the interactive whiteboard in working with learners

Kultura i Edukacja 2014, No. 5 (105)

ISSN 1230-266X

DOI: 10.15804/kie.2014.05.05

Kamila Majewska Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Poland

THE INTERACTIVE WHITEBOARD IN WORKING WITH LEARNERS. UNCONDITIONAL LOVE, OR A RESULT OF SPECIFIC ACTIONS? ABSTRACT The number of articles, books, and film documentaries reporting on lessons taught using a multimedia whiteboard is growing year by year. Numerous photographs and recordings show happy faces of children and their teachers. Also, test reports leave no doubt as to the attractiveness of activities supported by this modern media tool. But do all learners approve of learning with an interactive whiteboard? What determines the level of acceptance? I tried to obtain the answer to these questions in the course of research conducted in primary education classrooms as part of grant 495-NP.

Key words: interactive whiteboards, acceptance of interactive tools, interactive learning, primary school, research results

1. Introduction The first interactive whiteboards were introduced to schools at the beginning of the 1990s. Initially, they featured American and British facilities, a little later they

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arrived in the European market. Now, they are rapidly being introduced into our country’s primary schools1. The process of equipping grades I to III with interactive whiteboards in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Province started in 2009 and lasted until June 20112. At that time, 699 primary schools, including 1100 first grade classes, 1091 second grade classes and 1102 third grade classes were supplied with interactive sets3. Similar activities are also taking place in other provinces of our country. Installing interactive whiteboards in schools was accompanied by free training courses designed for early education teachers. In line with the assumption of the “Key to learning”4, the purpose of equipping classrooms with interactive whiteboards was to give a fuller and more detailed presentation of data and images needed for the teacher to conduct an interesting presentation. In addition to more attractive activities, the consequence of the inclusion of a multimedia whiteboard in the course of the lesson was to improve learning outcomes, as well as children’s increased motivation to learn.

2. A learner working with a multimedia whiteboard in the light of empirical research Numerous statements of teachers who every day work with an interactive whiteboard confirm the attractiveness of activities supported by modern technologies. In their words, the learners accept the presence of educational multimedia tools in the classroom. They use the whiteboard without much trouble: they draw, solve problems, do interactive exercises, play games, and surf the Internet5. Krystyna Górecka notes that the inclusion of the interactive whiteboard in lessons, makes learners begin to demonstrate greater activeness and interest, aroused both by the 1

K. Majewska, Tablica interaktywna w procesie nauczania [Interactive Whiteboard in the Learning Process], “Wychowanie na co dzień” [Commonplace Education] 2011, No. 6, p. 28, 29. 2 K. Majewska, Lekcja bez tajemnic, czyli jak uniknąć podstawowych problemów w pracy z tablicą interaktywną [Lesson without Secrets, or How to Avoid Basic Problems in Working with an Interactive Whiteboard], “45 Minut” [45 Minutes] 2011, No. 64, pp. 38 – 40. 3 Krzemińska B., Tablice interaktywne dla szkół podstawowych [Interactive Whiteboards for Primary Schools], Kujawsko-Pomorskie, http://www.kujawsko-pomorskie.pl/index. php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13920&Itemid=126, [Access date: 07.06.2012]. 4 Ibidem. 5 Rozmowa z Dorotą Gebhardt o interaktywnych urządzeniach [Interview with Dorothy Gebhardt about Interactive Devices], Interactive Solution for Education, http://www.interaktywne.eu/index.ph p?modul=news&akcja=pokaz&id=36, [Access date: 06.06.2012].

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topic of the lesson, and by the device supporting it. These words are confirmed by the following learners’ statements: Marta: “I believe that lessons with the interactive whiteboard are very interesting. In the beginning I was not sure whether I knew how to use such a ‘device’, but when I went to the whiteboard, it turned out to be easy. It would be nice if such whiteboards were available in all classrooms.” Bartosz: “Learning is fun with the interactive whiteboard. It is easy to use. We used it in our Polish lesson and I really enjoyed it. I prefer modern classes to traditional ones.” Mateusz: “Lessons with an interactive whiteboard are interesting and exciting.”6 Learners’ increased motivation to work with an interactive whiteboard is also noted by Schmid who, in one of his articles (a report of qualitative research), says that children are not only more willing to participate in lessons, but also more often engage in their course7. Their activity, interest in the subject, as well as active participation in solving tasks and problems increases. According to the author, conclusions from interviews and questionnaires are confirmed by the following statement: “lessons are more interesting with an interactive whiteboard” and “learning gives a lot of fun”8. Importantly, the attitudes to a subject change. An image friendly to the eye, sound, movement, a possibility of direct contact with the object of teaching, do not only attract the attention of learners, but also, to a large extent, involve them in the course of classes, which can be proved by the words: “even if I was not at the whiteboard, I felt that I could interact with it. When I observe others working with the board, I’m still learning … I can see the mistakes made by others.” Excitement in a lesson taught with an interactive whiteboard becomes so large that learners feel regret when they cannot personally come to it and solve the problem presented to them9. In addition to delight, the presence of a multimedia whiteboard in the classroom may also cause diametrically varied emotions: fear of new technology, dis6

K. Górecka, Tablica interaktywna w Szkole Podstawowej numer 1 w Choszcznie [Interactive Whiteboard in Primary School Number 1 in Choszczno] [in:] Pedagogika informacyjna: media w teorii i praktyce edukacyjnej [Pedagogy of Information: Media in Educational Theory and Practice], E. Perzycka (ed.), Szczecin 2010, p. 585. 7 C.E. Schmid, Potential Pedagogical Benefits and Drawbacks of Multimedia Use in the English Language Classroom Equipped with Interactive Whiteboard Technology, “Computers and Education” 2008, Vol. 51, No. 4, pp. 1553 – 1568. 8 V. Quashie, How Interactive is the Interactive Whiteboard?, “Mathematics Teaching” 2009, Vol. 214, pp. 33 – 34. 9 Ibidem, pp. 34 – 38.


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couragement due to technical failure, and boredom induced by ineffective attempts to incorporate an interactive tool into the course of the lesson. Monika: “The only drawback of this board is that you must keep this ‘pen’ perpendicular and it doesn’t work for me 10 Sometimes the board is stuck and we cannot work on it. Speakers do not work. Lessons are similar to those we had last year, with a traditional board.”11 Unfortunately, the courses offered as part of the training “The key to learning” did not prepare teachers for the holistic operation of the interactive whiteboard. Many educational institutions have not taken advantage of the opportunity to participate in free workshops, involving their employees only in a five hours’ training course delivered by the company – SMART providing interactive whiteboards. The consequence of gross gaps in knowledge is a poor quality of work with the multimedia whiteboard. Teachers are often unaware of the opportunities offered by the whiteboard software. They do not use ready-made applications for the preparation of interactive exercises. This fact, of which they are often unaware, does not cause discouragement in the equipment. The lack of basic knowledge of operating the tool turns out to be a real demotivator. Accidental failure of the shelf–whiteboard, whiteboard–overhead projector, overhead projector–computer connection, emerging problems with sound, often contribute to a complete paralysis of a lesson. Another adversity is the lack of suitably qualified staff (IT specialist – conservator), capable of coping with technical problems occurring during a lesson. Consequently, the existence of a problem involves the notification of the company responsible for the sales and maintenance of equipment. The time for repair, depending on the damage, may last from a few to a dozen days. These factors, although making work with an interactive whiteboard difficult, do not discourage large groups of learners. Interviews conducted among 133 people showed that regardless of the level of interactivity supported by a multimedia whiteboard, lessons (as well as the tool itself) are accepted by 94% of children 12. The attractiveness of learning with a multimedia whiteboard is of great importance for the positive reception of new forms of work. For a large part of the learners in grades I – III this means a possibility of writing with a colour marker, insertion of patterns, watching videos, playing games, etc. The research carried out by Małgorzata Nodzyńska shows that 32% of learners consider courses conducted 10 11 12

K. Górecka, op.cit., p. 585. Observations of students, recorded during an interview conducted in grades I – III. Based on own research.

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using an interactive whiteboard to be much more attractive, while 60% consider them more attractive, compared to traditional lessons13. It can be concluded from the observations conducted by Hanna Gulińska that the use of an interactive whiteboard “activates learning by observation, action, feeling, and thinking. The learners subjected to research have shown great commitment in all activities offered in the classroom…”14. Similar sentiments are shared by early education teachers in numerous interviews15. The attractiveness of activities supported by a multimedia whiteboard is reflected in the high level of involvement in the lesson, which in turn translates into children’s level of knowledge and learning outcomes. Good grades, being a kind of gratification for work, motivate learning and raise the degree of acceptance for a multimedia whiteboard in the classroom. During the surveys conducted by Quashie, learners reported that, owing to the presence of interactive whiteboards in the classroom, they have the opportunity to better understand the subject and the presented problems. They justified their assessment by the ability to analyse images more exactly and to identify incomprehensible elements, which would not be possible if working with a normal whiteboard. The opportunity to interact with learning material was also essential. During the survey and interview young people pointed out that: – “the interactive whiteboard makes lessons simpler”, – “the whiteboard makes it easy to interact with the object of learning”, – “the tool is easy to operate”. Analyzing the words and the results of learners’ surveys, one may be tempted to argue that the use of the interactive whiteboard can help learners to understand a presented problem (about 60% said that the IWB definitely helps, while about 35% said that it helps)16. The declared ease of the use of and learning with a multimedia whiteboard is often confirmed by the results of the teaching of school subjects, among others Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Polish and Foreign Languages, Natural Science, etc. 13

M. Nodzyńska, Wyniki badań nad atrakcyjnością zajęć prowadzonych przy zastosowaniu tablicy interaktywnej [Research Results on Attractiveness of Classes Taught Using the Interactive Whiteboard] [in:] Wykorzystanie technologii informatycznych w akademickiej dydaktyce chemii [Use of Information Technology in the Academic Teaching of Chemistry], I. Maciejowska, M. Ruszak, S.Witkowski (eds.), Kraków 2007, p. 75. 14 H. Gulińska, Płyta CD-ROM jako element podręcznika chemii [The CD-ROM as Part of a Chemistry Textbook], Uniwersytet Pedagogiczny im. Komisji Edukacji Narodowej w Krakowie, p. 7, http://www.up.krakow.pl/ktime/ref2006/Gulinska.pdf, [Access date: 10.06.2012]. 15 Interactive solution, op.cit. 16 C.E. Schmid, op.cit., p. 1557.


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The use of the multimedia whiteboard in the teaching of science has, undoubtedly, many advantages. The main ones include: the ability to visualize a large part of the discussed issues, as well as the ease of presentation of a large number of examples with their full description in a short time. A graphic presentation of data gives teachers a real chance to present accurately: charts, three-dimensional solids, quantities of perimeters and surface areas of figures, impact of forces, chemical reactions, etc., so that the learner can gain a thorough understanding of phenomena that are difficult to imagine. No less important is the number of presented patterns. A presentation rich in examples plays an important role, especially in the first stage of the introduction of a concept, when a thorough understanding of the fundamentals ensures a smooth transition to a higher level of abstraction. In addition to science, “the interactive whiteboard supports the teaching of foreign languages…”, which, as pointed out by Gérard and Widener, is possible owing to17: – conducting activities supporting the learner-teacher, learner-learner conversation; – visual presentation of the culture elements; – audio and visual presentation of dialogues and films in a foreign language; – preparation of exercises supporting the teacher’s work; – preparation of exercises supporting language skills; – activation of the learner; – increased learner motivation. As shown by quantitative analyses, the use of the interactive whiteboard can help achieve better learning outcomes; however, it is not a determinant, much less a guarantee of an increase in learners’ knowledge. During the working out of the data obtained by means of knowledge tests, conducted in a survey in 2008 in Marzano Research Laboratory18, there were cases where the ratio of the number of points obtained in a post-test to the number of points scored in a pre-test was unfavourable (group A and B, figure 1). Then one began to look for the factors influencing the results of teaching. On the basis of long-term observations and extensive data collected by various laboratories and research centres it was found that we can talk about multifactorial 17

Gérard F., Widener J., A smarter Way to Teach Foreign Language: The SMART Board™ Interactive Whiteboard as a Language Learning Tool, pp. 1 – 6, http://www.swsc.org/16331056134949507/ lib/16331056134949507/A_SMARTer_Way_to_Teach_Foreign_Language.pdf, [Access date: 10.11.2010]. 18 J.R. Marzano, M.W. Haystead, Final Report Evaluation Study of the Effects of Promethean ActivClassrom on Student Achievement, Bloomington 2009.

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Number of learners

25 20 E 15

D C

10

B 5

A

0 –30% do –16%

–15% do –1%

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31% do 45%

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Figure 1. Percentage change resulting from the inclusion of the multimedia whiteboard in the course of the lesson Source: R.J. Marzano, M.W. Haystead, 2009.

aspects of effective (ineffective) use of the multimedia whiteboard in the learning process which may be affected by: – The age of the learner, because of the potential for graphic presentation of the material and the power of a multisensory impact. – The experience of the teacher as regards the duration of working at school. – The duration of operating the multimedia whiteboard and awareness of its maintenance. – The ratio of the duration of the use of the multimedia whiteboard to the duration of the class taught in the traditional way. – The sense of effectiveness of using the multimedia whiteboard by the teacher.

3. Research results and conclusions The data for analyses were collected from May 2011 to March 2012, under grant 459-NP. The study group consisted of 133 learners from grades II – III of primary school. In the experiment children participated in three different types of classes: classes conducted in the traditional way using an ordinary whiteboard, classes conducted in the traditional way using a multimedia whiteboard, and interactive classes supported by a multimedia whiteboard. A total of 24 lessons were carried


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out (9 of each type), touching upon the issues of the Polish Language, Mathematics, and Natural Science. In the experiment, learners participated in knowledge tests and interviews, whereas teachers took part in quantitative surveys and interviews. Some classes, with the head teacher’s consent, were observed by three qualified judges. Pilot studies have shown that the learners’ activeness in traditional classes is around 15%–25%. In the case of traditional lessons conducted with a multimedia whiteboard, activeness increases to about 25%–30%. The highest activeness, approximately 85%–97%, was recorded in interactive lessons using a multimedia whiteboard. These results were confirmed during the research proper. While interactive classes with a multimedia whiteboard did not cause reservations in a group of 96% of children, the more traditional classes supported by this modern tool did. During the experiment (in traditional lessons supported by a multimedia whiteboard) the presence of a 4% group of learners was reported who did not see any advantages of using interactive whiteboards in a traditional lesson. According to these people, the lessons could be taught using an ordinary whiteboard. Four children also declared their willingness to change in the future an interactive classroom into a classroom with an ordinary whiteboard. The decision stemmed, as the learners assured, from the following reasons: working with a multimedia whiteboard causes a great deal of technical problems and the classes are similar to those of the previous year. Based on the obtained data it can be concluded that learners accept work with an interactive whiteboard to a large extent. 100%

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0% All kinds of learning with IWB accepted

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Figure 2. Level of acceptance of work with multimedia whiteboard Source: Author’s own study.

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The research carried out so far enables me to make the following statement: the level of acceptance of work with the multimedia whiteboard, as well as teaching effectiveness, is multifactorial. Based on information gathered during observations, interviews, and informal conversations with learners, I felt able to define two basic factors which are of great importance in the context of approval of new teaching methods: 1. The manner of using the board by the teacher It should be interactive, allowing a direct contact with the teaching material. Films, images, and multimedia presentations included in the course of a lesson not only stimulate interest, but also provide a better transfer of knowledge. Extremely important are the sounds and graphic signs confirming the correctness or incorrectness of the presented solutions. 2. Technical problems occurring during a lesson Technical problems occurring during a lesson, which are often beyond the teacher’s knowledge, discourage learners from work with the multimedia whiteboard. In many schools the interactive whiteboard is the only board in the classroom, therefore, any problems and damage prevent the learners from making notes common and visible to all, which raises not only their anger, but also discouragement. During the classes there were various levels of learners’ activeness. The greatest occurred during interactive classes, which may indicate a greater interest and, consequently, a higher level of acceptance. The lowest activeness characterized traditional lessons. 100% 90%

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Figure 3. verage level of activeness in a lesson Source: Author’s own study.

Traditional lesson with a regular whiteboard


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In my belief, the result of many hours of observation of the behaviour and of analysis of learners’ utterances, one cannot speak of unconditional acceptance of working with the multimedia whiteboard, or love for the tool. The presence of a group of learners of a few percent who challenge the traditional nature of learning with an interactive whiteboard may testify to the occurrence of expectations of specific actions. The number of children for whom a colour pen, or a single image presented in the classroom do not suffice, will increase over time. According to the assumptions, the multimedia whiteboard was intended to support, motivate, and facilitate the understanding of issues difficult to imagine. Deeper knowledge and, consequently, higher educational outcomes were to be the results of its inclusion in the lesson. Unfortunately, as practice shows, the mere presence of a multimedia whiteboard in the classroom will not suffice. Essential is a correct, interactive message that will not only fully involve children, but also enable them to benefit from the capabilities of this comprehensive multimedia tool.

