Causes and origins of people's aggressive behavior. Peculiarities of parental behavior during manifestations of child aggression. Here's what to do if your child is aggressive

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The ever-increasing tension in society, the growth of national and ethnic conflicts, and numerous local wars create uncertainty in people about the future. And yet, having the highest adaptive capabilities, a person adapts to almost any changes in the external environment, including social changes - wars, reforms, revolutions, natural and man-made disasters, etc. However, it is also true that life’s difficulties do not allow many people to deal with them constructively, and psychological defense mechanisms are aimed at avoiding existing problems. Among these mechanisms are alcoholism, drug addiction, addiction to anything, and crime. All this narrows the range of interests and hobbies, reduces the level of demands and criticism towards oneself, that is, there is a gradual degradation of personality. This is personality dysfunction, leading to self-destructive behavior (Popov Yu.V., 1997). In the words of G. Ammon (1994), there is a change in identity, by which he understands the process as a gradual development that leaves a trace. It (identity) is not final, but grows thanks to social energy. Social energy is the strength and strength that is given to people among people. In some cases, this social energy means the ability to develop understanding and interest in another person, to enter into productive contact with him, to take him seriously in his being. This is constructive social energy. In others, social energy (destructive), although it still reflects contact and connection, but acts destructively, as in an extreme case. Thirdly, this is deficient, rejected social energy - ignoring people.

It seems to me appropriate, before embarking on an analysis of human behavior and related problems of aggressiveness, to consider some aspects of animal behavior, since here analogies and comparisons, juxtapositions and contrasts are a necessity. If only because man by nature is a biosocial animal, and in many manifestations reveals a striking similarity to the behavior of animals, and not only highly organized ones.

One of the main provisions of modern ethology is the principle of hierarchical organization of animal behavior (Novitsky B., 1981). According to this principle, a number of levels of behavior are distinguished, differing in the complexity of their elements. Depending on the complexity and significance of these elements, Hafer E.S. (1969) identifies nine main types of behavior: feeding, excretory, exploratory, aggressive (competitive). It is very important that the ratio of elements of a lower level to a higher one is not fixed. They can be used in different compositions and sequences. Some elements may be innate, others may arise as a result of learning, and this is not related to their number. Evidence of the genetic determination of certain forms of animal behavior is the effectiveness of selection for this behavioral trait. Porzig E. et al. (1973), analyzing the results of studies of genetic influence on behavior, supports the opinion of the possible influence of three genes on the general behavioral activity of animals: activity, fear and wildness, as well as the begging instinct. Most researchers confirm that the behavior of animals that determines their social position in the herd (covering such phenomena as aggressiveness, the desire for conflicts or avoidance of conflict situations, as well as behavior in a fight) is determined by hereditary factors.

In the context of human behavior, in my opinion, it is appropriate to compare domestic and wild animals in the aspect that, as Sambraus H.H. (1968), domestic animals retain ethological characteristics of early life throughout their lives. But in wild animals they disappear after a certain time. As domestication progresses, the reactivity of animals also changes. Artificial selection carried out by humans has led to a weakening of the adaptive abilities (survival) of domestic animals in difficult conditions.

Similar trends and relationships can be observed among people: the most obstinate, brave, and rebellious die; the “soft” and pliable ones survive. The “greenhouse” living conditions of modern man, compared to the past, lead to a decrease in his adaptive capabilities. This is manifested in an increase in incidence, especially of certain diseases.

Man, in fact, makes his own selection. Selection aimed at breeding animals (one might even say people) with a calm temperament has contributed to the improvement of most useful traits, since animals of a calm disposition usually have better productivity than restless ones. Direct parallels between humans and animals are not appropriate here, but the entire history of civilization shows that active, active, purposeful, aggressive (in the literal and figurative sense of the word) people always or almost always had no descendants or were limited to one or two children. More often, of course, they did not have time to start a family, being obsessed with some goal, and devoted their entire lives (usually short) to their goal. The calm and pliable man in the street, adhering to the principle “my house is on the edge,” managed to give birth to offspring during his long life.

Farm animals, whether in herds, pastures, or large enclosures, exhibit many behaviors that are characteristic of their wild ancestors or relatives. For example, such as herding, the establishment of hierarchical relationships, the dominance of males over females and many others. An analogy with a person suggests itself here. Man, being a collective (herd) creature (animal), gives us vivid examples of the manifestation of the “crowd syndrome”. But the behavior of domesticated animals still differs from the behavior of their wild ancestors. It's the same with people. Modern man is far from the same psychobiological parameters as he was many, many thousands of years ago. This is, first of all, the result of targeted selection on the part of a person in the direction desired by him, as well as changes in the external environment. In the course of its centuries-old history, man has undergone just such an artificial selection - man by man, the stronger over the weaker. The powers that be needed obedient and obedient subjects.

The social behavior of people is subject not only to those patterns that are inherent in any phylogenetically emerged behavior, but is also dictated by its biology, reason and cultural tradition. A connection has been established between physique and behavior (Sheldom et al., 1940, 1942). By distinguishing endoform, mesoform and exoform body types, they point to a clear connection between the latter and temperament: endoform - viscerotonia - virtue, sociability, inactivity; mesoform – somatotonia – aggressiveness, activity, need for exercise; exoform – cerebrotonia – restraint, inhibition, secrecy.

Speaking about “cultural” selection, K. Lorenz (1994) points to the historical behavior of peoples based on the rational nature of man. It is this nature that causes two nations to compete and fight with each other, even when no economic reason forces them to do so. It pushes two political parties or religions into a fierce struggle. It forces some “Alexander” or “Napoleon” to sacrifice millions of his subjects for the sake of the passion to unite the whole world under his rule. Even at school, we were taught to treat these people with respect; even revere them as great. What is worse, say, “the ideas of the world proletarian revolution of Lenin-Stalin” or the “brown ideas of the great Reich Chancellor” Hitler?

