Articles on Aggression & Violence

Aurora Incident: Does Violent Media Cause Aggressive Behavior?

For years there has been a controversy surrounding the question of a causal link between exposure to violent media and aggressive behavior. At least as far back as 1986 when the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was released, the public has been divided over whether not such media has a detrimental affect on the psychology of game players.

Vice City engaged players in gunplay to resolve an inter-ethnic gang war in a fictionalized representation of Miami, Florida. Similarly, Final Fantasy VIII caught a lot of attention in the year 2000, when Jose’ Rabadon Pardo, claiming that he was executing a mission from the game’s Squall Leonhart character, murdered his father, mother and sister with a katana. There are several reports which present convincingly and unconvincingly information to support correlations between violent media and aggressive behavior.

Continue reading "Aurora Incident: Does Violent Media Cause Aggressive Behavior?" ...

Date Posted: July 28, 2012

Categories: Aggression & Violence, Child and/or Adolescent Issues

The psychology behind riots and looting: The August 2011 English Riots

Recent news of widespread rioting and looting in several English cities has shocked most people both in England and the rest of the world.  One widely reported video on TV was particularly disturbing and perhaps even more distressful to Asians, was that of the young Malaysian student, Ashraf Rossli, being helped up by several rioters only to be subsequently robbed by these same persons. The complete slow and methodical way these perpetrators opened his packsack and stole what they wanted revealed a complete lack of empathy for their victim.  In contrast was the endearing optimism and forgiveness of Ashraf who in a subsequent TV interview demonstrated no anger towards his abusers as well as a determination to continue his studies in England.

Continue reading "The psychology behind riots and looting: The August 2011 English Riots" ...

Date Posted: August 24, 2011

Categories: Aggression & Violence