REFERENCES: Gérard F., Widener J., A smarter Way to Teach Foreign Language: The SMART Board™ Interactive Whiteboard as a Language Learning Tool, http://www.swsc. org/16331056134949507/lib/16331056134949507/A_SMARTer_Way_to_Teach_Foreign_Language.pdf, [Access date: 10.11.2010]. Górecka K., Tablica interaktywna w Szkole Podstawowej numer 1 w Choszcznie [Interactive Whiteboard in Primary School Number 1 in Choszczno] [in:] Pedagogika informacyjna: media w teorii i praktyce edukacyjnej [Pedagogy of Information: Media in Educational Theory and Practice], E. Perzycka (ed.), Szczecin 2010. Gulińska H., Płyta CD-ROM jako element podręcznika chemii [The CD-ROM as Part of a Chemistry Textbook], Uniwersytet Pedagogiczny im. Komisji Edukacji Narodowej w Krakowie, http://www.up.krakow.pl/ktime/ref2006/Gulinska.pdf, [Access date: 10.06.2012]. Krzemińska B., Tablice interaktywne dla szkół podstawowych [Interactive Whiteboards for Primary Schools], Kujawsko – Pomorskie, http://www.kujawsko-pomorskie.pl/ index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13920&Itemid=126, [Access date: 07.06.2012]. Majewska K., Lekcja bez tajemnic, czyli jak uniknąć podstawowych problemów w pracy z tablicą interaktywną [Lesson without Secrets, or How to Avoid Basic Problems in Working with an Interactive Whiteboard], “45 Minut” [45 Minutes] 2011, No. 64.

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Majewska K., Tablica interaktywna w procesie nauczania [Interactive Whiteboard in the Learning Process], “Wychowanie na co dzień” [Commonplace Education] 2011, No. 6. Marzano R.J., Haystead M.W., Final Report Evaluation Study of the Effects of Promethean ActivClassrom on Student Achievement, Bloomington 2009. Nodzyńska M., Wyniki badań nad atrakcyjnością zajęć prowadzonych przy zastosowaniu tablicy interaktywnej [Research Results on Attractiveness of Classes Taught Using the Interactive Whiteboard] [in:] Wykorzystanie technologii informatycznych w akademickiej dydaktyce chemii [Use of Information Technology in the Academic Teaching of Chemistry], I. Maciejowska, M. Ruszak, S. Witkowski (eds.), Kraków 2007. Quashie V., How Interactive is the Interactive Whiteboard?, “Mathematics Teaching” 2009, Vol. 214. Rozmowa z Dorotą Gebhardt o interaktywnych urządzeniach [Interview with Dorothy Gebhardt about Interactive Devices], Interactive solution for education, http://www.interaktywne.eu/index.php?modul=news&akcja=pokaz&id=36, [Access date: 06.06.2012] Schmid C.E., Potential Pedagogical Benefits and Drawbacks of Multimedia Use in the English Language Classroom Equipped with Interactive Whiteboard Technology, “Computers and Education” 2008, Vol. 51, No. 4.


ISSN 1230-266X

DOI: 10.15804/kie.2014.05.06

A n n a Wa l i g ó ra - H u k University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland

TEACHERS OF RURAL JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLS AND PREVENTIVE ACTIONS IN THE AREA OF CYBERBULLYING ABSTRACT This article presents the results of research conducted on the research sample of N=388 teachers in rural secondary schools. The aim of the research was to answer the problems concerning knowledge and activities undertaken by teachers in rural secondary schools in the prevention of the phenomenon of cyberbullying. The method used in this study was diagnostic survey. The research technique was individual, categorized interview, based on the author’s interview questionnaire. The collected data shows that educational classes are the most popular preventive actions organized in secondary schools in rural areas on the safety of children and young people in the Web. As part of preventive actions, the majority of teachers take the conversations with students to raise their awareness in the area of the dangers associated with the use of the Web. Analyses flow requests that the level of knowledge of the actions and initiatives organized by the institutions, especially the local environment, as well as the level of knowledge of websites and telephone hotlines among teachers in rural secondary schools is low. Such a low level of knowledge will translate into the quality of preventive measures implemented by teachers, especially in the aspect of information strategy.

Key words: teachers of rural schools, prevention of cyberbullying, prevention in rural schools

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1. Introduction A personal computer with Internet access is one of the biggest and most important achievements of the civilisation. Percentage of households with computers is steadily increasing. In Poland, in 2013 75% of households were equipped with a computer1. Access to the global network is even more popular among underaged persons, who use the Internet at home, school, as well as in facilities and institutions that organise after-school activities developing their interest2 (libraries, culture centres, youth clubs, foreign language schools, and others). The Internet is a living, constantly developing structure. This openness and a false impression of impunity and anonymity cause that apart from beneficial phenomena one may encounter various pathologies and threats online. Henry Jenkins writes that if people take the media in their hands, the effects may be fantastically creative, but this may also mean problems for all the involved parties3. Peer bullying, using new electronic media in the recent years has become a significant and serious issue, not only in terms of education and prevention, but even in social terms. Research results show that over a half of the children experience cyberbullying4. The specificity of the Internet and mobile phones causes that even seemingly petty acts of cyberbullying are a serious problem for the victims, who often are not able to cope with them without professional support from the parents, teachers and specialists. The issue of cyberbullying clearly concerns schools. Acts of cyberbullying usually occur with the use of mobile phones in a classroom, a locker room, or school football field. More and more frequently “traditional” peer conflicts move from the school ground to the Internet5. The problem, defined as cyberbullying6,and in Poland the increasingly popular term is cyberprzemoc, was 1

Społeczeństwo informacyjne w Polsce, Central Statistical Office of Poland, http://www.stat.gov. pl, [Access date: 01.08.2014]. 2 B. Danowski, A. Krupińska, Dziecko w sieci, Gliwice 2007, p. 5. 3 H. Jenkins, Kultura konwergencji. Zderzenie starych i nowych mediów, Warszawa 2007, p. 22. 4 N.E. Willard, Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats. Responding to the Challenge of Online Social Aggression, Threats, and Distress, Ann Arbor 2007, p. 1; Teen Online & Wireless Safety Survey, Cyberbullying, Sexting and Parental Control, Cox Communications Teen Online & Wireless Safety Survey. In Partnership with National Center for Missing and Exploited Children(NCMEC) and John Walsh (fielded among young people 13 – 18), Teen Online & Wireless Safety Survey 2009. 5 Jak reagować na cyberprzemoc, poradnik dla szkół, Ł. Wojtasik (ed.), Warszawa 2009, p. 4. 6 S. Hinduja, J. Patchin, Cyberbullying: Identification, Prevention and Response, New York 2011, p. 1; M. Ybarra, Linkages between Depressive Symptomology and Internet Harassment among Young Regular Internet Users, “Cyber Psychology& Behavior” 2004, No. 7(2), pp. 247 – 257; M. Ybarra, K.J. Mitchell, Online Aggressor/Targets, Aggressors, and Targets: A Comparison of Associated Youth Characteristics, “Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry” 2004, No. 45; S. Hinduja, J. Patchin,

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not noticed until several years ago, but very quickly it was considered to be a significant social issue, and its addressing is currently a priority of many programs, both involving upbringing, education and prevention, devoted to the safety of youth online7. The scale of cyberbullying, and its widespread nature, may be defined using the research results published so far. One of few studies conducted in Poland is the survey study by Jacek Pyżalski. The results obtained by the researcher on a large sample N=719 of junior high school [Polish: gimnazjum] students indicate that 20% of the respondents at least once in their live shave taken actions which fulfil the criteria of cyberbullying, such as long-lasting of the action, its intentionality, and inequality of power. The percentage of respondents who admitted to being victims of cyberbullying was slightly over 16%8.The cited research results also show that the total of 32.4% of junior high school students direct the acts of aggression towards persons who they know only from the Internet, whereas 27.8% towards their acquaintances, mainly from the school, housing district, or class. 19.6% of the students admitted that they directed electronic aggression towards their close friends9. A similar pattern was observed in the United States. Ybarra and Mitchell found that almost 80% of cyberbullies attack online the persons who they know more or less10. So far, there have been few comparative studies in which specific countries would use the same research tools with unified questions regarding the experience of cyberbullying. One of the studies where questions about cyberbullying were similar to Pyżalski’s, is Teen Online & Wireless Safety Survey11. American results under the aforesaid project slightly differed from the Polish ones.

Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying, Thousand Oaks 2009, p. 5; R. Slonje, P.K. Smith, Cyberbulliyng: Another Main Type of Bullying?, “Scandinavian Journal of Psychology” 2008, No. 49. 7 A. Waligóra-Huk, Kampania i działania społeczne na rzecz bezpieczeństwa dzieci i młodzieży w Internecie [in:] Technologie edukacyjne – tradycja, współczesność, przewidywana przyszłość, T. Lewowicki, B. Siemieniecki (eds.), Toruń 2011, p. 180. 8 J. Pyżalski, Agresja elektroniczna wśród dzieci i młodzieży, Sopot 2011, pp. 77 – 79. 9 Ibidem, pp. 75 – 79. 10 M.L. Ybarra, K.J. Mitchell, Youth Engaging in Online Harassment: Associations with CaregiverChild Relationships, Internet Use, and Personal Characteristics, “Journal of Adolescence” 2004, No. 27, pp. 319 – 336. 11 Teen Online & Wireless Safety Survey, Cyberbullying, Sexting and Parental Control, Cox Communications Teen Online & Wireless Safety Survey. In Partnership with National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and John Walsh (fielded among young people 13 – 18), Teen Online & Wireless Safety Survey 2009.

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The percentage of victims 3 pp. higher than in Poland and it was 19%, while the percentage of bullies was significantly lower and it accounted for 10%12. The research published in 2009 by the Anti-Defamation League indicate that 35% of teenagers aged between 13 – 17, in one year have experienced specific forms of cyberbullying: harassment, insulting or offensive comments, gossip, threats, or received aggressive messages. 8% of the teenage respondents admitted that they were victims of cyberbullies at least once a month or even more often13. Similar results were obtained by iSafe, an organisation dealing with activities supporting education and safety online. 35% of teenagers examined by iSafe experienced online bullying, and nearly 20% were a victim of cyberbullying more than once14. Moreover, according to the research carried out by Wired Safety, 40% of secondary school students have experienced theft of their passwords to e-mail or social network accounts. The thieves modified passwords, blocked access to the users’ accounts, or sent different kinds of messages unlawfully using the users’ identity15. The above data, resulting from research conducted both home and abroad, make us aware that the issue of cyberbullying is actually an important phenomenon within the range of problem behaviour16 in children and teenagers, and the need for information and education prevention is justified. The justification of taking the said own study is generally unsatisfactory status of research on the issues concerned in the Polish literature. Main and significant studies in this field were conducted in 2006 by the Nobody’s Children Foundation [Polish: Fundacja Dzieci Niczyje]from Warsaw. Selected results of the studies were published in several magazines, in particular in “Dziecko krzywdzone”17 and in J. Pyżalski’s18 and Ł. Wojtasik’s19 publications. The existing studies on the issue of 12

J. Pyżalski, op.cit., p. 78. S. Hogan, Cyberbullying Is Worse than Traditional Bullying [in:] Cyberbullying, L.S. Friedman (eds.), Farmington Hills 2011, p. 26; S. Hogan, Cyber Bully: The Schoolyard Bully Now Has a Screen Name, “Times Publications” October 2008. 14 Ibidem, p. 30. 15 L.T. Sanchez, Cyberbullying Should Be Treated as a Crime [in:] Cyberbullying, L.S. Friedman (ed.), Farmington Hills 2011, p. 41. 16 R. Jessor, S.L. Jessor, Problem Behavior and Psychosocial Development: A Longitudinal Study of Youth, New York 1997; R. Jessor, Problem – Behavior Theory, Psychosocial Development, and Adolescent Problem Drinking, “British Journal of Addiction” 1977, Vol. 82, Iss. 4. 17 M. Walrave, W. Herman, Skutki cyberbullyingu – oskarżenie czy obrona technologii?, “Dziecko krzywdzone. Teoria, badania, praktyka” 2009, No. 1(26). 18 J. Pyżalski, op.cit., p. 79 and following. 19 Jak reagować…, op.cit., pp. 5 – 10; Ł. Wojtasik, Przemoc rówieśnicza a media elektroniczne, Warszawa 2007. 13


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cyberbullying refer in particular to the scale of the phenomenon, specific forms of cyberbullying, frequency of its specific forms, emotions felt by the victim, as well the issue of informing other persons, especially parents, teachers and peers of experiencing cyberbullying. The studies concerned were conducted only in big city communities and they were not representative. Moreover, they did not explore this new social phenomenon any further. A shortage of studies on the issue of cyberbullying among children and youth from rural areas is felt, also in the field of preventive actions taken by the teachers. Moreover, in the times of progressing social changes, developing industrialisation, globalisation, and socio-economic transformations, as well as technological development, dysfunctional individual behaviours change, including behaviours of children and youth. In line with development and extension of knowledge in the area of pedagogical sciences, teachers’ and specialists’ methods of responding to and preventing the incidents changed too, including the violence using the media. Interest in this issue partly results from practical teaching experiences and day-to-day observations of the children’s and teenagers’ behaviours, where the media play a very important role, both in the course of establishing, maintaining and breaking interpersonal relations and contacts. Frequently, the child’s functioning after time spent at school “moves” from the school life to the virtual realm of games, chats, social media, and online identity. Children are left alone in this realm without any clear instructions, not taught how to cope with the encountered difficulties, how to solve conflicts in the course of non-synchronic communication, how to respond to attacks or insulting comments received online, or through the mobile phone and they actually feel stranded, helpless, lonely, and they often become aggressive. The teaching practice shows that in the face of traumatic situations experienced by a young man, many peers, and also parents, teachers and school psychologists remain as helpless, inefficient and uninformed as the victim. In order to prevent cyberbullying among teenagers, teachers should take a number of preventive and intervening actions20. To make such actions efficient and yielding measurable results, apart from the knowledge of the phenomenon concerned, their initiators should have a certain portfolio of strategies and kinds of influence which may be used in emergency.

20

See. S. Shariff, Cyber-bullying, Issues and solutions for school, the classroom and the home, Abingdon 2010.

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2. Methodology of own studies and description of the research sample The objective of own studies was to provide answers to the research issues, comprised in the following questions: What actions are taken by rural junior high school teachers in the area of prevention of cyberbullying among the teenagers? What is the knowledge of rural junior high school teachers in the area of preventive initiatives taken in schools against the issue of cyberbullying? What is the teachers’ knowledge of websites and hotline numbers, which may be useful for the cyberbullying victims, and of initiatives implemented by local institutions, local authorities, non-governmental entities for the benefit of safety of children and youth in the Internet? In order to find answers to the defined research problems, diagnostic survey method was selected, including individual, open, classified interviews based on the author’s interview form. The studies under diagnostic survey were conducted in 2012 in ten randomly selected rural junior high schools in the Silesian Voivodeship. The schools were selected for research on the basis of data published by the Ministry of National Education under Education Information [Polish: System Informacji Oświatowej]21. While creating the sampling frame, an advanced system of searching interesting facilities was used. The key category was the type of school: gimnazjum [junior high school], the supervisory and registering authority: commune, publicity: public school, category of students: children and teenagers, school specificity: without any specificity, related organisations: unrelated and the size class: countryside. Other size classes allowing the search in the system are: town with population of over 5 thousand and city with population up to 5 thousand. The schools selected for the research are localised in rural areas. According to the definition provided by the Central Statistical Office (GUS), which is based on the division of administrative units in the TERYT register, rural areas are localised outside the administrative borders of the city – areas of rural communes and the rural part (located outside the city) of rural and municipal communes. It is possible to isolate the rural part in a rural and municipal commune owing to a separate territorial identifier22. In a set of system-selected schools, ten random facilities were added, where survey studies were conducted among 388 teachers – all of them employed in the schools. 21 22

System Informacji Oświatowej, http://www.cie.men.gov.pl, [Access date: 26.01.2012]. Główny Urząd Statystyczny, http://www.stat.gov.pl, [Access date: 26.01.2012].


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The research sample analysed in terms of the sex shows that there are definitely more female (90.5%), compared to male(9.5%) teachers. Moreover, the conducted analysis shows that majority (96.4%) of teachers of rural junior high schools have specialised master’s degree. During the studies, 3.6% teachers were developing their professional skills. The data obtained during the research shows that over a half (51.2%) of teachers of rural junior high schools have a certified teacher’s title, whereas 22.5% are nominated teachers. Slightly lower number of teachers (17.7%) are contracted teachers. In the research sample, only 8.6% were trainee teachers applying for the title of a contracted teacher. To conclude, as it follows from the conducted interviews the majority of research sample of rural junior high school teachers are women with specialised master’s degree and with teaching background. The teachers employed in rural junior high schools usually have average (from 10 to 15 years) and long (over 20 years) seniority in the public education sector. The data obtained in the studies shows that over half of the teachers of rural junior high school teachers have a certified teacher’s title, which confirms that they are experienced teachers with many years of teaching, education and guardianship practice.