In the same historical aspect, human behavior is manifested in two models - cooperation and distribution. E. Fromm (1994) connects these models with the past hunting life of man. And if we agree with the statement that hunting life led to genetic changes, then we will have to conclude that in modern man we should rather look for an innate reflex to cooperation and distribution (equally for everyone) than to murder and cruelty. That is, according to the author’s logic, communism is an inevitable result of the evolution of human society?! Unfortunately, the history of civilization shows that the tendency towards cooperation and fair distribution does not manifest itself regularly. This suggests that the hunting life has not left genetic traces in man and that the “reflex of immense egoism” dominates, especially in modern civilization.

To commit the basest or most highly moral acts at the individual level, a person needs inspiration, which is a manifestation of intraspecific aggression. And for this we need an enemy, the masses and a leader. Then the instinctive prohibitions to kill and maim relatives are lifted, obstacles lose their importance, and a reassessment of values occurs. That is, in fact, there is the formation of groups, factions, factions, gangs, gangs, associations, etc., which obey the laws of the formation of anonymous packs in animals. Inspiration is presented as a real autonomous human instinct, like the instinct of a triumphant cry in gray geese (Lorenz K., 1994).

Who does he (the person) consider to be his enemies? Who does he recognize as leader?

From the point of view of Boyko V.V. (1994) in his communication with his own kind, a person exhibits three types of relationships: 1) attitude towards a specific other person; 2) the relationship of an individual with a collective type encountered in the field of professional (or any other) activity; 3) attitude towards people in general. His communicative ability manifests itself in the form of behavioral characteristics representing the so-called low general level of communicative tolerance, among which: a) a person does not want to understand the individuality of another; b) a person considers himself as a standard; c) a person is categorical or conservative in his assessments of people; d) a person does not know how to hide or smooth out unpleasant feelings; e) a person seeks to remake, re-educate his partner; f) a person wants to adapt his partner to himself; g) a person does not know how to forgive another for his mistakes; h) a person is intolerant of a partner’s physical or mental discomfort; i) a person does not adapt well to the characters of others. Accordingly, opposite signs indicate a high level of communicative tolerance.

Human behavior, in particular self-destructive behavior, Popov Yu.V. (1994) attempts to classify by identifying several axes. The first axis is the actual type of behavior, a threat to life, damage to physical health, damage to moral and spiritual development, damage to future social status. The second axis is the level of personality dysfunction: accentuation, non-psychotic and psychotic personality disorders. On the third axis, the author notes the type of personal accentuation or stigma - hyperthymic, cycloid, psychasthenic, epileptoid, emotionally labile, sensitive, schizoid, etc. The fourth axis reflects the degree social adaptation, which is determined by the level of social functioning and the degree of its constructive orientation - stable, partial, unstable adaptation and maladjustment. All human behavior is dictated by conscious responsibility.

The apotheosis of behavioral disorders and manifestations of aggression at the societal level is war. Being a specifically human phenomenon, war most clearly highlights the nuances of human aggressiveness. She has always accompanied a socialized person, being a kind of tool for solving many problems. Phylogenetically, humans have always differed in their aggressiveness from predators. Only he has a special aggressiveness in the form of a tendency to kill as an end in itself. And as noted, unlike all mammals, man is the only one who is able to experience pleasure from killing and contemplating the suffering of his own kind, and not only his own kind.

E. Fromm (1994) considers war as a manifestation of instrumental human aggression. But he sees its causes not in human destructive instincts, as psychoanalysts and instinctivists believe. From the point of view of E. Fromm, destructiveness is neither an innate element nor a structural component of “human nature”. If the causes of wars were rooted in innate destructive impulses, then everything in human history would be the other way around. In ancient societies, the first hunters, gatherers and farmers were not distinguished by either warlikeness, bloodthirstiness, destructiveness or other aggressive tendencies. As was shown above, among modern tribes living at a primitive level and being, in fact, a model of research, there is a different direction and intensity of aggressiveness, up to its almost complete absence. Just like all animals living in the wild are slightly aggressive. In a zoo or in a pen, their aggressiveness increases sharply - in females by 9 times, in males by 17.5 times (Kummer H., Bucy P.C., 1951). The reason for this phenomenon is a noticeable and real decrease in “living space”. This is also caused by a change in the social structure of the herd. In a word, the reason is social conditions.

Man has created an artificial habitat for himself, in which he lives in cramped conditions. He made these conditions the norm of life, which made his psychology more destructive. Therefore, increased human aggressiveness should be explained not only by a higher potential for aggression, but by the fact that the conditions that cause aggression in human society are much more common than in animals in their natural habitat. Therefore, as civilization developed, not only the number of aggressive, aggressive wars steadily increased, but also their cruelty. Moreover, each war had a whole complex of problems as its main cause. These are economic, political, territorial, religious, and ideological reasons; in addition, the vanity of some leaders, the lack of flexibility of others, the stupidity of others. And if at the beginning of any war there are supporters and opponents of its incitement due to the characteristics of the root cause and goals pursued by each war, then as it progresses, especially during the period of maximum incitement, it acquires the character of a “religious” phenomenon. Everything is fetishized - the state, the people, leaders, ideas, history, symbols, and everything turns into idols, before which nothing and no one can resist. As E. Fromm (1994) notes, everything is sacrificed, even one’s own children; idolatry turns out to be stronger than love for one's own children. But, in the end, any war brings with it a serious revaluation of all values, and a person becomes human again.

