baron Richardson (1992) have said that cross-cultural studies have found wide variation in human aggression. Smaller rural cultures such as the arapesh of new guinea have shown very little aggression in contrast to European and American standards, which suggests Morden life increases aggression, which is a environmental factor. There is lack of direct establish to disprove this theory though it is obvious that different people have different levels of aggression, and if aggression is an instinct we all share then are aggressiveness would be the same.Fustration-Aggresion Theory These theories, closely linked to instinct theorys due to aggression being innate, propose that although we all have an innate aggressive drive, aggressive behaviour is elicited by frustration. Anderson Dill, (1995) describe frustration as an interference block off someone from obtaining a goal aggression is a behavior in response to frustration, intended to harm the per son blocking the goal. The main belief behind these theorys is that an aggressive act stems from an aggressive drive, drive being a state of inner tension.The First of these theories was the drive lessening theory put forward by Dollard el al (1939). This express that frustration is caused by an unfitness to obtain a goal. The frustration triggers an aggressive drive which leads to aggressive acts. Dollard put forward a particular model which showed his hypothesis Above is Dollard et als frustration-aggression model (1939). It shows how a blockade to an athletes causes frustration which leads to aggression. Then the athlete can deal with his anger successfully within the rules of a the game Cathartis.For example a rugby player who has been tackled a number of times whilst trying to score a try, not all of those tackles legal, uses his aggression to legally barge his way past some backs and outruns the play to score a try. According to Dollards model this would cut out the barric ade (the backs) causing to frustration and aggression to subside. However the aggression could be released unsuccessfully. This would mean that the player would break the rules of the game and act overly aggressive, star to punishment. This causes the bike to continue.The punishment would cause the player to become even more frustrated which again would lead to further aggression. Then, again they can release it unsuccessfully causing the cycle to continue or release it successfully, breaking the cycle. For example say the rugby player from above didnt make the try. He became more and more frustrated at the outside centre who forever tackles him. Ones he breaks through the defensive line again the outside centre charges him. His frustration leads to aggression and he gives the outside centre an elbow as he passes.The referee may see this and give the player a yellow card, causing the player to spend time in the sin bin. This will lead to further frustration. When the player retur ns the further built up frustration may cause him to commit another foul and be shown a red card, removing him for the rest of the game. This frustration could possibly carry over until the next game, and if that doesnt go well then the game after that to. This can cause this player to go through a term of Bad Form which is a common occurrence in many athletes.Psychology and sport, Sally Gadsdon, Heinemann, 2001 Many sports psychologists have agreed with Dollards original modle. Anderson Dill (1995) also stated that all acts of aggression are the result of previous frustration and all frustration leads to aggression. Berkowitz (1989),however, reformulated the frustration aggression hypothesis, proposing that frustration results from an inability to obtain a goal, creating a readiness for aggression or anger. This anger may lead to aggression if there is an aggressive cues are present. This may be a person, object or situation related to the frustrating event.Though Berkowitz also states that an aggressive Cue doesnt always have to be present to release aggression, though they make it more likely. Also in this argument frustration doesnt always lead to aggression. A authorised example of an aggressive cue is a football fan. Say a football fan is watching his supported team at main office and they lose 3-0 to Wolverhampton wanderers. He is frustrated at the teams loss though doesnt show aggression. Later in the week he is playing a Sunday morning football game with his team and there opponents have a dark yellow kit, a kit similar to wolves.This may trigger his aggression at his football teams loss, leading to him acting aggressive in the coming game. Applying sport psychology 4 perspectives, Jim Taylor Gregory Scott-Wilson, Human Kinetics, 2005 Dollards original theory has been criticized for being over simplistic, stating that a blocked goal will always lead to frustration and frustration to aggression. Bandura (1973) criticized Dollard and his Yale associ ates construction as a drive theory, holding that frustration typically only creates a general emotional arousal.Zillman (1979) was also dubious and attained that demonstrations of aggression as a response to frustration were attributed to personal attack or the instrumental value of aggressive reactions. Zillman contended that the blockage of a goal in of itself will not induce hostility or aggression. In contrast Baron (1977) was far more favourably disposed, but maintained that frustration is far less common or important as an base of aggression. Baron suggested that barriers to goal attainment would only invoke a aggressive reaction, if they were unexpected. ttp//www. radford. edu/jaspelme/_private/gradsoc_articles/aggression/frustration%20aggression. pdf The Frustration-aggression hypothesis validity has been greatly increased with berkowitz amendments. One of the theorys biggest criticisms was that frustration would not always lead to aggression and that aggression is possib le without frustration. Berkowitz changed the hypothesis to state that frustration is a contributing factor to aggression, but another factor could set it off, or it could simply subside, which answered to that particular argument.However Berkowitz still does not address other factors which could lead to aggression. Some psychologists have argued that we need to understand the meaning of aggressive acts for the individual carrying them out. These theorists often see aggression as a calculated, utility maximising act exacted so as to gain calculated benefits. These theories may perhaps help to excuse the wide variety of motivational influences that can lead to aggression. Social learning theory Another approach to human aggression comes in the form of the social learning