3. Results of own studies The conducted analyses show that 83.8% of the teachers declare that in the rural schools where they work, the students are strictly forbidden to use mobile phones both during the lessons and breaks. Therefore, the students should not have or use mobile phones both for communication and entertainment purposes. Breaching the regulations results in sanctions according to the School Grading System; usually these are reprimands and minus points, which affect the final student’s grade from their general conduct. Despite the applicable rules, in the teachers’ opinion, the junior high school students breach the existing rules and they use mobiles phones at school. What was noticed by the teachers is that they usually send short text messages to one another, take photos of one another, listen to music, access the Internet, and play games. There are also attempts to use the phone dishonestly during written tests. The research shows that vast majority (80.4%) of the teachers working in rural junior high schools are of the opinion that the teenagers, despite the bans, use mobile phones at school. 9.0% of the teachers are of the opposite opinion, and 10.6% state that they do not know (Table 1).

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Table 1. Using mobile phones in school by students according to the teachers Using mobile phones in school by students

Number of answers

%

Students use mobile phones

312

80.4

I don’t know

41

10.6

Students don’t use mobile phones

35

9.0

388

100

Total:

N = 388 Source: The author’s study.

As it follows from the conducted studies, as part of actions aiming to prevent the issue of cyberbullying among rural junior high school students, vast majority of teachers (62.1%) conduct talks both individually and in groups, aiming to make the students aware of the online threats (Table 2). 14.2% of the teachers admit that they conduct form periods, mainly when necessary, when they tackle the issue of cyberbullying prevention. 12.6% of the teachers also have occasional educating lectures during teacher-parent meetings23, aiming to make the parents aware of the online threats for the children and teenagers. A very low percentage of the interviewed teachers (1.8%) organise preventive school competitions and campaigns in the area of cyberbullying and safety of children and youth online. A similarly low percentage of teachers (1.3%) organise preventive lectures and meetings conducted by specialists or the police representatives. The gathered study results allow the conclusion that teachers of rural junior high schools do not take holistic, coherent, comprehensive, and long-term preventive actions in the area of safety of children and youth in the Internet, which may result from the lack of understanding, or little understanding of the rules and theory of social prevention24. In the opinion of 94.8% of rural junior high school teachers, some of the preventive initiatives in the area of cyberbullying are usually form periods on safety of children and youth online (Table 3). Moreover, 77.6% of the teachers declare that there are IT classes in their schools on online safety and cyberbullying. 77.1% of

23

See: M. Musioł, Pedagogizacja medialna rodziny. Zakres – uwarunkowania-dylematy, Katowice

2013. 24 See: J. Szymańska, Programy profilaktyczne. Podstawy profesjonalnej psychoprofilaktyki, Warszawa 2000.


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Table 2. Preventive actions taken on the prevention of cyberbullying according to the teachers Preventive actions

Number of answers

%

Conversations with students

241

62.1

Conducting educational lessons on safety in the Net

55

14.2

Training, lectures for parents

49

12.6

Constant cooperation with school’s pedagogue or psychologist

31

8.0

Preventiveactions, art competitions

7

1.8

Conducting lectures with the Police

5

1.3

388

100

Total:


the interviewed teachers are of the opinion that in the rural junior high schools, there are also educating meeting for parents as part of parent-teacher meetings, during which the issues of safety in the Internet and cyberbullying are tackled. Workshops, lectures with the school psychologist on safety online and cyberbullying are organised in the school in the opinion of 51.0% of the teachers. 43.5% of the teachers declare that they have knowledge on information campaigns, posters, brochures, leaflets on safety in the Internet and cyberbullying. 24.2% of the teachers admit that in rural junior high schools, Internet Safety Days are organised using the materials available on the websites of the Nobody’s Children Foundation and Safer Internet.pl, while 7.2% of the teachers admit that they have initiated and coordinated the Online Safety Days in their schools. It is worrying that no workshops have been organised with a specialist and parents on safety in the Internet and cyberbullying. Such workshops, conducted by the police representatives for the parents, were organised in the opinion of 14.2% of the interviewed teachers. The workshops concerned the issue of safe use of the Internet, personal data protection, publishing private photographs and materials by the teenagers in the social media and methods of protecting oneself and responding to harmful situations, which may be experienced online. Moreover, none of the schools has any preventing programs implemented, which would refer to the issue of cyberbullying. While analysing the research data, a conclusion may be drawn that the scope of actions taken in rural schools regarding cyberbullying prevention is not sufficient. According to the prevention theories ad hoc talks or form periods are part of information strategies, which based on the results of the studies turn out to

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be the least efficient25. In the face of distinctive scale of cyberbullying among the Polish junior high school students, limiting the preventive initiatives in schools to occasional lectures, workshops or few school contests seems to be actions disregarding the seriousness of the problem. Table 3. School initiatives in the prevention of cyberbullying according to the teachers Number of answers

Initiatives

%

Educational lessons on safety in the Net

368

94.8

IT lessons on safety in the Net and cyberbullying

301

77.6

Lectures for parents on safety in the Net and cyberbullying

299

77.1

Workshops, talks with the pedagogue / psychologist on Internet security and cyberbullying for students

198

51.0

Information campaigns, posters, newsletters, flyers on security in networks and cyberbullying

169

43.5

Competitions for youth in the area of safety in the Internet

118

30.4

Organising Internet Safety Days

94

24.2

Familiarize parents with the procedures in the case of cyberbullying

93

23.9

Workshops, talks with the pedagogue / psychologist on Internet security and cyberbullying for parents

91

23.5

Lectures with expert for students

55

14.2

Appeals on security in the Internet and cyberbullying

53

13.7

Conducting cyberbullying preventive program

0

0

Lectures with expert for parents Total:

0

0

1839

–

N = 388 The percentage data do not make up the total of 100 as the questioned people could give any number of answers. Source: The author’s study.

18.0% of the interviewed teachers admit that they personally conducted form periods, classes, talks on safety of children and youth in the Internet. The subjects of lessons conducted by the teachers related in particular to the rules of safe use of the Internet, netiquette, protection of personal data relative to using the social media, Internet addiction, the threat of cyberbullying and methods of responding to online 25

Z.B. Gaś, Psychoprofilaktyka: Procedury konstruowania programów wczesnej interwencji, Lublin 2000.


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aggression, as well as publishing inappropriate photographs and other materials online. Teachers and tutors admit that they organised such classes on an ad hoc basis, responding to current needs and possible suggestions on the part of the students and other teachers, as well as school psychologists. The said lessons were organised in grade one, two and three of the junior high school, but in grades one and two, emphasis was put on the risk of Internet and computer addiction resulting from too much time spent using the media by the students, and in grade three, the issue of personal data and image protection was tackled, related to the use of social media. On average, in each grade one form period per semester is organised on safety in the Internet. The teachers who declare that they organise such classes admit that they introduce the topic related with cyberbullying prevention on average twice a year. Moreover, during the school year, they tackle ad hoc the issues related with cyberbullying and safety in the Internet, thus responding to the current needs. However, such talks do not fill in all the time devoted to the lesson and they are only the teacher’s response to the problems occurring in the class. On the basis of the obtained research results, it may be stated that the number of form periods regarding cyberbullying and online safety of children and youth is insufficient. Although 94.8% of the teachers declare that such lessons are organised, only 18% of the respondents admit that they organise them personally on average twice a year. A clear conclusion may be drawn that the teachers have insufficient knowledge of the websites and phone numbers of hotlines which may be used by cyberbullying victims, or persons who want to provide support and assistance. 80.4% of the interviewed teachers do not know such websites or hotline numbers. It may be concluded that lack of the teachers’ knowledge will be reflected in insufficient providing information on institutions and organisations providing assistance in the situation of experiencing cyberbullying. Therefore, specific recommendations may be formulated for the teaching practice, related to extending the teachers’ knowledge of institutions and other entities providing assistance and information Table 4. Knowledge of websites or telephone hotlines where victims of cyberbullying can find a help according to the teachers Number of answers

%

I don’t know any websites or telephone numbers

Declaration of knowledge

312

80.4

Yes, I know such websites or telephone numbers

76

19.6

388

100

Total:


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for the cyberbullying victims and the persons who want to report illegal, harmful or offensive contents. The studies also show that majority of the teachers (59.5%) do not know about any actions, initiatives, campaigns or programs implemented by local, selfgovernment, non-government institutions for the safety of children and youth in the Internet. 40.5% of the interviewed teachers declare that they know various initiatives concerning cyberbullying prevention and safety of children and youth online. However, the teachers cannot specifically point to any initiatives organised by the local self-government or non-government institutions apart from campaigns organised by the police, which are declared to be known to 13.9% of the respondents, as well as ad hoc initiatives conducted by local Polish Scouts’ Association, which was identified by 1.0% of the interviewed teachers. 2.8% of the teachers point to the knowledge of incidental knowledge of actions taken under cyberbullying prevention by community centres, culture centres or community libraries. The initiatives refer in particular to the visual art contests entitled “Safe use of the Internet”. The highest percentage (22.7%) of the teachers declare that they know about selected actions and campaigns implemented by the Nobody’s Children Foundation. However, the teachers say that they know about such campaigns mainly from the media. Only few persons demonstrated a good knowledge of the current and previous actions of the Nobody’s Children Foundation for the safety of children and youth in the Internet. Vast majority of the respondents cannot precisely point to the names of the programs, campaigns, or specificity of a given initiative organised by this foundation, being the most efficient entity acting for cyberbullying prevention in Poland. It can be concluded from the above analyses that the teachers’ level of knowledge of actions and campaigns organised by institutions and specific entities, in particular local ones, is low. This low level of knowledge will also be reflected in the quality of the preventive measures taken by the teachers, in particular in the aspect of information strategy. Teachers who do not know about institutions taking actions directed to cyberbullying prevention will not provide the teenagers with full and extensive information in this respect. What is more, they will not use the education offer and materials distributed by the foundation and other entities under the conducted actions and campaigns.

4. Conclusions Taking into consideration the gathered data, one may formulate a conclusion that in rural junior high schools, among preventive initiatives regarding cyberbully-


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ing, the most frequently organised classes are form periods and IT lessons on safety of children and youth online. Few rural junior high schoolteachers express the opinion that educating classes are also organised for the parents, as part of parent-teacher meetings, where the issues of online safety and cyberbullying are tackled. Such a narrow scope of actions taken as part of cyberbullying prevention may result from the lack of appropriate knowledge or awareness in the area of this increasingly common teenagers’ problem behaviour. Moreover, the parents being insufficiently informed, may fail to demonstrate alertness regarding the child’s closest circles, thus ignoring or failing to perceive the appearing problems. It should also be noticed that in rural environments, where the studies were conducted, the parents have a significantly limited access to institutions and organisations dealing with the issue of threats related with inadequate use of the media. In agglomeration environments, access to foundations, non-government organisations or other similar institutions is incomparably better. Therefore, the role of teachers making preventive efforts in the rural environments should be even more significant. As part of cyberbullying prevention directed at rural junior high school students, vast majority of teachers organise talks both individually and in groups, aiming to make the students aware of the online threats. Few of the interviewed teachers organise preventive school contests and campaigns regarding cyberbullying and safety of children and youth online. A similarly low percentage of teachers organise lectures and preventive meetings conducted by specialists or the police representatives. Moreover, teachers initiate actions and initiatives ad hoc using promotional, information and educational materials. Too few workshops, lectures and classes are offered both to the rural junior high school students, and their parents. Insufficient is also the level of cooperation between the schools, local institutions and non-government organisations. Basically, specialists and teachers do not take up any form of continuous cooperation with the local environment in the area of cyberbullying prevention. The data gathered in the course of studies allow concluding that in rural junior high schools, basic rules resulting from the prevention theory are not respected, which refer to the necessity of using systematic, coherent, comprehensive, long term, and repetitive educational and upbringing influence. Actions taken occasionally, in particular the informational ones, are characterised by low level of efficiency. A clear conclusion may be drawn that the teachers have insufficient knowledge of the websites and phone numbers of hotlines which may be used by cyberbullying victims, or persons who want to provide support and assistance. It may be concluded that lack of the teachers’ knowledge will be reflected in insufficient providing information on institutions and organisations providing assistance in

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the situation of experiencing cyberbullying. Therefore, specific recommendations may be formulated for the teaching practice, related to extending the teachers’ knowledge on the knowledge of institutions and other entities providing assistance and information to the cyberbullying victims and the persons who want to report illegal, harmful or offensive contents. Teachers should broadly participate in various forms of professional training, in particular conferences, workshops, seminars and trainings on safety of children and teenagers online. Social problems are changing in line with the technological development, so the specialists working with children should catch up with such development. Teachers should therefore demonstrate a higher level of motivation regarding professional development in the area of cyberbullying. A high level of knowledge of the teaching staff is the reference point of the preventive actions which are implemented in schools. The research results allow formulating a clear recommendation for the teaching practice. Although teachers of rural junior high schools conduct ad hoc prevention in the form of form periods on safety of children and youth online, or occasional school contests and promotional campaigns, in none of the schools they implement any form of comprehensive cyberbullying program in a competent, continuous and systematic manner. Moreover, they little benefit from the support of specialists who may join the efforts. Therefore, the level of rural junior high school teachers’ knowledge should be developed continuously in the area of possibilities, forms and strategies of prevention actions in the area of cyberbullying occurring among teenagers, as aware and competent teachers have definitely a better chance to take efficient actions aiming to prevent the threats related with using the new media by young people.

REFERENCES: Central Statistical Office of Poland, http://www.stat.gov.pl, [Access date: 26.01.2012]. Cyberbullying, L.S. Friedman (ed.), Farmington Hills 2011. Danowski B., Krupińska A., Dziecko w sieci, Gliwice 2007. Gaś Z.B., Psychoprofilaktyka: Procedury konstruowania programów wczesnej interwencji, Lublin 2000. Hinduja S., Patchin J., Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying, Thousand Oaks 2009. Hinduja S., Patchin J., Cyberbullying: Identification, Prevention and Response, New York 2011.


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Hogan S., Cyber Bully: The Schoolyard Bully Now Has a Screen Name, “Times Publications” October 2008. Hogan S., Cyberbullying Is Worse than Traditional Bullying [in:] Cyberbullying, L.S. Friedman (ed.), Farmington Hills 2011. Jak reagować na cyberprzemoc, poradnik dla szkół, Ł. Wojtasik (ed.), Warszawa 2009. Jenkins H., Kultura konwergencji. Zderzenie starych i nowych mediów, Warszawa 2007. Jessor R., Jessor S.L., Problem Behavior and Psychosocial Development: A Longitudinal Study of Youth, New York 1997. Jessor R., Problem – Behavior Theory, Psychosocial Development, and Adolescent Problem Drinking, “British Journal of Addiction” 1977, Vol.82, Iss. 4. Musioł M., Pedagogizacja medialna rodziny. Zakres – uwarunkowania – dylematy, Katowice 2013. Pyżalski J., Agresja elektroniczna wśród dzieci i młodzieży, Sopot 2011. Sanchez L.T., Cyberbullying Should Be Treated as a Crime [in:] Cyberbullying, L.S. Friedman (ed.), Farmington Hills 2011. Shariff S., Cyber – Bullying, Issues and Solutions for School, the Classroom and the Home, Abingdon 2010. Slonje R., Smith P.K., Cyberbulliyng: Another Main Type of Bullying?, “Scandinavian Journal of Psychology” 2008, No. 49. Społeczeństwo informacyjne w Polsce, Central Statistical Office of Poland, http://www.stat. gov.pl,[Access date: 01.08.2014]. System Informacji Oświatowej, http://www.cie.men.gov.pl, [Access date: 26.01.2012]. Szymańska J., Programy profilaktyczne. Podstawy profesjonalnej psychoprofilaktyki, Warszawa 2000. Teen Online & Wireless Safety Survey, Cyberbullying, Sexting and Parental Control, Cox Communications Teen Online & Wireless Safety Survey. In Partnership with National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and John Walsh (fielded among young people 13 – 18), Teen Online & Wireless Safety Survey 2009. Waligóra-Huk A., Kampania i działania społeczne na rzecz bezpieczeństwa dzieci i młodzieży w Internecie [in:] Technologie edukacyjne – tradycja, współczesność, przewidywana przyszłość, T. Lewowicki, B. Siemieniecki (ed.),Toruń 2011. Walrave M., Herman W., Skutki cyberbullyingu – oskarżenie czy obrona technologii?, “Dziecko krzywdzone. Teoria, badania, praktyka” 2009, No. 1(26). Willard N.E., Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats. Responding to the Challenge of Online Social Aggression, Threats, and Distress, Ann Arbor 2007. Wojtasik Ł., Przemoc rówieśnicza a media elektroniczne, Warszawa 2007. Ybarra M., Linkages between Depressive Symptomology and Internet Harassment among Young Regular Internet Users, “CyberPsychology& Behavior”2004, No. 7(2).

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Ybarra M., Mitchell K.J., Online Aggressor/Targets, Aggressors, and Targets: A Comparison of Associated Youth Characteristics, “Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry” 2004, No. 45. Ybarra M.L., Mitchell K.J., Youth Engaging in Online Harassment: Associations with Caregiver-Child Relationships, Internet Use, and Personal Characteristics, “Journal of Adolescence” 2004, No. 27.