If we proceed from the position of S. Freud, who affirms the innate destructiveness of man, then his ancestor should have been a predator endowed with aggressive reflexes in relation to all living beings, including humans. However, there is no reason to believe that responsibility for a person’s “predatory” tendencies can be attributed to the genes of his ancestor, Australopithecus. Today, neither the fact that he himself (Australopithecus) had predatory instincts, nor the fact that he is the ancestor of man has been proven. At the same time, some anthropological studies (Freeman D., 1964) show that human nature and the entire human civilization owe their existence to the need to adapt to predators, as was the case during the Pleistocene with the meat-eating Australopithecus in South Africa. Anatomically and physiologically, Homo Sapiens is no different from modern humans, which allows us to conduct research on aggressiveness in modern primitive tribes. This will clarify the problem of the influence of “hunting behavior” on social organization and personality. However, paleontological data cannot be considered reliable. Approximately 30 - 300 thousand years ago, hominids lived in Europe and Western Asia, which today are called Neanderthals. Their direct descendants today are modern humans - the species Homo Sapiens. For a very long time (tens of thousands of years), the Neanderthal coexisted (as paleontological data show) with the Cro-Magnon man - a modern type of man. At the same time, bold but as yet unconfirmed assumptions about human genesis are being made. The results of molecular genetic studies of modern humans showed that the Neanderthal did not undergo further evolution and died out without a trace. Analysis of the DNA sequence of the bone remains of Neanderthals showed the presence of 27 differences in the DNA of modern humans and Neanderthals. Similar studies were carried out among representatives of different races of people, which found that the DNA of Neanderthals and modern humans, regardless of race, have approximately half as much difference as humans and chimpanzees. That is, we can assume that the Neanderthal did not turn out to be a dead-end branch in human evolution, but may have been displaced and then absorbed by our common ancestor, who had more significant features, such as more developed frontal lobes of the brain, articulate speech, etc. . This happened approximately 120 - 150 thousand years ago. It can be assumed that they ensured the biological evolution of man, especially in the early stages of his formation. Subsequently, the biological factors of human evolution receded into the background, giving way to the social factor. “Neanderthal”, as a carrier of a complex of evolutionarily insignificant characteristics, still lives next to us today. But according to a number of formal characteristics and criteria of socio-economic status, although he is superior to his fellow biological type, his actions, behavior, values and attitudes, and the offspring he leaves behind, do not make a significant contribution to the social evolution of man1. Continuing this rather seditious and speculative thought, it can be assumed that modern humanity consists of at least three species of humans: Neanderthal, Cro-Magnon and their cross-descendant.

Many families are faced with the problem of child aggression, and often parents believe that the child’s aggressive behavior is unreasonable, there are supposedly no prerequisites for this. They are sure that if mom and dad and grandparents are calm, polite people, then the baby should be the same. Unfortunately, this is not so: often outbursts of aggression in children appear, it would seem, completely out of the blue.

Most tasks related to interaction with a child can be solved by taking right steps in a certain sequence. If you follow the advice of psychologists step by step, it will work. Often, parents theoretically imagine how to behave correctly with a child, but in reality these recommendations are not followed or not all are followed. In such cases, the situation does not improve, and there is no benefit from theoretical knowledge “how to do it.” Therefore, it should be especially emphasized that if you want to see results, you need to learn to act without waiting for some suitable occasion or special mood. Knowledge in this case means precisely the practice of communicating with the child. For example, many parents know that it is desirable to develop uniform requirements for the child from adults and not quarrel in front of him regarding methods of education. But most parents turn a blind eye to the fact that they haven’t done anything and come to a psychologist expecting some wonderful method, a magic technique that will immediately turn the situation around. And at the same time, it will be possible to somehow slip through and not notice the fact that the fundamental thing has not been done, an agreement with the spouse regarding the requirements for the child has not been reached. At the same time, parents are not enthusiastic about the recommendation to achieve agreement with each other, because it is difficult, unpleasant, requires significant effort, and perhaps the conversation will end in a quarrel.

This article describes why a child shows aggression, what are the characteristics of childhood aggressiveness, and how you can independently use methods for correcting aggressive behavior in children before school age.

Aggressive behavior of children: characteristics and features of attacks of aggression

Attacks of aggression are those actions of a child that are unpleasant and painful for others: hitting, biting, pushing, and so on. There are two possible situations in which this can happen:

Aggression in preschool children often manifests itself during play. For example, a child can hit a person with his hand not out of anger, but simply while playing, because kids often hit various objects with their hands. He does the same with people. The peculiarity of the aggressive behavior of children is that, while causing pain to another person, he can smile, laugh, and it is clear that he is happy. Often it is in this situation that adults make the mistake of starting to laugh in response or somehow flirt with the child. And until the time when the situation becomes completely unpleasant for the parents, the child does not receive a signal that something is wrong, that his actions are inappropriate. It is important to understand that unpleasant actions must be stopped from the very beginning, regardless of the motive as a result of which they occur. How to respond to children's aggression in this case? It doesn’t matter whether a child hits you out of anger or is just playing, these actions must be stopped.
Aggressiveness in childhood may also occur if the child is angry. Usually he fights in this case, this is the result of the baby’s anger. And the little one gets angry because something is unpleasant to him. The main characteristic of such aggressive behavior of a child is the obligatory sharp attack: the child, having no other way to react, hits someone nearby. Usually (but not necessarily), he strikes the one who caused his displeasure.

Psychology of aggression in childhood and the causes of its occurrence

Aggressive behavior It is inherent in any person, including preschool children, by nature. This is a natural way to defend your interests. And in this case, naturally, we are not talking about the fact that the child suddenly became somehow wild or evil, his natural mechanism of defending his interests is simply being realized.

In the very psychology of childhood aggression as a certain force, there is, of course, a positive potential. A certain amount of aggression is necessary for a person to be able to defend himself and his loved ones if necessary. In adult life, such activities as sports, business, politics, have a fair aggressive charge, but at the same time they are approved by society as useful and constructive. If you deal with natural aggression in childhood roughly, by brutally suppressing it, then there are two fundamental options for the development of events. In the first case, aggression is redirected towards the person himself. An angry child hits not the one who is nearby, but himself, as if punishing himself. The cause of aggressive behavior in preschool children, as a rule, is severe suppression, a ban on aggressive feelings and actions. The aggressive impulse does not disappear, but is turned over and directed towards the bearer of aggression. At an older age, one can observe such types of auto-aggression (that is, aggression directed by a person towards himself), such as various types of addictions (alcohol, drugs), frequent accidents, being in traumatic personal relationships and, in extreme cases, suicide.

Thus, the violence that people direct outward becomes less and less, but the amount of harm people cause to themselves increases critically.

Another scenario for the development of events in the brutal overcoming of childhood aggressiveness and suppression of the child’s aggressive feelings is the formation of a passive character, low self-esteem, and a tendency to develop feelings of guilt.

Why does a child show aggression and video of outbursts of child anger

Psychologists identify two main reasons for the aggressive behavior of children, in which outbursts of child anger are clearly manifested.

The first reason Children's aggressiveness is that the child does not master social norms in the area of expressing feelings. Of course, adults tell him that he can’t do this, but what is it forbidden for a child? And does he understand the moral implications of the situation? Of course not. He cannot understand the feelings that a person experiences when he is beaten. Simply because he is not yet able to understand that other people have any feelings.

