NCJ Number
195533
Journal
Aggression and Violent Behavior Volume: 7 Issue: 3 Dated: May-June 2002 Pages: 237-250
Date Published
2002
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This paper examines the development of a refined classification scheme for the categorization of human aggression as a key to improved diagnosis and treatment.
Abstract
The principal thesis of this review is that much of animal and human aggression contains affective or predatory characteristics. Affective defense is an aggressive response based on the presence of elements of either fear and/or threat, which may be real or perceived. The paper's primary focus is to highlight that work which subtypes aggression into affective and predatory components. The paper considers predatory attack understudied relative to affective defense, and consists of a purposeful and goal-directed attack with absence of sympathetic arousal. The paper argues that a variety of classification schemes reported in both the animal and human literature could be relabeled as affective defense and predatory attack. This approach is significant because it: (1) links animal and human research; (2) can lead to new lines of investigation in humans; and (3) may provide the impetus for new treatment studies. In conclusion, a more succinct definition of aggression can be achieved by using the terms affective and predatory as the basic subtypes of aggression. Such a scheme might allow individuals to be classified differentially according to the ratio of affective to predatory behaviors, thus providing a new rationale for research, diagnosis, and treatment. Table, references