ISSN 1230-266X

DOI: 10.15804/kie.2014.05.07

Roald Larsen UiT The Arctic University of Norway

BETWEEN THE REALISTIC AND THE MYTHICAL. ANALYSIS OF A LOCAL, NORTHIC LEGEND ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to analyse a northern Norwegian legend. Working with legends will provide a cultural insight and can thus be a gateway to establish knowledge structures. The main purpose of this paper is to reveal some of the diversity that a legend contains, and show that an analysis of this type of text can be a tool for dissemination and discovery learning. The analysis in this article is made from a multi-perspective approach: a literary perspective, religion, historical, mythical and folkloric perspective. The word legend is characterized in Norway as religious texts. The proper Norwegian term for the text being analysed here is actually “sagn”. However, I choose here in the English language to use the word legend instead.

Key words: legend, sagn, Norway, folk poetry, cultural history, knowledge development

1. Introduction This article will analyze a northern Norwegian legend1. Legends, like the adventure genre, belongs to folk poetry, and these two genres are considered initially as oral 1

The word “legend” in Norway pertains to religious texts. The text that will be analyzed is in

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Roald Larsen

narratives. It is important to take care of the oral narrative tradition to preserve our heritage. Poetry in oral form becomes weaved into culture, ie passed on to new subjects and forms in this way to preserve folk narrative traditions. Ronald Grambo2 use the term tradition about the actual product being retold. Since 1998 have I led a research and development-project at the UiT, The Arctic University of Norway, Department of Education, where it has been collecting several hundred legends mainly from northern Norway. In addition to my own collections, students and external contributors have participated. The reason why the student teachers are involved in this work is that legends can be used as a method for knowledge development. This will become useful the day when students are trained teachers and are facing their pupils in elementary schools. Working with legends will provide a cultural insight and can thus be a gateway to establish knowledge structures. Legends can be used in the teaching of different subjects in primary school because the text contains many useful elements: the literary expression, good entertainment, local historiography, the popular conception of strange events, morals and values, location, etc. The main purpose of this paper is to reveal some of the diversity that a legend contains, and show that an analysis of this type of text can be a tool for dissemination and discovery learning. The legend that is the subject of analysis in this article is written by a student who previously had interviewed an informant. The analysis in this article is made from a multi-perspective approach: a literary perspective, religion, historical, mythical, and folkloric perspective.

2. The legend’s identity-creating meaning Harald Rosen3, former professor of mother tongue education, points to the importance of creating your own stories and says that telling them is a mental process. Rosen says that by creating stories about what we have heared, read and seen, we draw out meaningful sequences from our own experience and place them within limits. Stories are, he says, senseful-making activities, storytelling organizes the world. When students hear stories from their home community and their region, they in a sense get to localize their identity and belonging. Norwegian referred to as a “sagn”. However, in translation to the English language, I chose to use the word “legend” in its place. 2 R. Grambo, Folkloric Handbook. The Term – Terms, Oslo 1984. 3 H. Rosen, Mother Tongue Didactic Essay, Oslo 1981.

Between the Realistic and the Mythical

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3. The legend of Høttakallen The following legend, which I will analyze, is a recurring (ghostly) legend from Grytøya, outside of Harstad in northern Norway: The legend of Høttakallen This story last took place on Grytøya in the 1890s. The island is located 10 to 12 kilometers north of Harstad, with Bjarkøy as neighboring island, which today is linked to the city by ferry. Today, it only takes 20 minutes to travel into the city center. However, at that time there was no access to either cars or car ferry. Back then, if you were to travel along the highway, it was either by foot or possibly on horseback, if a guy had access to that kind of luxury. Grytøya got its name from the old Norwegian Grotjir which means rock – Steinøya (Stone Island). The island is about 20 km at its longest, and has high, rugged mountains of more than a thousand feet going up. In Viking times, the island was part of Tore Hund’s kingdom, he who had his seat at Bjarkøya, who took the life of saint Olav on the Battle of Stiklestad. Today Grytøya is incorporated into Bjarkøya municipality and there are many burial mounds from the Iron Age – so it was long ago since people learned that the island was a nice place to settle down. Maybe people settled here because the south side is a place with a lot of land that provides wealthy farm stock, and it is a climatically favored location. The great mountains protect against the often sour wind. By the end of the 1800s, about 200 humans lived on the south side of the island, spread over the strip of land located along the ocean. People lived from combined use of the soil and fishing. They usually had 1 – 3 cows and maybe some sheep. Besides onnetida (the time when farmers cut the grass) the men did home fishing, and in January they went on cod fishing in Lofoten. The women were then responsible for the farming. Mette, who this legend is about, lived on the countryside where she and her husband, Magnus, ran a small combination usage. As the farm name conveys, they lived beneath the mountain top. Between Øverlandet (the overland) and the rest of the village, lies the cemetery, as it does today. Mette was born in Olsvika in Fenes, but was married to Magnus at Øverlandet, Fuhr, first in the 1890s. Mette and Magnus had three kids, and everyone grew up. So was it a year, in early September, that Mette had an errand with her family in Olsvika. Magnus was at home with the kids. It was a long-winded trip from Øverlandet to Olsvika, about 11 kilometers, so it was intended for Mette to sleep over to the next day there. At that time the men were so lucky that it was the wife who was

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in charge of cooking for the whole family, so Mette had her work laid out for her before she could leave. About three kilometers before she came to Olsvika there was a wilderness area called Høtta. There was so little infrastructure there that the unfortunates who traveled there had to walk through a tiny path that found its way to the upper part of the shorelines near the sea. And even here it was sometimes difficult to find their way. Twilight had settled when Mette came to Høtta, and it didn’t help that she stumbled into something close by Mekko river, and fell as long she was. It was not a stone but a bundle of cloth she had stumbled upon. And in the bundle Mette found the body of a dead child. Mette wrapped the body back in cloth and hid it in a small nearby cave before she took her leave to her family in Olsvika. She told them about the incident and they agreed to return to Høtta the next day to bury the child’s body, which they did as soon as daybreak. Unfortunately, the first autumn storm was approaching. And that’s why they could not get a hold of either the sheriff or the priest before the burial, because those two had to be be notified and sent after from Bjarkøya. And thus, it happened that the child’s body was buried in unconsecrated ground, which proved to have punishmental effects: The legend tells that Høttakallen (the Høtta man) appeared regularly in Høtta after this. This was fatal to whoever was unfortunate enough to see him. Anyone who saw Høttakallen experienced later on that one in the the family would die. If someone had to go over Høtta, that person better not look to the side, but just stare straight ahead on the road. Edvard from Bjørnå was unlucky enough to see Høttakallen and three weeks later died the youngest of his kids. Similarly, there was one man from Sandsøya who skied across Høtta before Christmas and he saw Høttakallen. On the first Christmas Day his wife died while giving birth. So the legend goes, they say. Not do I dare go alone over Høtta during a cold and chilly winter night. Do you dare?

I shall now make an analysis of “The Legend of the Høttakallen”. The story that I will analyze, is written by Frank Eriksen who has been a pre-school teacher student at the UiT, The Arctic University of Norway. The informant has been Ivar Olsrud. When students are interviewing informants, there is always a risk that significant details can slip away. This has happened in this case, including that he has lost the relationship between the burial of the child and the creature Høttakallen. At the same time, it has led to that we now have a more open text that allows for multiple interpretations. A genre feature of oral tales is that there will be a myriad of stories that deal with an original event, a kind of mythical core of truth. Around


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this core there is layer upon layer of new versions that have attached themselves. Based on a literary point of view, some of these variations are good, others not so good, almost close to having fragments raining. In a good number of legends where the narration is about unexplained events, the supernatural is used to answer what logically cannot be justified. We see this evidenced in this legend as it uttered the following phrase: “Edvard from Bjørnå was unlucky enough to see Høttakallen and three weeks later died the youngest of his kids.” We see here that the legend wants to appear as a reliable story, something that people in the community should take note of.

4. The legend in a literary perspective The legend is chronologically built, structured in time. The legend’s action takes place over a few autumn days in September, but the consequence of the event remains unchanged to this day. The first three paragraphs must be seen as preliminary to the main story. Here we get a time stamp and a mentioned location: “This story last took place on Grytøya in the 1890s.” The events of this legend can thus placed in the 1890s. To convey the legend how it was all the time: “However, at that time there was no access to either cars or car ferry. Back then, if you were to travel along the highway, it was either by foot or possibly on horseback.” The introduction thus provides a good picture of what the conditions were on Grytøya in this time period. This view is quite detailed and is probably not part of the primeval legend, because it would be hard to remember. Furthermore contains the legend, part modern expressions (car, car ferry, etc.), one can say with certainty that these words could not be heard in the original version. The opening statement can also be considered as a frame narrative. As mentioned above, he tells about a time a little before 1900. The contrast and development comes in to expression in part through the presentation of communicational means of today versus then. The fourth paragraph can be considered a bridge between the frame narrative and the actual narrative. Here we place names and personal descriptions. The purpose behind using this type of substantial introduction is discussable. For those not familiar with the place and its’ history, this part of the legend becomes useful information. For people with local knowledge however, this section seem tiresome because it all becomes so obvious and therefore boring. The real legend, the main story begins in the fourth paragraph. The way this part of the legend is told, suggests the witness must have lived within colloquially

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reach of the origin. The legend has a clear verbal touch. The story has a relatively simple structure that makes it easy to remember the content and narrate it to others. The story is intriguingly told, yet it conveys something to the recipient. The legend says little to nothing about the person’s character and strength, but there is plenty of talk about hard working people since they live isolated under the mountain. This section is also where the main character, Mette, is introduced. The following text is a detailed representation of the place where it all happened, why the protagonist is residing there at this time, and we get a warning that something is going to happen. The climax of the main part is when she trips over something she thinks is a rock, but which turns out to be a bundle of cloth that contains a small dead child within it. When it was autumn, and they did not get hold of a priest, and so it was then decided that the body would be buried in unconserated ground. The legend does not say anything about how this decision affects the protagonist, but tells how it has affected other people in retrospect. The end of the narrative is thus a direct consequence of the action in the main part. Høttakallen begins to show himself and the eerie events follow in his wake. Right at the end of the story the author directly addresses the readers: “Not do I dare go alone over Høtta during a cold and chilly winter night. Do you dare?” “The Legend of Høttakallen” clearly says that it will convey a true story. The narrator treads forth in the last sentence and reveals himself and his relationship to the story’s content, he dares not tempt fate by walking past Høtta, or perhaps this is an instrument he uses to strengthen the horror effect. Whatever reason the narrator has, when the last sentence is presented to the reader, the narrator challenges the reader in case he or she should doubt the reliability of his story. The last inquisitive sentence should give the reader something to think about. Should we believe the legend, or is it just pure fiction? The author gives us a choice. Other than though, the author or narrator stays outside of the story and conveys to us a folktale that he heard from another person. There is a distance between the narrator’s position and the events that are being presented. The text is mainly written in Bokmål (one of two written forms in Norway), but with touches of some dialect to it, intended for a local audience. By using the dialect, you create a closer sense of belonging and a sense of place and thus create an indication of where the legend originated. In addition, the added accent puts an edge on the text and creates intrigue. Writing down the used dialect words such as nonsmaten (eating at a particular time) and onnetida (when the farmers cut the grass). These words may be foreign to outsiders and make the text more difficult to understand. The accent pervades syntax: “Besides onnetida, the men did…” The language has also many places in the text of an oral and commonplace character –


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presented here with two examples: “ran a small combine usage” and “if a guy had access to that kind of luxury”. There is also the use of irony in one case, “At that time men were so lucky that it was the wife who was in charge of cooking…”.

5. Legends and folklore “The legend of Høttakallen” retrieves its traditional substance from the traditional farming and fishing community from around 1900. This is according to Olav Solberg4 characteristic of older legends, they are entrenched in this type of primary societies, in stark contrast to the legends that arrive today in the present and takes place in the modern society. My material contains many kinds of legends and stories, examples are copyrighted legends, walking legends, mythical nature tales, etc. Solberg5 operates with four legend groups, and I think from this division it is quite natural to call “The Legend of Høttakallen” a mythical nature folk legend with elements of historical material. As a main type, this legend is a mythical nature legend, but there are several scenes taken from several different beliefs and different legend types, all of which belong to the mythical nature legends. We can kind of say that this legend is made out of fragments from several design circuits, such as outdrilling and the recurring (ghosts). A mythical nature legend is a legend that uses the interaction between man and the various supernatural powers or spirits as the main theme. Outdrilled really means “the one who is carried out”. “In folk belief throughout the country, between both Norwegian and Sami, the term outdrilled/æppar refers to the recurring (or ghosts) of children who died during childbirth and being buried in a field without receiving Christian baptism. The child was perhaps killed after birth. When the outdrilled were given names, they received peace”6. Strict sexual morality within the society was often the reason children were murdered. If you heard children cries from the dead body of a killed child who is thrown away, then one can give it a name. This response to children cry will bless the baby. This is what the northern Norwegian storyteller Regine Normann depicts in a poetic way in the beginning of his novel Bortsat 19067. 4 O. Solberg, Norwegian Folk Poetry. Literaturic Historical Lines and Thematical Perspective, Oslo 1999. 5 O. Solberg, op.cit., p. 41. 6 T. Storjord, Lule-Sami Adventure and Legend, “Bodø Teacher College Script Serie” 1991, No. 2. 7 R. Normann, Set Away. Memoire, Kristiania 1906.

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The legend of Grytøya is about a possible consequence should you bury a child in unconserated ground. Mette, the protagonist of the story, finds the body of a killed child, who apparently was not wanted, or could not be provided for. I have received many legends that deal with this topic. Some folklore has it that the people who are buried in the unconserated ground will not find peace and will come back as the recurring (ghosts who walk again). Yet this is not a story with a typical recurring motif, for in this narrative one neither sees or hear anything about the child after the burial, however a supernatural creature begins to show itself to people. He is named Høttakallen (the Høtta man). The legend does not clarify what connection this figure has for the child. There will be room for different interpretations when speculating who the character Høttakallen really is, or what function he has. Høttakallen occurred possibly as an explanation as to why the plague came upon the village.

6. The legend in the history of religions’ perspective The legend conveys that the child who was buried in unconserated ground, triggered rage within Høttakallen. This figure thus turns into a warning of death. In several other northern Norwegian folklore one will often find one or several unknown men arriving with warnings, including from Knut Strompdal8 for instance. Perhaps this might explain why the dead child is made into a figure that comes with a warning. Ørnulf Hodne9 says nothing about what kind of precaution one could take after receiving the death notice, but the legend of Høttakallen advices us thusly: “If someone had to go over Høtta, that person better not look to the side, but just stare straight ahead on the road.” This legend speaks of punishment that may follow after committing an unchristian act. In the pre-Christian religion the belief in underground supernatural creatures was widespread. These beings belonged to the so-called “other people”. They lived underground, in rock and pile. Most often, they lived in peace with the humans, but could punish if someone defied them. According to Ann Helene Bolstad Skjelbred10 the belief in “the other people” has been the strongest in Northern Europe. In Norway and Iceland, they called them the people of fairies and spirits. Alv (elf)

8

K. Strompdal, Old from Helgeland III, Oslo 1939, pp. 77 – 79. Ø. Hodne, Norwegian Folk Belief, Oslo 1999. 10 A.H.B. Skjelbred, Tales about Huldra – Tales About Us, Oslo 1998. 9


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etymologically stems from the word ”elf ” that exists in both Old Engelish and Old German. In Denmark, they were called “Elle folket” (the Elle folk). The legend presents us a clear connection between Høttakallen and supernatural beings. When people would drive over Høtta, they were vettaskremte (A North Norwegian dialect for the word “terrified”) of seeing Høttakallen. And the adjective vettaskremt goes back to the noun vette (troll figure). Høttakallen was probably and originally a local underground creature that goes back to pre-Christian beliefs. Could one imagine then a pagan character who wants to ensure that the child is buried in consecrated ground, that is to say, he punishes people who do not adhere to Christian ethics? How can this be? Høttakallen probably represents a religious being of pre-Christian art, possibly a vette. The legend represents, therefore, a syncretism, i.e. a confusion. In the Legend of Høttakallen and the Christian maxim of baptism and burial in consecrated ground as they are referenced in the Christian right block in Gulatingslovi11. These two elements are mixed together in such a way that Høttakallen appears to be in service to the Church and punish those who do not adhere to Church rules.