The child does not understand that the prohibition, for example, of putting your hands in your mouth and the prohibition of hitting a person in the face are different prohibitions. For him, all “don’ts” have equal weight. And if you can break some prohibitions, then you can break others. In this case, the situation becomes especially acute when parents abuse prohibitions. If the word “impossible” is heard too often, then manifestations of child aggression cannot be avoided. It is clear that in such a situation, prohibitions will be constantly violated, including the prohibition of “beating people.”

The second reason The frequent manifestation of aggression in children under 3 years of age is that a child of this age often has a feeling of anger, and there are very few means for expressing this feeling. All children's activity is concentrated around their hands and mouth, so they often fight and bite when expressing anger.

Whether this form of behavior is consolidated or disappears always depends on the reaction of the environment. If you react harshly, roughly suppressing manifestations of aggression in children (screaming, spanking the child, locking him up, etc.), then parents in some cases can achieve results, and the child stops fighting. However, this usually has long-term unpleasant consequences. Character qualities such as cruelty, aggressiveness, cowardice, isolation, low self-esteem, and malice are formed.

Parents will not immediately see the consequences of their actions, and sometimes they will not be able to find the reason for such manifestations in the child.

In addition, as a rule, those parents who beat their child in response to his aggressive actions are precisely the ones who cannot cope with the child’s aggression. It has been proven that one of the main reasons for childhood aggression is the behavior pattern of adults. Children whose parents show aggression tend to be more aggressive themselves. After all, it is known that children learn better from what they see, and not from what is instilled in them. The mother, forbidding fighting, beats the child herself so that he supposedly “understands” that this cannot be done, and ends up in an unpleasant situation: she contradicts herself. In this case, perhaps the child will stop beating her personally (since she simply gives him back), but, most likely, he will beat those who are weaker than him (younger or weaker children, animals). So, the educational power of such a maneuver - spanking a child for showing aggression - is zero. Parents themselves do exactly what they want to wean their child from.

To avoid the causes of child aggression and the emergence of negative scenarios for the development of the situation, you need to remember that in order to prevent outbursts of anger in the child, parents must provide two things:

set clear boundaries for the child’s possible behavior and prevent the development of cruelty and destructive behavior;
legalize negative feelings and teach the child to deal with these feelings.

Between the ages of 1 and 3 years, children exhibit normal expressions of anger such as screaming, biting, hitting, etc. This behavior occurs with varying intensity in the vast majority of children. What is being said here is normal not in the sense that the behavior does not need to be corrected or that it should be approved, but in the sense that it is typical and easily explained.

Almost all children have angry outbursts at some point. And it is important to know how to properly respond to a child’s aggression. The main method of correcting aggressive behavior is restraining the child. You shouldn’t expect him to verbally understand that you can’t fight. Aggressive actions must simply be stopped and restrained. Hold the handle that is ready to strike. This is not difficult to do, especially if you are internally prepared for this to happen to children. Children's actions are imprecise and slow, so it is usually clear in advance when the child intends to hit someone.

See how outbursts of anger and childish aggression manifest themselves in this video:

Peculiarities of parental behavior during manifestations of child aggression

Sometimes parents object that they do not notice the moments when the child is about to fight and cannot prevent blows.

Listed below are several features of parental behavior when children display aggressiveness.

You stand with your back to the child.

Exit: just ignore it as if you didn’t feel anything. At the same time, you should not stand with your back to a child who is angry.

You don't understand that the child is angry.

Exit: Observe carefully the child's facial expression, this has to do with your sensitivity. An angry child also begins to play more aggressively: banging toys, pushing objects, etc., in general, shows signs that he is angry. Impacts usually don't happen out of the blue.

Have you seen that the child is unhappy , but hoped that he would not fight. A child has almost no means of realizing his anger other than through aggression. Thus, if the child is unhappy, be alert. This behavior should not be assessed on a good-bad scale, forget about it. You just need to avoid getting hit.

Exit: Understanding the child’s condition, be prepared for his aggressive actions, that is, do not ignore his emotions, aggressive actions must be prevented, if necessary, limiting the child’s mobility.

The child fights too often , and you just get tired of controlling the situation all the time, relax, “wave your hand” - and get hit.

Exit: If a child gets angry and fights too often, you need to think about the fact that your demands on him are excessive, not in accordance with his age. That is, there are too many situations in which the child feels bad. Then you need to think about how to reorganize the child’s routine.

There are also special hidden reasons for a child’s anger that require correction of aggressive behavior.

How to react to a child’s anger and how to deal with manifestations of child aggression

The balance of power between the adult and the child is so obviously unequal that the adult simply should not allow the child to beat him. Physically restrain your child from unwanted behavior.

There is no need to accompany your actions with detailed comments or assessments of the child. Your task is simply to make manifestations of aggression impossible. Briefly say: “It’s not customary for us to fight!” And that's enough.

If a child hit someone in your presence and you could not stop him, show attention to the person who was hit, but ignore the child’s behavior. The child should not receive increased attention as a result of aggressive behavior.

If your child plays in a group of children and you know that he is prone to aggression, you need to take the following steps.

During periods of frequent outbursts of aggression, try to stay close to the child while he plays.
Warn the parents of other children, tell them that now your child is in such a period that he periodically fights. Do this so that the baby cannot hear you.
To combat a child’s aggression, monitor his mood as closely as possible: if the baby begins to play more aggressively (throwing toys, knocking toys against each other), take him away, play active games or any other games with him separately.
If a child hits someone once, apologize to this child, take pity on him, ignoring the actions of the offender.
How can one cope with children’s aggression if it becomes too much and the child does not stop fighting? In this case, calmly tell him that this is not how they behave, and you are forced to leave the company. Take and hold your child away from other children for about three minutes.

In general, keep your child from acting aggressively, but do not respond with increased attention. Aggressive behavior should not become the center of attention of others.

To properly correct children's aggressiveness, it is important how you respond to the very first manifestations of anger: you should not be indignant or react theatrically. It is your first reactions that will determine whether the child’s aggressive behavior will take hold.

Below are described cases in which manifestations of child aggression are consolidated, and a lot of effort has to be made to correct behavior.

Parents do nothing, attributing the child’s aggressive behavior to his age. In fact, adults in this case condone the child’s aggression.
Parents are touched by the child’s behavior, they think it is a charming game or they see it as a manifestation of the child’s strength.
Parents react aggressively and viciously. They start screaming, hitting the child, etc. All these actions cause a feeling of fear, depression in the child, and ultimately anger increases, as a result of which the child again behaves aggressively. Thus the circle is closed.
Parents sort things out in front of the child. In response to the child's unwanted actions, parents begin to argue about parenting methods. In this case, aggressive behavior becomes a reason for adults to express their accumulated dissatisfaction with each other.
Parents react theatrically: They leave demonstratively, pretend to cry, or imitate the experience of pain.
Parents really want the child to “understand” that his behavior is unacceptable. In this case, a lot of time is usually devoted to reading morals that the child is not able to understand.
The child’s behavior subconsciously benefits one of the child’s close adults. It gives him the opportunity to express accumulated claims against others. Another option is that, due to the child’s inappropriate behavior, the adult is removed from the process of communicating with him and thus receives additional free time.

Adult task- Do not let your child hit or bite people. You should not stop hitting objects, stomping your feet, swinging, etc. It’s better to simply ignore it, that is, not do anything at all, not even change your facial expression.

If you restrain the little angry one without emotions, he will soon simply stop hitting you. Any adult, knowing what to do when a child has outbursts of aggression, is able to control the child’s behavior.

Recommendations for parents on how to cope with the problem of childhood aggression

Speaking about the reasons and ways to overcome children's aggressiveness, it is important to remember that the feeling of anger and rage must have some way out, and by prohibiting aggressive behavior directed at people, you must give the child some way to throw out his feelings.

Anger can be expressed in words and thus let others know what is happening to you. This is difficult for a child, he needs to be taught this. This mainly happens when you verbalize your child's feelings. He gradually learns to understand which of your words correspond to his feelings. Of course, this process will take a very long time, but you can start expressing your baby’s feelings from a very early age. You see that the child is angry and demands something. Before addressing the situation with the demand itself, acknowledge his feelings, tell him: “I think you are very angry when you have to put on so many clothes.” Gradually, the child will learn this way of communicating about his condition. Naming a feeling or experience is in itself a way to reduce its intensity.

Psychologists often give this recommendation to parents to overcome childhood aggression - show your child how to show dissatisfaction. When you yourself are angry, name your feeling, say: “I am now very angry about what is happening.” This will show your child an example of how to handle anger and let him know that all people get angry. At the same time, you can behave non-destructively. On the contrary, if the main model of behavior of adults in anger is shouting or other forms of aggression, then it is impossible to cope with such manifestations in a child. If your child often behaves aggressively, check to see if he is copying one of the adults close to him. Do not forget that shouting and swearing are also manifestations of aggression (in this case, verbal).

How can you deal with childhood aggression if you feel that the situation is heating up? Teach your child to relieve tension through games: “Catch up with me”, “Run to me”, “Step over”, “Jump over” and others. Such games relieve aggressive tension and give positive emotions to the child.

After relieving tension (after active play), offer your child quiet play. You can lie down and pretend to be asleep, imitate swimming movements, blow on a rustling piece of paper to make it rustle, etc. - provide the child with a state of peace. Relaxation should only take a couple of minutes.

What to do if a child shows aggression: correction of aggression in childhood

Another advice from psychologists for overcoming outbursts of aggression in a child is the use of objects that can be handled roughly. Sew or buy soft toy or cylindrical pillow. Come up with a simple name that is easy for a small child to pronounce, for example, zhu-zhu, bo-bo, etc. When your child has a desire to bite, push, or hit someone, say that you can’t hit people (you need to say it sternly, but without anger). But there is a toy that will always be happy to fight. Teach your child how to fight and bite with this toy. Make sure that the child’s aggression is immediately directed at the toy, and not at people.

When a child is angry, you can invite him to tear or crumple paper, kick a ball, or draw his anger. It is important to remember that the child is very small and in order for these methods to take root, you need to gently offer them, set an example of how this is done, and show it repeatedly.

A child of any gender should have the so-called aggressive toys in his arsenal: swords, pistols, loud-sounding musical instruments, sports equipment. Playing with such toys helps the aggressive tension find its way out.

It is imperative to provide your child with games with such natural materials like sand, stones, water. This also helps relieve tension.

When choosing books for a child, you should not avoid so-called scary fairy tales (often these are folk tales where violence or murder occurs). Some parents, for fear of scaring their child or making him cruel, do not read such stories. This is a mistake, children need a certain amount scary stories for a prosperous psychological development. Among other things, this helps to process the aggression that inevitably arises in early age and later. Naturally, fairy tales must correspond to the age of the child.

It is especially important for highly aggressive children to be given the opportunity to move a lot and create conditions for physical activity.

Here's what to do if your child is aggressive:

Face your child and grab his or her wrists. You need to hold the wrists firmly so that he cannot escape, but without causing pain to the child. Position yourself so that the child cannot reach you with his feet.
Looking into the child’s eyes, seriously say: “You can’t fight!”

You need to say only these words, without adding or subtracting anything. Try to keep your voice free of emotion.

Try not to let your gaze convey anger or resentment to your child or suppress him.

Turn your head to the side, look away from the child, and count to 20 to yourself at a normal pace.
Turn back to the child and repeat: “You can’t fight!”
Release your child's wrists.

If the child immediately hits you, you need to repeat the entire procedure exactly. This is done as many times as necessary. You cannot make any changes to this technique, otherwise it will not work.

If parents do everything exactly, the technique works.

The main reasons why equipment may not work or cause harm:

Parents do not use technology every time, but in the most serious cases or in places where it is more convenient. For example, they are embarrassed to do something in front of other people.
Parents, at their own discretion, change the actions prescribed by the technology or the sequence of these actions.
Adults argue in front of the child about the appropriateness of this method.