7. The legend of a mythical perspective From another point of view, or according to a different interpretation, Høttakallen is a mythical natural creature that is related to the outlying area Høtta, a specific place on Grytøya. Etymologically, Høtta is a name of a landscape or a formation that can mean “rising” (to rise) or something similar. Høtta is less than one square mile in extent. In the river corner, down towards the shoreline, the child was buried. Further up the area there is a rocky outcrop which is called Høtta-hill. Before 1910, there were walkways around Høtta-hill, but since that time there is now built a road going over Høtta. According to the son of the informant, it was close to the top of the knoll where Høttakallen began to appear. The fact that Høttakallen lives on a knoll, a small mountain, makes us associate him with a troll-like creature. I have collected several legends about these trolls living in the mountains, including “The Legend of Vågakallen (The Våga Man)”. The legend says nothing in detail why Høttakallen begins to show himself to the people and punish them. One interpretation could be that the figure we hear about in the narrative, Høttakallen, did not like it that the kid was buried in his land and that is why he takes revenge for it. In folk belief, the troll was seen as 11

Gulatingslovi, Translated from Old Norwegian by Knut Robberstad, Oslo 1937.

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a hostile human being, and within this tradition it can explain why Høttakallen reacts as he does. The child was buried in an area lying within Høttakallen’s domain, or seen from another perspective, outside the Church’s domain.

8. The legend of a folkloric perspective Finally, we will go outside the text and see what people in the surrounding area think, what kind of tradition Høttakallen falls within. The reason that Høttakallen was associated with fear, was that he was associated with the afterlife. The fear was being caught by Høttakallen who came from the hereafter and represented death or a spirit that was no more. The belief in colloquially was thus that the child who was driven ashore and was found on the beach, was Høttakallen. Because the child was buried in unconsecrated ground, his soul found no peace in his grave, thus he rose again as Høttakallen. The legend suggests that Høttakallen began to appear recurringly after the baby was buried, but according to the son of the informant, a really long period of time passed before it took care to show up in adult size. Thus, one can at the abstract level of thinking assume that the child had “grown” even though it was dead. There is no similar example of this in my material. This theory is also strengthened by what an eyewitness observed. About 10 years after the child was buried, a man came driving late at night with a horse in the Høtta area. He saw a young alien boy walking around. This gave rise to the idea that the child grew and eventually became Høttakallen. This is also a legend with a recurring motif: Høttakallen is the child who was buried in unconsecrated ground and came back as an adult. This is an interpretation whereby Høttakallen protests that he was not buried in consecrated ground. And this interpretation is clearly rooted within the Christian faith. The legend motif about outdrills who can become recurring (ghosts) are known from other northern Norwegian folklore collections, such Hveding12, Strompdal13 and Strompdal14.

12 13 14

J. Hveding, Folk Belief and Folk Life in Hologaland, Oslo 1944, pp. 46 – 47. K. Strompdal, Old from Helgeland, Oslo 1929, pp. 126 – 128. K. Strompdal, Old from Helgeland III, op.cit., pp. 50 – 53.


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REFERENCES: Grambo R., Folkloric Handbook. The Term – Terms, Oslo 1984. Gulatingslovi, Translated from Old Norwegian by Knut Robberstad, Oslo 1937. Hodne Ø., Norwegian Folk Belief, Oslo 1999. Hveding J., Folk Belief and Folk Life in Hologaland, Oslo 1944. Normann R., Set Away. Memoire, Kristiania 1906. Rosen H., Mother Tongue Didactic Essay, Oslo 1981. Skjelbred A.H.B., Tales about Huldra – Tales About Us, Oslo 1998. Solberg O., Norwegian Folk Poetry. Literaturic Historical Lines and Thematical Perspective, Oslo 1999. Storjord T., Lule-Sami Adventure and Legend, “Bodø Teacher College Script Serie” 1991, No. 2. Strompdal K., Old from Helgeland, Oslo 1929. Strompdal K., Old from Helgeland III, Oslo 1939.


ISSN 1230-266X

DOI: 10.15804/kie.2014.05.08

SPECIAL COMMUNICATES New View on Aggression Hanna Liberska Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz, Poland

Marzanna Farnicka University of Zielona Góra, Poland

MANIFESTATIONS OF AGGRESSION AND PERCEPTION OF PARENTAL ATTITUDES – COMPARATIVE STUDIES. CHANGES OVER TIME (NEW VERSION) ABSTRACT Results of some research performed in Poland have evidenced a relation between the aggressive behaviour of adolescents and the parental attitude perceived by them as improper. According to the results of the earlier studies of authors, significant differences were observed between the levels of aggression manifested by girls and boys and in certain dimensions the aggression of adolescent girls was higher than that of boys. Recently study was undertaken to check the stability of differences related to the sex and aggressive behaviour of adolescents. The research was conducted twice. First in the year 2002 (stage I) and again after 10 years in 2013 (stage II). The data for analysis were collected in the Questionnaire of Perception of Parental Attitudes composed by Plopa and the Questionnaire on Aggressive Behaviour prepared by Wójcik. At the stage I the subjects were 86 young people (56 girls and 30 boys) aged 17 – 19, and in stage II, in 2013, the subjects of the study were 80 adolescents (40 girls and 40 boys) aged 17 – 19. The comparative analysis of the results from 2002 and 2013 has shown a limited stability of relation between the perception of parental attitudes as improper and aggressive behavior of adolescents as well as sexual differentiations of aggressive behavior.

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Key words: parental attitudes, aggressive behaviour, adolescents, family conditionings of aggression

1. Introduction A multitude of manifestations of aggression in the young generation make us pose a question concerning their cause. Modern psychology assumes that aggressive behaviour is the outcome of combined genetic and environmental factors1. Researchers, regardless of their preferred theoretical orientations, agree on one thing: the child acquires early experiences, including aggressive behaviour, in the family as the primary developmental and educational environment2. The results of studies on the aetiology of aggressive behaviour of children and young people indicate the role of family structure (full family, single-parent family) and inappropriate parental attitudes3. It should be emphasized that a study on the causes of youth aggression should cover a wide spectrum of biological, social and psychological factors4. Such social phenomena as unemployment, alcohol abuse, poverty and social exclusion from the social and economic basis facilitating aggression not only in directly affected adults. The above-mentioned socio-psychological factor translates into the psychosocial sphere of functioning of the entire family5, including parents’ attitudes towards their children. The research results prove that the personality of a young person and his/her habits are shaped not that much under upbringing influences resulting from specific parental attitudes but under the influence of their perception by adolescents6. In the light of the above, empirical exploration of the relationship between the perception of parental attitudes by adolescent children and incidents of aggressive behaviour seems in place.

1 E. Aronson, T.D. Wilson, R.M. Akert, Psychologia społeczna: serce i umysł, Poznań 1997, pp. 153 – 168. 2 L. Berkowitz, Aggression, New York 1993, pp. 35 – 47. 3 M. Ziemska, Postawy rodzicielskie, Warszawa 1973, pp. 15 – 23. 4 A. Frączek, Z zagadnień psychologii agresji, Warszawa 1989, pp. 17 – 19. 5 Z. Tyszka, Rodzina we współczesnym świecie, Poznań 2002, pp. 7 – 13. 6 M. Plopa, Psychologia rodziny, Kraków 2005, pp. 105 – 124.

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That issue has already been explored by researchers such as D. DominiakKochanek and A. Frączek7, H. Liberska and M. Matuszewska8, and L. Steinberg9 and others – however, their analyses have failed to take into consideration the significance of modern transformations of the life context, the change in parental attitudes and the connection of such attitudes with the behaviour of adolescent children.

2. The problem of study Assuming that aggressive behaviour in childhood and adolescence is shaped in the course of socialization in which the key role is played by the family, the study has concentrated on recognising the relations between parent behaviour, being one of the components of parental attitudes, and the manifestations of aggression in adolescent children10. Parental attitudes reflect parents’ beliefs about the child and about the ways of treating him or her which they consider proper, and also define their influence on the child. Some studies on the family in Poland indicate on the one hand, relative durability of parents’ expectations concerning the child’s behaviour and development and, on the other hand, reveal vital differences among particular generations of the family in that respect11. It is assumed that the processes of globalization, development of technology, educational reforms, easy access to the information stream, and also the reform of the labour market, migrations, and numerous other problems of the post-modern era contribute to changes in the family system, including parental beliefs related to child behaviour viewed as proper, admissible or inadmissible. However, psychological knowledge on the subject is very limited. Contemporary Polish literature includes reports on aggression in children and adolescents and on the relations

7

D. Dominiak-Kochanek, A. Frączek, K. Konopka, Styl wychowania w rodzinie a aprobata agresji w życiu społecznym przez młodych dorosłych, “Psychologia Wychowawcza”, No. 1 – 2, pp. 66 – 85. 8 H. Liberska, M. Matuszewska, Wybrane czynniki i mechanizmy powstawania agresji w rodzinie [in:] Agresja i przemoc a zdrowie psychiczne, M. Binczycka-Anholcer (ed.), Warszawa–Poznań 2001, pp. 80 – 88. 9 L. Steinberg, Familial Factors in Delinquency, “Journal of Adolescent Research” 1987, No. 2, pp. 225 – 268. 10 B. Krahe, Agresja, Gdańsk 2006, pp. 35 – 37. 11 M. Farnicka, Przemiany realizacj zadan rozojowych, Zielona Góra 2011, pp. 145 – 148.


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between youth aggression and parental attitudes12, yet there are no reports on its stability or changes in subsequent generations. In the context of dynamic social and economic transformations that are taking place globally and the concern about growing aggression and violence among children and teenagers (at least as perceived by certain circles) it seems justified to undertake research on this problem, as it is important for the well-being of individuals, families and the entire society. Our interest is focused on the manifestations and intensity of aggression in adolescents, the types of parental attitudes in the perception of teenage children and the relations between children’s aggressive behaviour and parental attitudes perceived by children as inappropriate – at various points in time. In view of the above, the following research question has been formulated: has the aggressive behaviour displayed by Polish adolescents changed over the last decade? Has the perception of parental attitudes by adolescent children evolved? Is there a current significant correlation between parental attitudes perceived as wrong by adolescents and aggressive behaviour of teenage daughters and sons – just like ten years ago? Conclusions on the changes in aggressive behaviour displayed by adolescents and the perception of parental attitudes were drawn on the basis of comparing the results of the studies conducted in 2002 and 2013.

3. Methods and studied group The basic tools used in the study were the Parental Attitude Scale developed by Mieczysław Plopa13 and the Aggressiveness Level Questionnaire developed on the basis of the tool created by Dobrochna Wójcik14. The Parental Attitude Scale examines such parental attitudes as autonomous, protective, consequent, demanding and accepting and their intensity (high, average, low). The extremely high or extremely low intensity testifies to the strength of a given attitude, e.g. overprotectiveness or lack of parental care, too much control or lack of control, inconsequence or rigidity of the parent’s standpoint, excessive autonomy or lack of it, excessive demands or no demands at all, etc. In the de12

H. Liberska, M. Matuszewska, Niektóre społeczne uwarunkowania agresji u młodzieży, “Psychologia Rozwojowa” 2003, No. 2 – 3, pp. 97 – 107. 13 M. Plopa, Skala postaw rodzicielskich, “Psychologia Wychowawcza” 1987, No. 5, pp. 553 – 567. 14 D. Wójcik, Środowisko rodzinne a poziom agresywności młodzieży przestęczej i nieprzestępczej, Warszawa 1977, pp. 45 – 78.


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scribed study most attention was devoted to results indicating extreme intensities of attitudes. The Aggressiveness Level Questionnaire distinguishes the following aggression dimensions: hostility, intensity, control, frequency and adequacy of aggressive behaviour, as well as defiant behaviour. They are evaluated with the use of the 5-point Likert scale (from 1 to 5) indicating the intensity of a given state (1 – lack, 5 – very frequent occurrence of a given behaviour or condition or its very high intensity). The studied group and the time of study. The first study, carried out in 2002, was performed on 86 adolescents aged between 17 and 18 (56 girls and 30 boys). The second study, performed in 2013, was performed on the group of 80 adolescents aged 17 to 18 (40 girls and 40 boys). In both cases the subjects came from urban community and they were all students of upper secondary schools. The subjects taking part in the study were anonymous.

4. Results 4.1 Analysis of the results of studies of the dimensions and level of aggression in adolescent boys and girls The first study (2002). The research results collected with the Aggressiveness Level Questionnaire allowed the recognition of differences in the level of manifestation of basic dimensions of aggression in the examined boys and girls. Detailed data is presented in Table 1. Table 1. Characterisation of aggressive behaviour of the young people studied Dimensions of aggressive behaviour Intensity of aggressive reactions ** Hostility* Lack of control over aggressive behaviour Adequacy of aggressive behaviour

Level of aggression

Frequency (%) girls

boys

High

32.1

13.3

Low

67.9

86.7

High

28.6

13.3

Low

71.4

86.7

High

50

46.7

Low

50

53.3

High

17.9

13.3

Low

82.1

86.7

Manifestations of Aggression and Perception of Parental Attitudes Dimensions of aggressive behaviour Frequency of physical aggression

Level of aggression

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Frequency (%) girls

boys

High

0

6.7

Low

100

93.3

* – statistically significant at p = 0.01; ** – statistically significant at p = 0.001

On the basis of the questionnaire responses, the following dimensions of aggression in adolescents were distinguished: the ability to control own aggressive behaviour, intensity of manifested aggressive responses, adequacy of aggressive reactions, frequency of aggressive reactions, and manifestation of hostility in social situations. Statistical analysis of the responses revealed that the intensity of the distinguished manifestations of aggressive behaviour in girls did not differ significantly from that in boys (c2 = 11.21 > ca2, α = 0.001) However, comparative analysis of the data proved that the aggressive behaviour of high intensity are more frequent in girls (32.1%) than in boys (13.3%), while the aggressive behaviour of low intensity occurs much more frequently in boys (86.7%) than in girls (67.9%). Statistical analysis of the responses related to the dimension hostility has shown that hostile behaviour is social situations is manifested by girls (28.6%) twice more frequently than in boys (13.3%). The difference proved to be statistically significant (c2 = 7,72 > ca2, α = 0.01). Analysis of the results concerning the other three dimensions of aggressive behaviour has indicated that almost half of the persons studied do not control their aggressive reactions (48.35%). The majority of the adolescents questioned (84.4%) have evaluated their aggressive behaviour as inadequate. Physical aggression of high intensity was met only in boys and in a rather small percentage of them (6.7%). The definite majority of the adolescents questioned (all girls and 93.3% of boys) admitted to use physical aggression of low intensity only. No statistically significant differences were found between girls and boys in the following dimensions of aggressive behaviour: the ability to control own aggressive behaviour, adequacy of aggressive reactions, and frequency of aggressive reactions. Analysis of all results points out a significantly higher level of aggressive behaviour in girls than in boys (c2 = 36,16 > ca2, α = 0.001). The difference is particularly pronounced in the intensity of aggressive reactions and hostility in social situations. The second study (2013). Study results collected with the Aggressiveness Level Questionnaire allowed the recognition of differences in the level of manifestation of basic dimensions of aggression in the examined boys and girls in 2013. Detailed data is presented in Table 2.


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Table 2. Characterisation of aggressive behaviour of the young people studied in 2013 Dimensions of aggressive behaviour Intensity of aggressive reactions ** Hostility* Lack of control over aggressive behaviour Adequacy of aggressive behaviour Frequency of physical aggression

Level of aggression

Frequency (%) Girls

Boys

High

3

21

Low

97

79

High

21

12

Low

79

88

High

21

0 100

Low

79

High

6

0

Low

94

100

High

6

12

Low

94

88

* – statistically significant at p ca2, α = 0.001). The difference is particularly pronounced in two dimensions: hostility and intensity of aggressive reactions. Additional analyses conducted revealed also significant correlations (Kendall tau) between particular aspects of adolescent aggressive behaviour. The results obtained for girls indicate positive relations between aggressive behaviour control and its adequacy (r = 0.564, α = 0.05) as well as between aggression intensity and frequency (r = 0.866, α = 0.001). The results obtained also show that the higher the frequency of aggressive behaviour, the higher its intensity. Meanwhile, in the group of boys a larger number of significant correlations between studied variables was


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revealed. The adequacy of aggressive reactions in boys is predominantly linked to the control they have over them (r = 0.479, α = 0.001), frequency of manifesting them (r = 0.358, α = 0.05) and the hostility level (r = 0.468, α = 0.001). It has been found that the intensity of boys’ aggressiveness increases along with the increased frequency of defiant behaviour (r = 0.361, α = 0.001) and the frequency of displaying physical aggression (r = 0.331, α = 0.05), and together with the increase of controlling power over one’s own aggressive behaviour (r = 0.479, α = 0.001). The revealed correlations indicate and emphasize the connection of hostility with the remaining tested aggressiveness dimensions. Thus, that dimension appears to be crucial for specifying and forecasting the behaviour of adolescent boys.