To effectively correct aggression in children, always pay attention to the baby in those moments when he plays well. Tell your child that you like it when he behaves so politely and gently. The baby must understand what behavior you prefer and reward. Otherwise, a situation arises when adults give a lot of reaction to bad behavior, but none to good behavior. In this case, firstly, it is difficult or even impossible for the child to understand what is expected of him, and secondly, in those cases when the child behaves correctly, he does not receive any attention. And behavior that is supported by attention is reinforced, that is, in some cases, it is precisely undesirable behavior.

What to do if your child is the target of childhood aggression

What should you do if your own child has become the object of child aggression from other children? In this case it applies general rule: if your child is insulted in front of you (beating, pushing, snatching toys) - stand up for him, but do not start verbosely raising someone else’s baby. The adult’s task is to ensure the safety of his child: to remove the offender, delay the blow, hold the toy that is being rudely snatched away. Briefly comment on your actions, say: “This is our toy, ask if you want to play!”, “You can’t fight!”, “You can’t hit people!”, “I won’t allow you to hurt my son!” You should not shame or scold someone else's child. In this case, by protecting your child and not letting him be offended, you set an example of how to protect yourself.

If you are far from your child and someone is offending him, but the situation is not particularly threatening (your child is not crying, the offender is not too aggressive), do not interfere, let your child act independently. A child needs experience in dealing with someone else’s aggression in order to learn how to deal with it. You should not strive at all costs to be close to your child in moments of unpleasant clashes, and not let him go even a step, fearing hostile actions on the part of other people’s children. By calmly letting go of your baby, you convey to him a message about your confidence that he will cope on his own and will be able to protect himself. Observe the situation from afar and intervene only if you see real danger.

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Ministry of Education and Science Russian Federation SECONDARY PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION KGB POU “Priangarsky Polytechnic The Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation
SECONDARY VOCATIONAL EDUCATION
KGB POU “Priangarsk Polytechnic College”
ABSTRACT
On the topic: “Causes and origins of aggressive
people's behavior"
Completed:
1st year student
Group No. 64
Otajanov Denis Rustamovich
Teacher: Dvornikova Marina
Gennadievna
Kodinsk
2015 1. What is aggression?
2. The origins of aggressive behavior.
3. Causes of aggression.
4. Types of aggressive behavior.
5. How to avoid aggression in life.
List of used literature
p.
3
4
5
6
7-8

What is aggression?

Aggression has many synonyms: violence, hostility, anger, anger, etc. ... They don’t always have
the same meaning and meaning. From a psychological point of view, aggression is any behavior aimed at causing harm.
harm to another living being who does not want such treatment. It would seem, what benefit could there be from causing
harm to other people? But nature does not create anything in vain. What are the goals and causes of aggression in humans?
1. Forcing others to behave in a certain way. Man is a very smart and cunning creature. Why do something yourself if you
Do you have the strength to make others “sweat”? In modern society, the manifestation of physical aggression and coercion,
Of course, it is not welcome, but moral violence, unfortunately, is still quite common.
2. Craving for power. It just so happens that power can rarely be achieved peacefully - you always have to go over your heads and inflict
at least some minor injuries. Those who have a very strong need for power do just that. Therefore, in general, they
aggressiveness is higher than that of other people. Men are especially guilty of this - it is for them to dominate others
plays a special role in males.
3. The desire to make a certain impression. When aggression is shown, different things can happen about a person.
impression: someone will be scared, someone will want to compete, and someone will have a need for revenge. In order to
To understand what impression you will make with your aggressiveness, you need to know your communication partner well. Otherwise it’s possible
take a nasty thrashing!
4. The desire to cause damage. Let's face it, some people deserve you to be aggressive with them.
For example, Masha, who in the tenth grade cunningly and insidiously stole your boyfriend - she could use your portion of anger and
aggression. The desire to cause harm to another can be based on different things - the desire to take revenge, to take something away - and
may be a completely independent need. And if it appears to you occasionally, don’t be alarmed! This happens to everyone
people.
5. Psychological relaxation. It happens that in a day so many bad things accumulate that you want to yell at or beat someone.
And you are truly grateful to fate when some harmful and boorish woman in the subway comes under the hot hand. Already
then you can relax and play it out to the fullest! And after that you will feel quite easy and comfortable.
6. Self-defense. Some people can be very, very arrogant. Of course, stooping to their level may or may not seem stupid.
very decent, but sometimes it is simply necessary, otherwise they will simply “eat” you. In such cases, aggression serves the function
self-defense: when our personal space is invaded, we “show teeth and claws”, and then they leave us alone.
These are the main goals for the manifestation of aggressive behavior. You may or may not like them, but this is a fact - aggression is for us
really needed. A society in which people do not show hostility towards each other is simply incapable of
survival. Therefore, any attempts to completely get rid of aggression are doomed to failure in advance - this is the same as
try to teach a person to live without love. Some individuals succeed in this, but it is not suitable for everyone.
3

Origins of aggressive behavior

In addition to goals, aggression has more serious and deeper mechanisms that influence its
emergence. The psychological reasons for aggression in people can be completely different: each one is more
or a lesser-known psychologist sought to put forward his hypothesis about how and where aggression comes from. On
At present they can be divided into three main groups:
1. Aggression as an instinct. Many psychologists believe that the nature of the emergence
aggressive behavior is instinctive in humans. Aggression promotes survival by fulfilling three basic
functions: struggle for territory and food resources, improvement of the gene pool and protection of offspring. Aggressive
energy constantly arises in the human body, accumulates and at some point breaks out. U
each has its own boundaries, crossing which is fraught with hostility in behavior. Aggression could also
man inherits from his hunter ancestors. It is obvious that hunting nature can be a motivator
to violence, war and destruction. Thus, we can talk about the inevitability of aggression and the complexity of its
control.
2. Aggression as a result of the inability to fulfill one’s needs. This
A completely different approach: we have all experienced the inability to satisfy our desires due to some obstacles, and in such a situation anger and aggression almost always appear. They can be
directed at other people, things, or even oneself. Variations in manifestation methods are also possible.
aggression: we can yell at someone, push them, or start wailing: “It’s all my fault! No to me
forgiveness!” The saddest thing is that this way of responding, if used often, begins to become
habit, but its effectiveness for solving problems and overcoming those very notorious obstacles
seems highly doubtful.
3. Aggression as a result of learning. As children, we learned everything from adults: we
imitated them in their manner of speaking, eating, dressing and behaving in general. In the same way, watching adults,
we learned aggressive behavior: if we saw our mom and dad constantly yelling at each other and at
surrounding people, we remembered this type of behavior as the only correct one. Of course there is also
other factors that increase the likelihood of aggression as an adult - this is unacceptable
treatment, constant nagging and attacks from adults, and even direct instructions: “Well, what are you doing?
small! Give this boy back!” It is difficult for a person who grows up in such an environment to be quiet,
cute and fluffy. However, in this case he has the opportunity to learn to control his
aggression, if you develop the ability for self-regulation, observe people who know how to calmly resolve
conflicts and reward yourself for every manifestation of meekness and philanthropy.
4

Causes of aggression.

Most often, aggressive behavior develops under
due to the following unfavorable factors:
1. Substance abuse, which
leads to a lack or weakening of control over
situation, the desire to satisfy only one’s own
needs.
2. Childhood mental trauma and educational defects.
Parents' actions may be the cause of children's
aggressiveness. Hobbies contribute to aggression
computer games, films, TV shows with
scenes of violence.
3. Problems in personal life, instability, social
- everyday difficulties.
4. Accumulation of nervous tension, absence
good rest.
5

Types of aggressive behavior

Manifestations of aggressive behavior are very
diverse. The following types can be distinguished
aggression:
1. Physical (aimed at causing bodily harm
harm) and verbal (using words).
2. Direct and indirect (for example, distribution
gossip, rumors)
3. Directed (there is a goal) and disordered (it hits everything,
whatever comes along the way)
4. Active and passive (“putting spokes in the wheels”)
5. Auto-aggression (directed at oneself)
6

How to avoid aggression in life

In general, everything is clear about the reasons causing aggressive behavior. However, it makes it easier
does not become, because I want not only to know, but also to reduce the amount of aggression in
own life. If you want to influence someone, then the most effective
is a system of reward and punishment. Its essence is that good human behavior
is encouraged by you, and bad behavior is punished. There is some semblance of training taking place, because
Every person wants comfort and pleasure, but he avoids their opposite. However
There are a number of features in using this system:
A balance is needed between reward and punishment: if you go too far with something, then
the result may not be as effective.
A minimum period of time should pass between the aggressive reaction and punishment.
The punishment must be noticeably severe and unpleasant.
The aggressor must be aware that some of his actions entail punishment.
The likelihood of punishment must be high enough
What to do if you want to deal with your own aggression? There is only one answer – self-regulation. You
you can even use the same system of rewards and punishments - only you yourself will
both in the role of an object and in the role of a teacher. For example, your punishment may be
remorse or deprivation of oneself of some benefits, and as encouragement - attempts to deliver
enjoy yourself. Actions to change one’s attitude towards
situations.
As mentioned above, aggression most often occurs in a situation of obvious displeasure and
the presence of obstacles to achieving an important goal for a person. You are angry at circumstances and
There are several options for venting this anger: getting angry at others, at yourself, or trying
transform this energy into more constructive one. Think about the fact that aggression does nothing for you
It will only spoil the mood. Instead, you can try to overcome the obstacle and
solve the problem - then your anger will go away by itself.
7

Very often, outbursts of aggression and anger in us are caused by things that we cannot accept. For example, when
someone, from our point of view, lives incorrectly or does something that does not fit into our picture of the world.
To prevent these things from making you angry, you need to work on accepting others. You
must accept the fact that every person is free to live and do as he wants, including you.
Every time you get angry and judge someone, try to put yourself in their place - maybe this will help you
understand a person better. Try not to accumulate the energy of anger and irritation within yourself.
When we constantly hold ourselves back, it becomes exhausting and we become more aggressive. We must understand that
so much energy cannot remain in us indefinitely - sooner or later it will spill out.
Only it can be gradual and careful, or it can be all-destructive. Agree that the first
option is much more preferable. If you feel a wave of anger coming over you and
you will soon begin to tear and throw - take a break. Try to get out of the situation or distract yourself. Can
close your eyes and count to ten, you can leave the room or just mentally fill your mouth with water
talking with annoying person. It is quite possible that this will save you from unnecessary manifestations.
aggression.
There are things that you cannot change or remove from your life. One way or another, you'll have to with them
coexist. You can be angry with them and ruin your life, or you can try to accept and start
treat them with calm indifference. In addition, it is necessary to avoid chronic fatigue, because
very often it is precisely this that underlies aggression and irritability. Therefore, if you suspect fatigue
Give yourself a break, for example, take a day off and do something you've been wanting to do.
A person becomes angry and aggressive in a situation of chronic dissatisfaction with his life. This
dissatisfaction may be caused for various reasons: failures on the personal front, constant fatigue
or a lot of unpleasant people in life. And if you want aggression to leave your life,
positive changes need to be made. Try to identify positive moments for yourself - like this
It will be easier for you to enjoy them. Be more attentive to yourself, try to live in such a way that life brings you
pleasure. After all, a satisfied person is much more likely to be calm and balanced than a dissatisfied person.
8

List of used literature

1.Baron R., Richardson D. Aggression. 2001.
2. Taranov P. S. Secrets of human behavior. 2007
3.Dennis Kuhn. All the secrets of human behavior. 2005
4.Wikipedia
5. Maklakov A. G. General psychology. 2008

Aggressive behavior is “attacking” behavior, that is, deliberate actions to cause harm to others, objects, or oneself. Every year the issue of aggressive behavior of people becomes more and more relevant. This is due to the accelerated life of people, especially in megacities, people do not get enough rest, their biological rhythms of sleep and wakefulness are disrupted. As a result of such physiological stress, aggression appears as an unconscious way to protect oneself and satisfy at least one’s physiological needs.

Psychological stress, various problems and diseases also cause aggressive behavior. It manifests itself differently in each person, depending on upbringing, situations and characterological characteristics of the person.

Experts divide aggression into several types and manifestations; it can be both a pathology and a situational manifestation in human behavior. There are several main motives for its development.

These are the main motives for such behavior. They can be conscious or unconscious. Active manipulators are very skillful in using this method of behavior to suit their needs.