4.2 Comparison of results of two studies of aggressiveness levels in young people (2002 and 2013) Both studies revealed significant differences in the level of aggressiveness displayed by girls and boys. Table 3. Girls and boys: Comparison of levels of aggressive behaviour: 2002 and 2013 Dimensions of aggressive behaviour

Level of aggression

Intensity of aggressive reactions ** Hostility Lack of control over aggressive behaviour Adequacy of aggressive behaviour Frequency of physical aggression

* – statistically significant at p = 0.05

Frequency (%) Girls

Boys

2002

2013

2002

2013

High

32.1

3**

13.3

21*

Low

67.9

97

86.7

79

High

28.6

21

13.3

12 88

Low

71.4

79

86.7

High

50

21**

46.7

0

Low

50

79

53.3

100

High

17.9

6*

13.3

0

Low

82.1

94

86.7

100

High

0

6

6.7

12

Low

100

94

93.3

88

** – statistically significant at p = 0.001

A comparison of the results obtained in the studies conducted at the interval of 11 years revealed certain differences in intensity of selected manifestations of aggression in young people. Significant changes have been observed related to the intensity of aggressive reactions, both in girls and in boys. In 2013, a significant drop


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was observed in the frequency of occurrence of highly adequate aggressive reactions in girls as compared to 2002. The frequency of the lack of control over one’s aggressive behaviour increased both in boys and in girls, and also the frequency of occurrence of strongly aggressive behaviour in boys. The frequency of strong aggressiveness in girls has lowered, unlike for boys, for whom no such change has been noted. The frequency of demonstrating strong aggressive reactions has also increased for both boys and girls, although that change is not significant.

4.3 Parental attitudes as perceived by girls and boys The first study (2002). The data collected in the part of the questionnaire on the Scale of Parental Attitudes provided the information on the perception of parental attitudes by the adolescents. From among improper parental attitudes perceived the most frequently indicated were the lack of consequence (74.5%), overprotective attitude (62.8%), and overdemanding attitude (62.8%). A rather large subgroup of the youth studied (39.5%) perceive in their parents the actions restricting their autonomy. The subgroup feeling the lack of acceptance by their parents was the least numerous (6.7%). The way of perception of parental attitudes as improper was significantly different in girls and boys (c2 = 45,91 > c2α , α = 0.001). The daughters perceive in a different way such improper parental attitudes as the lack of acceptance, the lack of autonomy, overprotection, excessive demands, and lack of consequence in educating activity. A detail analysis of the results also revealed that daughters and sons perceive in different way the attitudes of their mothers and fathers (Table 4). Table 4. Perception of parental attitudes as inappropriate/improper by daughters and sons Perception by Type of attitude Inconsequent

Daughters

Sons

Mother’s attitude

Father’s attitude

Mother’s attitude

Father’s attitude

42.9

39.3

26.7

66.7

Overdemanding

50

17.9

20

33.3

Overprotective

46.4

14.3

26.7

40

Restricting autonomy

35.7

17.8

0

13.3

Lack of acceptance

21.4

21.4

6.7

0

2

2 α

(c = 45.91 > c , α = 0.001)


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80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 M

O

Acceptance

M

O Autonomy

M O Overprotective Attitude Girls

M O Overdemanding Attitude

M

O

Inconsistent Attitude

Boys

Figure 1. Frequency of perception of mothers’ and fathers’ parental attitudes as inappropriate (%)

The most pronounced differences were noted in the perception of the lack of consequence, overdemanding and overprotective attitudes (Figure 1). As has been found, almost half of girls find their mothers to assume improper attitudes: overdemanding, overprotective and inconsequent. The other two attitudes, restricting of autonomy and lack of acceptance, are perceived rarer. In fathers the most frequent improper attitude is inconsequence, the lack of acceptance, overdemanding attitude and rarely restriction of autonomy. The smallest group of girls declared that they feel overprotected by their fathers. As follows from the above, daughters more often perceive the attitudes of their fathers as proper, in contrast to the attitudes of their mothers which by almost half of the girls are evaluated as improper. As to the boys, about 20% of the sons find their mothers to be overprotective, inconsequent and overdemanding. A small number of sons feel unaccepted by their mothers and none feels that mothers restrict their autonomy. The perception of fathers’ attitudes by boys is different, a definite majority of sons perceive their fathers as inconsequent. The other often mentioned improper attitudes of fathers to sons are overprotective and overdemanding ones. All sons feel accepted by their fathers and only a few feel that fathers restrict their autonomy. According to the results, daughters more often find the attitudes of their mothers as improper, while sons more often find their fathers to show improper attitudes. The differences


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between boys and girls in perception of all improper attitudes proved statistically significant; acceptance (c2 = 5,90 > c2a , α = 0.02), restricting autonomy (c2 = 19,00 > c2a , α = 0.001), overprotective (c2 = 17,29 > c2a , α = 0.001), overdemanding (c2 = 16,00 > c2a , α = 0.001) and inconsequent (c2 = 10,12 > c2a , α = 0.01). In general, the adolescent girls perceive the attitudes of their parents more negatively than the adolescent boys in 2002. The second study (2013). The analysis of the results collected through the Scale of Parental Attitudes in 2013 shows that, of the perceived inappropriate parental attitudes perceived by adolescents the inconsistent attitude has the highest intensity and among the positive ones the accepting attitude. They are more intense in the perception of boys. Adolescent boys perceive more inconsistent attitude in their fathers than in mothers, but also fathers are perceived to be more accepting than mothers (Table 5). However, adolescent girls perceive mothers to be more inconsistent than fathers (unlike boys). Also, they perceive a lower intensity of accepting attitudes in mothers than in fathers. Table 5. Perception of parental attitudes versus the sex of the studied teenagers Type of attitude

Girls Mother

Father

Boys Mother

Father

W. Wilcoxon Test (z)

Inconsistent

100

75

94

84

Mother = –0.053, Father = –2.052,

α = 0.958 α = 0.04

Overdemanding

100

85

100

84

Mother = –0.146, Father = –0.097,

α = 0.884 α = 0.923

Overprotective

100

82

94

82

Mother = –0.471, Father = –0.367,

α = 0.638 α = 0.713

Lack of autonomy

3.6

17.9

5.1

12.8

Mother = –1.144, Father = –1.606,

α = 0.252 α = 0.108

Unaccepting

100

78

94

87

Mother = –2.038, Father = –1.042,

α = 0.04 α = 0.29

Statistical analysis showed that boys and girls differ significantly in the perception of mother’s accepting attitude and father’s inconsistent attitude. Although girls more often indicate mothers as accepting, they rate the level of this acceptance lower than boys (z = –2.04, α = 0.04). Whereas boys more often than girls perceive inconsistent attitude in their father and more frequently show significantly stronger intensity than their peers (z = –2.052, α = 0.04). In the light of the statistical analysis it turned out that the way of perception of parental attitudes by girls as inappropriate is significantly different from the way


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of perception of parental attitudes by boys (c2 = 45.91 > c2α , α = 0.001). Daughters in a significantly different way perceive the intensity of two inappropriate parental attitudes of their mothers and fathers, namely the lack of acceptance and inconsistency of educational activity.

4.4 Recapitulation of results of studies on the perception of parental attitudes in the years 2002 and 2013 Both studies revealed significant differences between boys and girls in perception of parental attitudes. Daughters more often perceived the attitudes of their mothers as inappropriate, and sons more often perceived the attitudes of their fathers as inappropriate. In 2002, significant differences were found for all types of inappropriate parental attitudes: acceptance (c2 = 5.90 > ca2 , α = 0.02), autonomy (c2 = 19.00 > ca2 , α = 0.001), overprotective (c2 = 17.29 > ca2 , α = 0.001), overdemanding (c2 = 16.00 > ca2 , α = 0.001), and inconsistent attitude (c2 = 10.12 > ca2 , α = 0.01). The distribution of results related to the perception of parental attitudes by young people with taking into account the sex variable for both children and parents, reveals that daughters are harsher is judging their mothers and sons in judging their fathers. In general, sons are noticeably milder in the evaluation of parental attitudes than daughters. All the boys consider themselves accepted by their fathers and do not feel that their need of autonomy is restricted by their mothers. The 2013 research has revealed that daughters perceive significantly differently the intensity of two inappropriate parental attitudes in their mothers and fathers, namely the lack of acceptance and inconsistency of educational attitudes. From a qualitative analysis it follows that adolescent girls perceive in a very negative way the attitudes of their mothers. What is particularly painful for the girls is the lack – or shortage – of consistency in the behaviour of their mothers. This results in intensifying the level of aggression in contemporary girls.

4.5 The level of aggressiveness in girls and boys and their perception of parental attitudes as inappropriate The basic research question pertained to the relations between highlighted categories of aggressive behaviour of adolescent girls and boys and parental attitudes perceived by them as inappropriate.

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The first study (2002). The results of the statistical analysis indicate a significant correlation between the aggressiveness level and the perception of parental attitudes as inappropriate only for girls (c2 = 6.44 > cca2 , α = 0.02). Among boys, this correlation was statistically insignificant. In the light of the results of the correlation analysis it was found that girls aggressive behaviour is positively correlated with their perception of parental attitudes as inappropriate ( r = 0.77, t = 2.77 > tα, α = 0.01). For boys this correlation proved statistically insignificant and negative in relation to fathers ( r = – 0.23, α at the statistically insignificant level). The second study (2013). Results of statistical analysis point to a significant correlation between the level of aggressiveness and perception of parental attitudes as inappropriate by both girls and boys. Perception of parental attitudes by sons and daughters is different, the differences are statistically significant in perception of inconsequent behaviour and acceptance. Parental attitudes perceived by adolescent children were found to be significantly correlated with the intensity of hostility and adequacy of aggressive behaviour. In the group of girls a significant correlation was noted between the perceived by them attitude of autonomy given by their father and adequacy of aggressive behaviour (r = 0. 37, α = 0.05) and manifested by them hostility (r = 0.34, α = 0.05). There was a positive although weak correlation between the intensity of protective attitude perceived in the fathers and the adequacy of aggressive behaviour in daughters (r = 0, 38, α = 0.05) and a negative correlation between the daughters hostility and the intensity of the demanding attitude of fathers (r = –0.39, α = 0.05) and the frequency of inconsequent attitude of fathers (r = –0. 47, α = 0.01). As follows from the above results, the more autonomy fathers give to daughters and the greater care the daughters perceive from the fathers, the more adequate are the aggressive behaviours of daughters. On the other hand, the intensity of hostility manifested by daughters increased with increasing autonomy their perceived from fathers and decreased with increasing demanding attitude and inconsequent attitude of fathers as perceived by daughters. Statistical analysis also reveal a significant correlation between the level of hostility of daughters and intensity of the attitudes of acceptance and inconsequence of mothers as perceived by daughters. A moderate correlation was found between the inconsequent attitude of mothers (r = –0.56, α = 0.01) and the level of acceptance of mothers as perceived by daughters (r = –0.30, α = 0.05) and the intensity of hostility in daughters. Hence, the attitude of mothers was significantly correlated with the intensity of hostility manifested by daughters.


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In the group of boys the correlations between the parental attitudes as perceived by sons and the sons aggressive behaviour were weaker. However, significant correlations were noted between the fathers acceptance and autonomy given to sons and the manifestations of aggressiveness in four dimensions. Positive correlations were revealed between the intensity of fathers acceptance and (1) the adequacy of aggressive behaviour (r = 0.29, α = 0,05), (2) intensity of sons hostility (r = 0.39, α = 0.01), (3) intensity of aggressive behaviour (r = 0,30, α = 0.05) and (4) frequency of physical aggression (r = 0. 37, α = 0.01). Also the attitudes of mothers have a significant influence on manifestations of aggression in their sons, that is on (1) the level of control of aggressive behaviour, (2) intensity of aggressive behaviour, and (3) its adequacy. The acceptance of mothers is significantly positively correlated with the adequacy of aggressive behaviour (r = 0.32, α = 0.05), control of aggressive reactions (r = 0.26, α = 0.05) and intensity of aggressive behaviour (r = 0.280, α = 0.05). The level of autonomy given to sons from mothers is significantly positively correlated with the sons adequacy of aggressive behaviour (r = .29, α = 0.05). Negative correlations were established between the inconsequent attitude of mothers and the sons adequacy of aggressive behaviour (r = –0.322, α = 0.05) and degree of control of aggressive behaviour (r = –0.258, α = 0.05). Statistical analysis revealed that the greatest number of significant correlations were found between the intensity of parental attitudes perceived by young people as inappropriate and the hostility manifested by sons and daughters. No significant correlation was found between the parental attitudes perceived by sons and daughters and the aggressive behaviour of the young people. The only exception was the acceptance shown by mothers, the correlations between the mothers acceptance were significant with the intensity of aggressive behaviour (R = 0.606, R2 corrected = 0.367, R2 = 0.163, standard deviation 0.681).

5. Conclusion Results of the study confirmed a significant correlation between the perception of parental attitudes as inappropriate and the level of aggression in adolescent girls. Comparative analysis of the results collected from the first and second studies provided grounds for the conclusion about a limited stability of correlations between the parental attitudes perceived by adolescents as inappropriate and the aggressive behaviour of adolescents and the sex differences in such behaviour. The results from 2002 showed that girls in the second phase of adolescence (16 – 18 years old) perceiving the attitudes of their parents as inappropriate manifest a high

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level of aggressive behaviour. In boys at the same developmental phase no such correlation was observed. According to the results from 2013, the greatest number of significant correlations was found between the intensity of parental attitudes perceived by adolescents as inappropriate and the level of hostility and adequacy of aggressive behaviour manifested by both boys and girls. The most significant for the level of aggressive behaviour proved to be the attitude of mothers.

6. Discussion The perception of parental attitudes as inappropriate may lead to conflicts and frustration of adolescents. In consistence with the conception of Dollard and Miller, a consequence of frustration is aggression15. The appearance of aggressive behaviour in a situation of conflict is the more probable as the adolescents have not developed yet the mechanisms of cognitive control of emotions16. Different treatment of sons and daughters follows from the standards and conventions of our culture (see more: Ramirez et al.17). The restrictive and demanding attitudes of parents apply to a greater degree to daughters than sons. Consequently, the socialisation pressure of parents exerted on daughters is greater than on sons. Parents are more permissive towards sons and thus the probability of conflicts between parents and sons is smaller. According to the results, daughters notice the difference in parental attitudes towards them and the boys. Girls start the phase of adolescence at least two years earlier than boys, girls at this age are more mature in the cognitive and social-emotional development than boys at the same age. It is thus reasonable to suppose that not only the socialisation pressure or model of upbringing in a given culture (culture trend) but also faster mental development of girls awakens in them a more critical evaluation of parental behaviour18. Parents easily perceive anatomical and physiological changes in their children but often fail to perceive psychological changes, among others changes in the system of needs. One of the most important needs of adolescents is that of autonomy and emo15

A. Bandura, R.H. Walters, Agresja w okresie dorastania, Warszawa 1968, pp. 87 – 92. H. Liberska, M. Matuszewska, Wybrane czynniki i mechanizmy powstawania agresji w rodzinie [in:] Agresja i przemoc a zdrowie psychiczne, M. Binczycka-Anholcer (ed.), Warszawa–Poznań 2001, pp. 80 – 88. 17 J.M. Ramirez, J.M. Andreu, T. Fujihara, Z. Musazadeh, S. Saini, Justification of Aggression in Several Asian and European Countries with Different Religious and Cultural Background, “International Journal of Behavioral Development” 2007, No. 31, pp. 9 – 15. 18 J. Miluska, Rola płci w sposobie funkcjonowania małżeństwa i rodziny [in:] Małżeństwo: męskość, kobiecość, miłość, konflikt, H. Liberska, M. Matuszewska (eds.), Poznań 2001, pp. 47 – 74. 16


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tional independence from parents19. A consequence of the delay in the changes in parental attitudes with respect to developmental changes in adolescents, the parental attitudes do not match the personality changes of the children. This gap is particularly pronounced between parents and daughters. It can be the grounds for conflicts in the family and for growing emotional distance between children and particularly daughters from parents. As mentioned above, in such a situation a mechanism generating aggression is triggered: conflict-frustration-aggression. On the other hand, aggressive behaviour of young people can lead to further conflicts and frustrations in the parent- children relations (see: M. Sitarczyk20, R. Tremblay21). The above presented results indicate that the reasons for the aggressive behaviour of adolescents should be searched for in the family environment and in the social context in a broad sense. In the last two decades the contents of the message on the hierarchy of values, standards and admissible modes of behaviour in social situations (cf. Bauman22, Giddens23, Tyszkowa24). A consequence of these changes are those in aggressive behaviour of adolescents clearly evidenced by the results of these studies. The recognised changes include an increase in the frequency of strong physical aggressive acts performed by boys and girls, increase in the frequency of events caused by the lack of control over aggressive behaviour in both boys and girls and the frequency of intense aggressive reactions in boys. A decrease was noted in the frequency of intense hostility in girls but it did not change in boys and in the frequency of strong aggressive reactions. Moreover, the frequency of adequate aggressive reactions in boys and girls also decreased. As far as the perception of parental attitudes is concerned, in 2002 the differences between boys and girls concerned all types of inappropriate parental attitudes and the daughters were harder on mothers while sons were harder on fathers. In general, daughters were much harder on parents than sons. In 2013 the differences between boys and girls manifested in the fact that daughters perception of two types of inappropriate parental attitudes: lack of acceptance and inconsequent behaviour was significantly 19

I. Obuchowska, Agresja wśród dzieci w perspektywie rozwojowej [in:] Agresja i przemoc a zdrowie psychiczne, M. Bińczycka-Anholcer (ed.), Warszawa–Poznań 2001, pp. 45 – 60. 20 M. Sitarczyk, Środowisko rodzinne nieletnich sprawców zabójstw [in:] Wokół wychowania. Rola rodziny i szkoły w procesie socjalizacji dziecka, T.Rostowska, J.Rostowski (eds.), Łódź 2006, pp. 209 – 216. 21 R. Tremblay, The Development of Physical Aggression from Early Childhood to Adolescence. Wykład przedstawiony podczas 7th Biennial Conference of the EARA, Jena, Gerany, 31.05–04.06.2000. 22 Z. Bauman, Etyka ponowoczesna, Warszawa 1996, pp. 16 – 21. 23 A. Giddens, Nowoczesność i tożsamość, Warszawa 2001, pp. 5 – 7. 24 M. Tyszkowa, Zachowanie się dzieci szkolnych w sytuacjach trudnych, Warszawa 1986, p. 135.