There are objective reasons for aggressive behavior that a person cannot influence. The main reasons for a person’s aggressive actions or words include:

Basic forms of attacking behavior

A person can show his hatred in different ways. There are people who thrive on verbal abuse and, as one famous verse says, “kill with words.” Some people don’t waste time sorting things out and immediately move on to physical actions. For many, a revelation is the fact that gossip, slander and talking behind one’s back are also certain forms of aggression. There are several forms of manifestation of aggressive behavior.

Manifestation of aggressive actions

People are often afraid of aggressive people, some are respected, they are despised and they try to imitate them. No one remains indifferent to such behavior. Particular attention should be paid to the aggressiveness of children. After all, aggression can be a form of manifestation in which adolescents already have a tendency to violate generally accepted norms and rules.

Aggressive behavior manifests itself through blackmail, insults, humiliation of the dignity and honor of another person, destruction and damage to one’s own or another person’s property, physical actions, threats, fights, and so on.

Children's aggression

Experts working with children are sounding the alarm due to a sharp increase in the number of aggressive preschoolers and schoolchildren. Little residents become more aggressive, they give free rein to their physical abilities to harm another child. They begin to express verbal aggression not only among their peers, but also when communicating with adults. The causes of aggressive behavior in children are:

Aggression in the family or unstable family relationships. Because of constant quarrels, clarification of relationships and reproaches, curses against the child, he does not feel protected.
Inconsistency in parenting - if one parent is loyal to the child’s requests, and the second strictly prohibits everything. At the same time, the little family member does not understand why this is so, in response to such upbringing he becomes angry and expresses aggression.
Aggressive behavior occurs with poor performance at school and high demands from parents.
Low adaptation in a class team. Aggression is provoked by children’s quarrels, lack of understanding and common language a team.
The child defends himself and responds with anger when his parents, educator or teacher are biased towards him, and when they make excessive demands on his behavior.

Aggression of preschoolers

A child goes through certain stages in his development – age-related crises. During these crises, his personality actively develops, he acquires new skills and personal characteristics.

Developmental stages can occur calmly and smoothly under favorable development conditions. Sometimes the child completely changes in behavior. Aggression can also appear during these periods due to an unfavorable psychological climate in the child’s environment.

Expressing negativity at 2 years old

At this age, the child may already show anger and negativity. But this is unintentional, but as a reaction to an encroachment to violate his personal space. Kids do not yet understand what the result of their aggressive actions will be. They may push, but they don't realize that the other child might fall or get hit. Prevention of aggressive behavior in children is to explain to them that they cannot do this. Best method with this behavior, switch the baby’s attention to something else.

It must be remembered that such behavior may indicate dissatisfaction with basic needs: feeling hungry, thirsty, wanting to rest or sleep. In this case, these needs need to be met.

Aggression at 3 years old

At this age, the manifestation of negativism and negative emotions is normal. This is the first developmental crisis for babies. In case of aggressive behavior at 3 years old, parents need to be patient and calmly talk to the child, explain to him the inadmissibility of such emotional expressions.

Aggression in older preschool age

Negative behavior in seniors preschool age may be caused by several reasons:

organic problems of brain functioning;
diseases of other organs and systems;
characteristics of temperament and characterological features;
psychological reasons.

At this age, the child already understands the consequences of his actions and can be responsible for them. Therefore, aggression is no longer voluntary, but sometimes conscious. He can manipulate this behavior to get what he wants.

Negative behavior of schoolchildren

It is sometimes difficult for a child to adapt to the school community; moreover, he continues to experience age-related crises. Therefore, negativity towards everyone and everything often appears.

Aggression of younger schoolchildren

Aggressive behavior in children of primary school age is rather a psychological and pedagogical phenomenon. A child comes to a new team with his own requirements and desires, and he needs to obey other norms of behavior. Aggression often occurs in response to the demands of parents and teachers, due to ignorance of certain norms of behavior. Such children also tend to display passive-aggressive behavior. They do not strive to fulfill the requests and decrees of adults. Screaming and negative emotions from adults will only worsen this behavior of the student.

At this age, it is important to maintain a favorable psychological climate in the family. A child has to learn a lot, apply a lot, get used to a lot. Therefore, family support is simply necessary. During this period, it is important to protect the student from an aggressive environment, the influence of violent films and computer games. Much also depends on the social status of the child. For example, rich children consider themselves the center of the universe, and therefore require constant attention. If they do not receive it, a defensive reaction begins in the form of aggressive behavior.

Aggression in teenagers

It is no secret that this age is the most difficult in human development. Negativism can arise for various reasons. There are many reasons for aggressive behavior at this age, ranging from hormonal changes to global problems of relations between the sexes. It is especially important to support the teenager in time, but also to give him time to be alone with his thoughts (not to get into his soul). To do this, parents need wisdom and knowledge of their child's character to determine these periods.

Correction of aggression in people

Reducing aggression is an important goal of specialists and relatives aggressive person. It is difficult to live with such people, since it is impossible to predict when their emotions will flare up next. To do this, it is important to do the following:

The described methods help eliminate accumulated aggression, that is, unintentional, unconscious. But when a person specifically seeks to destroy, upset or cause harm to others, then it is necessary to contact a specialist.

When correcting, it is important to find out the cause of aggressive behavior. A specialist will help you do this and select the necessary psychotherapy techniques. Often a person needs to work through a problem that leads to destructive and negative actions, and learn constructive ways of behavior and communication.

Aggressive behavior must be corrected using training programs, where a person receives knowledge of what happens when he expresses his negativity. The client is also trained the right ways expressions of anger and negative emotions. Each age has its own program.

Prevention

Prevention of aggressive behavior in adolescents, junior schoolchildren, preschoolers, adults occupies an important place in the psychiatric and psychological study of the problem of aggression. To reduce aggressiveness, it is recommended to organize a surge of emotions - attending a concert, football match or organizing a holiday. But this will not help if you are overtired, so you need to take care of your physical condition.

Children need to be given time to rest, “reboot” from school, and household responsibilities. They need to be taught how to express their anger without causing harm to others. There are some psychological games that can help a child cope with his negative feelings. In them, the child learns to switch his attention from the irritating factor, to cope with accumulated emotions and psychological stress in a timely manner.