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different. Nevertheless, the most important contextual analysis indicates that similarly as in 2002, daughters are harder on mothers than sons. Analysis of the data on the correlation between the parental attitudes and specific patterns of aggressive reactions in adolescents has revealed a limited significance of this relation and its changes in time. The study performed in 2002 indicated significant relations between specific parental attitudes and aggressive behaviour in adolescents, however manifested only in girls. According to the results from 2013, a certain pattern of parental attitudes has a significant effect on the intensity of aggressive reactions both in adolescent girls and boys and on the physical aggression manifested by them. As far as girls are concerned, significant correlations were noted between the perception of the lack of acceptance and overprotective attitudes of mothers and fathers and the hostility and adequacy of aggressive reactions, for boys significant correlations were found between the perception of the lack of acceptance and all manifestations of aggression. The change following from a comparison of the results from 2002 and 2013 may be interpreted as a stronger emotional relation of sons in the period of late adolescence with parents now than 11 years ago. It may be equivalent to extension of the period of developing emotional independence by boys. This supposition is supported by the results published by Oleszkowicz25 who studied the level of loneliness and intergeneration gap in families and changes in them over the last 20 years. The results of this authoress indicate a similar level of conflict between parents and adolescents as 20 years ago, but today – because of the transformations in the parental roles – the conflict has become more concealed and is manifested by stronger sense of the lack of acceptance and greater sense of loneliness in adolescents. The above correlations can be explained by the importance of the adolescents need of acceptance, if it is not satisfied by parents then aggressive behaviour follows, irrespective of the sex. However, other developmental needs of adolescents (the need of closeness and need of separation) emphasise the importance of a parent of different sex in the development of the child, the importance of father for girls and mothers for boys (see: Erikson26, Logan27). The excessive autonomy given to daughters by fathers or the lack of autonomy can drive the girls to taking up activities aimed at drawing fathers’ attention. Perhaps high autonomy given to 25

A. Oleszkowicz, Konflikt w relacji rodzice – dzieci 20 lat później, Referat wygłoszony na XXII Ogólnopolskiej Konferencji Psychologii Rozowjowej, Gdańsk, czerwiec, 2013. 26 E.H. Erikson, Dzieciństwo i społeczeństwo, Poznań 1996, p. 54. 27 R.D. Logan, A Reconceptualization of Erikson’s Theory, “Human Development” 1986, No. 29, pp. 125 – 136.


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daughters was premature and produced their anxiety about the loosening of the relation with father who in our culture is still treated as the person guaranteeing stability and safety of the family. This supposition is supported by a negative correlation between the hostility manifested by girls and their perception of fathers as too demanding. The negative correlation between the inconsequent attitude and intensity of hostility is difficult to interpret. It cannot be excluded that as a result of father inconsequent attitude some improper behaviour of daughters is not punished, some is forgiven and some is rewarded. This can lead to emotional ambivalence of daughter towards father and this ambivalence can be projected on relations with other people. Hence a lower result in the dimension of hostility manifested by daughters in social situations. The lack of consequence in the attitude of fathers towards daughters can bring insufficient expression of the norm regulating behaviour in social situations. Such a threat of incorrect socialisation increases in patriarchal families (see: K. Pospiszyl28). This result points out the ambiguous effects of intense attitude of acceptance in fathers. The excessive acceptance can be understood as the lack of demands or the lack of interest or acceptance of all kinds of behaviour of adolescent which can lead to development of negative emotions. Such a state is often frustrating for adolescents, and according to the Dollard–Miller conception, frustration increases aggression. This can explain an increased level of hostility and aggressive reactions noted in boys and girls (E. Aronson29, H. Liberska30, Nowak31). Full or unconditional parental acceptance of all types of behaviour of adolescent can make it difficult for a young person to get correct orientation in society as it fails to provide clear information about the correct modes of behaviour32.

28

K. Pospiszyl, Ojciec a wychowanie dziecka, Warszawa 2007, pp. 67 – 71. E. Aronson, T.D. Wilson, R.M. Akert, Psychologia społeczna: serce i umysł, Poznań 2002, pp. 153 – 161. 30 H. Liberska, M. Matuszewska, D. Freudenreich, Percepcja postaw rodzicielskich matek i ojców a zachowania agresywne dorastających córek i synów [in:] Zachowania agresywne dzieci i młodzieży. Uwarunkowania oraz możliwości ich przezwyciężania, D. Borecka-Biernat (ed.), Warszawa 2013, pp. 78 – 98. 31 J. Nowak, Rodzinne i szkolne uwarunkowania przestępczości nieletnich dziewcząt – komunikat z badań [in:] Wokół wychowania. Rola rodziny i szkoły w procesie socjalizacji dziecka, T. Rostowska, J. Rostowski (eds.), Łódź 2006, pp. 188 – 298. 32 G. Poraj, Wyznaczniki, cele i przejawy agresji w świetle badań młodzieży szkolnej [in:] Wokół wychowania. Rola rodziny i szkoły w procesie socjalizacji dziecka, T. Rostowska, J. Rostowski (eds.), Łódź 2006, pp. 196 – 208. 29

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7. Final remarks Results of the above presented and discussed studies have revealed changes in intensity of aggressive behaviour of Polish adolescents, changes in their perception of parental attitudes and a specific pattern of correlations between the parental attitudes and aggressive behaviour of adolescent boys and girls. Interventions towards the adolescents manifesting elevated level of aggression should be made taking into regard their perception of parental attitudes but it would be also recommended to engage parents in the process of prophylactic or therapeutic procedures. In certain situations it might be necessary to take up work with parents aimed at changes in their parental attitudes. Moreover, the way of adolescent functioning in the family context and in a wider social context should be analysed. The relations between the level of hostility and level of control of aggressive behaviour and the adequacy of aggressive behaviour analysed in the family system are directly connected with the functioning of adolescents in other systems (peer, school) and in roles other than the role of a child, that is in the role of a partner, friend or pupil.

REFERENCES: Aronson E., Wilson T.D., Akert R.M., Psychologia społeczna: serce i umysł, Poznań 2002. Bandura A., Walters R.H., Agresja w okresie dorastania, Warszawa 1968. Bauman Z., Etyka ponowoczesna, Warszawa 1996. Berkowitz L., Aggression. Its Causes, Consequences and Control, New York 1993. Dominiak – Kochanek D., Frączek A., Konopka K., Styl wychowania w rodzinie a aprobata agresji w życiu społecznym przez młodych dorosłych, “Psychologia Wychowawcza” 2012, No. 1 – 2. Erikson E.H., Dzieciństwo i społeczeństwo, Poznań 1996. Farnicka M., Przemiany realizacji zadań rozwojowych, Zielona Góra 2011. Frączek A., Z zagadnień psychologii agresji, Warszawa 1989. Giddens A., Nowoczesność i tożsamość, Warszawa 2001. Krahe B., Agresja, Gdańsk 2006. Liberska H., Matuszewska M., Wybrane czynniki i mechanizmy powstawania agresji w rodzinie [in:] Agresja i przemoc a zdrowie psychiczne, M. Binczycka-Anholcer (ed.), Warszawa–Poznań 2001. Liberska H., Matuszewska M., Niektóre społeczne uwarunkowania agresji u młodzieży, “Psychologia Rozwojowa”, No. 2 – 3.


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Liberska H., Matuszewska M., Freudenreich D., Percepcja postaw rodzicielskich matek i ojców a zachowania agresywne dorastających córek i synów [in:] Zachowania agresywne dzieci i młodzieży. Uwarunkowania oraz możliwości ich przezwyciężania, D. BoreckaBiernat (ed.), Warszawa 2013. Logan R.D., A Reconceptualization of Erikson’s Theory, “Human Development” 1986, No. 29. Miluska J., Rola płci w sposobie funkcjonowania małżeństwa i rodziny [in:] Małżeństwo: męskość, kobiecość, miłość, konflikt, H. Liberska, M. Matuszewska (eds.), Poznań 2001. Nowak J., Rodzinne i szkolne uwarunkowania przestępczości nieletnich dziewcząt – komunikat z badań [in:] Wokół wychowania. Rola rodziny i szkoły w procesie socjalizacji dziecka, T. Rostowska, J. Rostowski (eds.), Łódź 2006. Obuchowska I., Agresja dzieci w perspektywie rozwojowej [in:] Agresja i przemoc a zdrowie psychiczne, M. Binczycka-Anholcer (ed.), Warszawa–Poznań 2001. Oleszkowicz A., Konflikt w relacji rodzice – dzieci 20 lat później, Referat wygłoszony na XXII Ogólnopolskiej Konferencji Psychologii Rozowjowej, Gdańsk, czerwiec, 2013. Plopa M., Skala postaw rodzicielskich, “Psychologia Wychowawcza” 1987, No. 5. Plopa M., Psychologia rodziny, Kraków 2005. Poraj G., Wyznaczniki, cele i przejawy agresji w świetle badań młodzieży szkolnej [in:] Wokół wychowania. Rola rodziny i szkoły w procesie socjalizacji dziecka, T. Rostowska, J. Rostowski (eds.), Łódź 2006. Pospiszyl K., Ojciec a wychowanie dziecka, Warszawa 2007. Ramirez J.M., Andreu J.M., Fujihara T. Musazadeh Z., Saini S., Justification of Aggression in Several Asian and European Countries with Different Religious and Cultural Background, “International Journal of Behavioral Development” 2007, No. 31. Sitarczyk M., Środowisko rodzinne nieletnich sprawców zabójstw [in:] Wokół wychowania. Rola rodziny i szkoły w procesie socjalizacji dziecka, T. Rostowska, J. Rostowski (eds.), Łódź 2006. Tremblay R., The Development of Physical Aggression from Early Childhood to Adolescence, Wykład przedstawiony podczas 7th Biennial Conference of the EARA 2000, Jena, Gerany, 31.05 – 04.06.2000. Tyszka Z., Rodzina we współczesnym świecie, Poznań 2002. Tyszkowa M., Zachowanie się dzieci szkolnych w sytuacjach trudnych, Warszawa 1986. Wójcik D., Środowisko rodzinne a poziom agresywności młodzieży przestępczej i nieprzestępczej, Warszawa 1977. Ziemska M., Postawy rodzicielskie, Warszawa 1973.


ISSN 1230-266X

DOI: 10.15804/kie.2014.05.09

Camilla Pagani Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Italy

VIOLENCE IN A COMPREHENSIVE PERSPECTIVE1 ABSTRACT This paper addresses some issues that I consider to be particularly important in order to better understand and possibly countervail the phenomenon of violence. It especially focuses on the following points: a) the concept of violence; b) the Seville Statement on Violence and the possibility of revisiting and updating it; c) emotional and cultural factors as causes of violence; d) a proposal of a new perspective on the study of the relations between ingroup and outgroup; e) the possible role of the awareness of the existence of death in the context of human violence; f) the necessity of including violence against animals in the study of human violence.

Key words: violence, Seville Statement, aggression, human behaviour

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The starting point of this article is a paper I co-authored with Francesco Robustelli and presented at the XXXIII CICA International Conference “The Seville Statement on Violence: twenty-five years later”, Rome, 22 – 25 September 2011.

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1. Introduction In this paper I will briefly deal with some issues, which I consider to be particularly important in order to better understand and possibly countervail the phenomenon of violence. The following are the main points I will address: a) the concept of violence; b) the Seville Statement on Violence and the possibility of revisiting and updating it; c) emotional and cultural factors on which violence is grounded; d) some considerations on the relations between ingroup and outgroup; e) the possible role of the awareness of the existence of death in the context of human violence; f) the study of animal abuse as an essential component of human violence and as an essential contribution to its understanding.

2. The concept of violence In social sciences the study of violence has too often been identified with the study of physical violence. This fact is all the more understandable because in the English language violence is defined as a “behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something”2. Instead, in the Italian language the term violenza can refer both to a physical and a psychological force. In this context, when I use the word violence, I will refer to a phenomenon which can imply the use of either a physical or a psychological force or both, like in the Italian language. What is more, by violence I do not only mean a behavior but also an attitude, a thought, or a feeling tout court. It is clear that in this way the definition of violence becomes much broader and much more complex. It is my belief that in the psychological scientific literature the issue of the complex and broad semantic field potentially encompassed by the term violence has not been fully considered. Suffice it to mention one example. A few years ago A.E. Kazdin attempted to discuss interpersonal violence “more generally”. Indeed he emphasized the necessity to focus “on commonalities that the different types of

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J. Galtung, Violence, Peace, and Peace Research, “Journal of Peace Research” 1969, No. 6, p. 167.

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violence share”3. He also underlined the fragmentation characterizing the analysis of violence in the scientific literature and the interventions aiming to countervail violence itself. His view is graphically synthesized in his sentence: “Different types of violence are embedded in each other and in many other social problems”4. Among the types of violence, he mentions child maltreatment, domestic violence, sexual assault, gang activity, and elder abuse. These considerations are extremely important since they represent a first step towards a broader and more complex conceptualization of violence. However, it appears that the role of psychological violence is not sufficiently underlined. Besides, no clear and direct reference is made to violence at the level of governmental and other public institutions, and of cultures and societies at large. It also follows that no reference is made to the so-called “normative” or “structural” violence, that type of subtle and pervasive violence which is generally regarded by most people as a “normal” and “socially acceptable” routine experience. Instead, I argue that it would be particularly useful to move beyond the traditional focus of study, which has especially considered socially unacceptable types of violence, and to concentrate also on subtler and more complex forms of violence, which include “normative” violence as well. It is also imperative that these different kinds of violence are considered in an integrated and comprehensive perspective.

3. The Seville Statement on Violence and the possible utility of updating it The story about the origins, the contents and the objectives of the Seville Statement on Violence are well known. Thus, I will very briefly summarize them. In 1986 an international team of specialists (biologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, ethnologists, anthropologists, and sociologists) met at the University of Seville and wrote a scientific document, which was called the Seville Statement on Violence5. The Seville Statement was endorsed by many important scientific associations, including the American Psychological Association, the American Sociological Association, the American Anthropological Association, and the International Society for Research on Aggression. In 1989 it was adopted by UNESCO. 3 A.E. Kazdin, Conceptualizing the Challenge of Reducing Interpersonal Violence, “Psychology of Violence” 2011, No. 1, pp. 166 – 167. 4 Ibidem, p. 181. 5 The Seville Statement on Violence, D. Adams (ed.), Paris1991.


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By drafting the Seville Statement scientists set out to criticize the instinct theory of human aggression and to summarize the latest scientific results concerning the study of aggression and violence. In short, the Seville Statement maintains that aggression, violence and war are not biological necessities and, therefore, are not unavoidable, as so many people all over the world still believe. Consequently it is possible, through specific educational action, to countervail the sociocultural factors that determine such destructive behavior (see more e.g.: Groebel & Hinde6, Ramirez et al.7). A colleague of mine, Prof. Francesco Robustelli, was for many years the Italian representative in an international network created by UNESCO for the dissemination of the Seville Statement on Violence. For some years Prof. Robustelli and the present author were engaged in a research project on education against violence, the starting point of which was the Seville Statement. One of the aims of this project was to establish a real collaboration with public institutions with the purpose of fostering the concrete implementation, which is limited the world over, of the results of scientific research in the field of human violence. Official collaborative relations were established with the Italian Ministries of Education, of Justice, of the Interior, and of Social Affairs. Among these public institutions, school played a major role. Though it may be justifiably claimed that after almost three decades the scientific results illustrated in the Seville Statement are still valid, in the last few years some scholars have underlined the importance of revisiting and, in case, updating this document. An international conference on violence, with the participation of a multidisciplinary group of scholars from five continents, was held in Rome at the CNR (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche – National Research Council) headquarters between 22nd and 25th September 2011. It was organized by the present author and by J. Martin Ramirez (Universidad Complutense Madrid). The conference, entitled “The Seville Statement on Violence: Twenty-Five Years Later”, was the thirty-third of the international workshops that CICA (Coloquios Internacionales sobre Cerebro y Agresión), an international group of experts coming from various disciplines, holds regularly twice a year. The international, interdisciplinary, comprehensive approach characteristic of these meetings provides a useful bio-socio-psychological focus by bringing together a number of disciplines to more effectively analyse the complex relationships among brain,

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Aggression and War, J. Groebel, R.A. Hinde (eds.), Cambridge 1991. Essays on Violence, J.M. Ramirez, R.A. Hinde, J. Groebel (eds.), Seville 1987.

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aggression, and society. The conference was held in concomitance with the 25th anniversary of the Seville Statement on Violence. At the end of the conference, at the present author’s suggestion, participants discussed the opportunity of re-examining and, in case, improving the Seville Statement. In the end they agreed on the opportunity of writing a new scientific document. Indeed, though the fundamental thesis enunciated in the Seville Statement, whereby human violence is not unavoidable, as it is not biologically determined but is basically related to socio-cultural factors, is still valid, nevertheless participants considered it to be useful to further develop this thesis also in the light of the new research findings that had been obtained in the twenty-five years following the birth of the Seville Statement. The multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary group of experts who have been involved in this complex and delicate task and who are working on it was set up. Members of this group are, among others and besides the present author, J. Martin Ramirez (Stanford University), Piero Giorgi (University of Otago, New Zealand), Roberto Mercadillo (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), and Douglas Fry (Åbo Akademi University, Finland & University of Arizona). Though the new document will be strictly scientific, its style and form will be such as to make it perfectly comprehensible for the general public, so that its impact on social reality will be even stronger. Here are a few considerations that might contribute to ameliorating the Seville Statement: – a clear definition of “violence” should be provided; – it is now clear that it is necessary to enlarge the focus of study, which has traditionally and too often been related to the analysis of physical violence, and to more deeply concentrate also on subtler and more complex forms of aggression. Besides, not only the importance of war should be stressed. Also the role of aggressiveness, including “normative” aggressiveness in interhuman relationships, and “normative” violence in state institutions, should be more deeply analyzed; – the role and the analysis of socio-cultural (including economic) factors should be more attentively emphasized. In particular, this analysis should be more stringent, more scientifically correct and devoid of ingenuous beliefs and attitudes that have sometimes characterized some psychologists’ views and especially their views regarding the role of politicians. The analysis should also focus on the quality and degree of reciprocal interactions between violence at a macro-level (state, public institutions) and violence at a micro-level (individuals, families, local communities);


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– some of the conceptualizations in the scientific literature regarding the purported differences in individuals’ attitudes towards the ingroup and the outgroup should be more attentively examined; – the field of human-animal studies can be extremely useful in the study of interhuman violence.

4. Emotional factors and cultural factors on which violence is grounded Although the study of cultural (social, political, economic) factors on which violence is grounded is a matter of the highest importance, the study of emotions, like for example shame, fear, anger, hate, envy, and resentment, that produce and accompany violence, is no less significant (e.g. Pagani8). Besides, most importantly, the relationships between emotions and cultural factors should be identified and explained. For instance, war can be regarded, in a way, as the macroscopic expression of individuals’ various personality traits, which are the expression of specific cognitions and emotions and which contribute to the construction of the social contexts where wars develop. On the other hand, these social contexts, once they have been established, deeply affect each individual’s personality. This means that there is a reciprocal interaction between individuals’ psychological reality and social contexts. According to T.J. Scheff9, most members of modern societies overestimate the role of “material” factors and deny the importance of the social-emotional world in producing violence, as they assume that “causes lie in the material world, and/ or in thoughts and beliefs” (p. 458). He believes that both social scientists and citizens should try to make “the social-emotional world visible and as important as the political-economic one”10. For example, referring to World War I, he argues that “The basic cause of the war […] was not economic or real politic, but social/ emotional. The German and French people seem to have been caught up in alienation and shame spirals” (p. 457). He also points out that the study of the motivations of terrorists especially illustrates the role played by emotions, in particular by the experience of humili8

C. Pagani, Violence in Cross-cultural Relations as the Outcome of Specific Cognitive and Emotional Processes, “The Open Psychology Journal” 2011, No. 4 (Suppl 1-M2), pp. 21 – 27. 9 T.J. Scheff, Social-Emotional Origins of Violence: A Theory of Multiple Killing, “Aggression and Violent Behavior” 2011, No. 16, pp. 453 – 460. 10 Ibidem, p. 458.

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ation, in generating violence and war. In this connection he quotes the answer of the then prime minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon, to a reporter who had asked him why Palestinians crossing the border were kept waiting for so long: “We want to humiliate them”11.

5. Ingroup and Outgroup In a comprehensive analysis of violence it is also important to, at least briefly, refer to the more significant views in social psychology research regarding the relations between ingroup and outgroup. It is well-known that social scientists have usually assumed that social cohesion in the ingroup is frequently accompanied by its hostility or indifference towards the outgroup, and that, consequently, “ingroup love and outgroup hate are reciprocally related”12. The present author has elaborated a theoretical proposal (Pagani, in press) that develops and partly contradicts this thesis. Obviously, it is a proposal that needs to be further investigated in future research. However, it is useful to mention it here, as it could enrich the theoretical framework regarding our views on violence. Though the assumption that ingroup love presupposes outgroup hate and vice versa has been challenged by some authors (e.g., Cameron, Rutland, Brown, & Douch13), it is important to point out that, in order to support their views, these authors especially referred to concepts like concentric or multiple group loyalties, cross-cutting or multiple social identities, complexity, and complex social system. In sum, they opposed complexity to clear-cut and over-simplified oppositions and justly underlined the importance of the individual’s awareness of the complexity, that is of the interior differentiation, of her/his personal identity and of the identity of her/his ingroup. Consequentially, they argued that this way the individual is more capable of identifying not only differences, but also hybridizations and similarities among people and among groups. Thus, the individual will more frequently avoid simplistic and Manichaean juxtapositions between individuals and between groups and will develop a more positive and tolerant attitude towards outgroups. Undoubtedly, this is a valid and very important thesis. 11

Ibidem, p. 458. M.B. Brewer, The Psychology of Prejudice: Ingroup Love or Outgroup Hate?, “Journal of Social Issues” 1999, No. 55, p. 429. 13 L. Cameron, A. Rutland, R. Brown, R. Douch, Changing Children’s Intergroup Attitudes toward Refugees: Testing Different Models of Extended Contact,“Child Development” 2006, No. 77, pp. 1208 – 1219. 12


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My proposal, which might integrate these authors’ thesis, is based on the following lines of argumentation: a) social cohesion in the ingroup is also grounded in the awareness and in the understanding of the various individual diversities of the members of the ingroup; b) inevitably, this kind of awareness and understanding contributes to fostering the awareness and the understanding also of the various diversities related both to the outgroups in general and to the individual members of the outgroups themselves; c) this means that, consequentially, diversity, like for example cultural diversity, pertaining to the outgroups and their members, is acknowledged and accepted to the extent that diversity among the members of the ingroup is also acknowledged and accepted. In other words, the two phenomena – understanding and accepting the diversities within the ingroup and understanding and accepting the diversities of the outgroups and of their individual members are closely interconnected. This means that positive relations among the members of the ingroup can be generalized to the relations with outgroups. This point of view contradicts one of the traditional theses in social psychology research according to which positive relations within the ingroup are usually accompanied by hostile attitudes towards the outgroup (e.g., Brewer14). Research findings have demonstrated that if people are categorized into different groups, even in those cases where the differentiation is weak or artificial, this situation is alone sufficient to elicit ingroup favoritism (e.g., Lonsdale and North15). These findings can be explained by the influence of the competitive life pattern now prevailing all over the world and in many ways affecting individuals’ attitudes and behaviors (e.g. Pagani & Robustelli16; F. Robustelli17). Accordingly, it is reasonable to assume that ingroup favoritism is especially caused by people’s widespread competitive attitudes and not to their being part of a particular group. In fact, we can presume that the mere belonging to a group per se does not produce any hostile attitude towards an outgroup (Pagani18). I argue that a debate on this issue might expand and enrich the more general debate on the causes and other significant aspects of the phenomenon of violence.

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M.B. Brewer, op.cit., pp. 429 – 444. A.J. Lonsdale, A.C. North, Musical Taste and Ingroup Favouritism, “Group Processes & Intergroup Relations” 2009, No. 12, pp. 319 – 327. 16 C. Pagani, F. Robustelli, Young People, Multiculturalism, and Educational Interventions for the Development of Empathy, “International Social Science Journal” 2010, No. 200 – 201, pp. 247 – 261. 17 F. Robustelli, La competitività nella ricerca scientifica, “A” 2007, No. 37(2), pp. 29 – 30. 18 C. Pagani, Diversity and Social Cohesion, “Intercultural Education” (in press). 15

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6. The possible role of the awareness of the existence of death in the context of human violence In the last few decades a number of studies have been dedicated to the effects of death thought (the so-called mortality salience) on some specific attitudes, for example on reactions to those who validate the cultural worldview and to those who threaten the cultural worldview (e.g., Cohen, Soenke, Solomon, & Greenberg19; Greenberg et al20). The issue of the awareness of the presence of death in human life and in nature in general in connection with the problem of violence has been seldom examined from a psychological point of view (Pagani21; Robustelli22). As a matter of fact, life per se is also violent just for the presence of death alone. Indeed, most human beings probably perceive death, and in particular their personal death and the death of their loved ones, as a form of violence. This can pose one important question: “Can the perception of death as a form of violence affect people’s attitudes and behaviors as far as violence is concerned?” And if “yes”, in what ways? Can this perception contribute to inducing, at least in some people’s minds, the fatalistic view that violence is pervasive and unavoidable in many other aspects of human life? Or, alternatively, in other people’s minds, can this perception have an opposite effect and act as a sort of resistance and reaction to the reality of violence and as a propulsive force, leading to fight violence and to envisage a new and more peaceful social reality? These questions are all the more dramatic if we also consider the presence of violence in nature in general. Suffice it to mention food chains. Carnivores feed on herbivores. From this point of view most human beings are violent. It is my view that if natural death is the most extreme form of violence, to which all living beings are subjected, the other forms of violence can nevertheless be analyzed and, at least in part, neutralized by human beings through the adop19

F. Cohen, M. Soenke, S. Solomon, J. Greenberg, Evidence for a Role of Death Thought in American Attitudes toward Symbols of Islam, “Journal of Experimental Social Psychology” 2013, No. 49, pp. 189 – 194. 20 J. Greenberg, T. Pyszczynski, S. Solomon, A. Rosenblatt, M. Veeder, S. Kirkland, D. Lyon, Evidence for Terror Management Theory: The Effects of Mortality Salience on Reactions to Those Who Threaten or Bolster the Cultural Worldview, “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology” 1990, No. 58, pp. 308 – 318. 21 C. Pagani, Perception of a Common Fate in Human-Animal Relations and Its Relevance to Our Concern for Animals, “Anthrozoös” 2000, No. 13, pp. 66 – 73. 22 F. Robustelli, Ordine naturale e ordine umano: spunti educativ, “Scuola & Città” 1995, No. 12, pp. 528 – 532.


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tion of rational and firm attitudes and behaviors. As F. Robustelli23 wrote when addressing the problem of violence and of the consequential suffering connected to it: To a reality that is fundamentally characterized by suffering we can only oppose our revolt and base this revolt on our refusal to produce further suffering24.

7. The study of animal abuse as an essential component of human violence and as a contribution to its understanding I argue that the field of human-animal studies, and especially the area dedicated to the study of violence against animals, can become extremely useful in the study of interhuman violence. And this, above all, for two reasons: a) violence against animals typically exemplifies an essential constituent of human violence, namely the exertion of power over weaker individuals, as animals are generally weaker than humans. This fact, in turn, relates back to the competitive life pattern which now prevails the world over, whereby human societies are characterized by hierarchical structures, with animals and other categories of individuals (like, for example, the poor, the elderly, and women) on the lowest rungs; b) violence against animals neatly underlines humans’ frequent difficult and destructive relationship with diversity. Human identity is the continuously evolving outcome of humans’ relationship with diversity25. Contact with diversity can occur both in intraspecies and interspecies relations. This contact is often negatively affected by the presence of prejudices and stereotypes through which the individual perceives others (both humans and animals) in an automatic, simplistic, and distorted way, according to cognitive and affective patterns pertaining to the individual’s culture and personality. Thus, similarities between violence against animals (and against nature in general) and interhuman violence can be identified and, consequently, a compre23 F. Robustelli, La sperimentazione sugli animali [in:] Bioetica, Ricerca, e Società, R. Marchesini (ed.), San Martino di Sarsina 1995, pp. 65 – 75. 24 Ibidem, p. 73. 25 C. Pagani, Children and Adolescents who are Kind to Animals [in:] The Psychology of the Human-Animal Bond: A Handbook for Clinicians and Researchers, C. Blazina, D.S. Shen-Miller, G. Boyraz (eds.), New York 2011, pp. 289 – 306.

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hensive and more correct understanding of human violence, both against humans and animals (and nature in general), can be attained. Indeed, these similarities are far beyond those that psychological research on the “link”26 has indicated in the last forty years. Interestingly, in research studies on animal abuse a distinction between “socially unacceptable” and “socially acceptable” violence ha been made and the relations between these two forms of violence are now becoming an object of deeper analysis in the academia27. Besides, it is also clear that the boundaries between them are often blurred. Given the delicacy of these issues also in the context of interhuman relationships, it is no surprise that only in the study of violence against animals this distinction has so far been clearly debated. In our research studies on children’s and adolescents’ experiences of animal cruelty we found how deeply aware of the complexity of the concept of violence our young participants are and how often they adopt a broad definition of violence against animals which includes both “socially acceptable” and “socially unacceptable” forms of violence28.

8. Conclusions The paper underlines the importance of adopting a broad and comprehensive definition of violence, including both physical and psychological violence, interhuman violence and violence against animals and nature in general. The emotional and the cultural causes of violence are emphasized. The paper also underlines the utility of revisiting and, in case, updating the Seville Statement and the utility of a more thorough analysis of the relations between ingroup and outgroup. It suggests that studies on the phenomenon of violence could probably benefit from the analysis of the possible role of people’s awareness of death in the context of human violence.

26 The “link” has become a very common term in the academia, in the police, and in the social services especially in the USA. It refers to the association, which many research studies have indicated, between animal cruelty and interhuman violence (domestic violence, child maltreatment, elder abuse, etc.). 27 C.P. Flynn, Acknowledging the “Zoological Connection”: A Sociological Analysis of Animal Cruelty, “Society & Animals” 2001, No. 9, pp. 71 – 87. 28 C. Pagani, F. Robustelli, F.R. Ascione, Investigating Animal Abuse: Some Theoretical and Methodological Issues, “Anthrozoös” 2010, No. 23, pp. 259 – 278.


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It also suggests that violence can only be understood and countervailed if it is analyzed in a comprehensive perspective, which considers humans’ destructive behaviors and attitudes towards humans, animals, and the rest of the planet. It is a fact that no life pattern based on justice and solidarity can be proposed if people continue to consider the human species as the owner and ruler of the earth. Indeed, there is an indissoluble link between believing that human beings are entitled to dominate the earth and believing that some human beings are entitled to dominate other human beings. As Robustelli wrote: […] we attack a mouse exactly as we attack a whale, a forest, or a river, and in the same way as we attacked Anna Frank and as we are now attacking the children in Bosnia29.

REFERENCES: Aggression and War, Groebel J., Hinde R.A. (eds.), Cambridge 1991. Brewer M.B., The Psychology of Prejudice: Ingroup Love or Outgroup Hate?, “Journal of Social Issues” 1999, No. 55. Cameron L., Rutland A., Brown R., Douch R., Changing Children’s Intergroup Attitudes toward Refugees: Testing Different Models of Extended Contact, “Child Development” 2006, No. 77. Cohen F., Soenke M., Solomon S., Greenberg J., Evidence for a Role of Death Thought in American Attitudes toward Symbols of Islam, “Journal of Experimental Social Psychology” 2013, No. 49. Essays on Violence, J.M. Ramirez, R.A. Hinde, J. Groebel (eds.), Seville 1987. Flynn C.P., Acknowledging the “Zoological Connection”: A sociological analysis of animal cruelty, “Society & Animals” 2001, No. 9. Galtung J., Violence, Peace, and Peace Research, “Journal of Peace Research” 1969, No. 6. Greenberg J., Pyszczynski T., Solomon S., Rosenblatt A., Veeder M., Kirkland S., Lyon D., Evidence for Terror Management Theory: The Effects of Mortality Salience on Reactions to Those Who Threaten or Bolster the Cultural Worldview, “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology” 1990, No. 58. Griffiths J.A., Nesdale D., In-group and Out-group Attitudes of Ethnic Majority and Minority Children, “International Journal of Intercultural Relations” 2006, No. 30. 29

F. Robustelli, La sperimentazione…, op.cit., p. 72.

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Kazdin A.E., Conceptualizing the Challenge of Reducing Interpersonal Violence, “Psychology of Violence” 2011, No. 1. Lipset S.M., Some Social Requisites of Democracy, Development, and Politics, “American Political Science Review” 1959, No. 53. Lonsdale A.J., North A.C., Musical Taste and Ingroup Favouritism, “Group Processes & Intergroup Relations” 2009, No. 12. Pagani C., Children and Adolescents who are Kind to Animals [in:] The Psychology of the Human-Animal Bond: A Handbook for Clinicians and Researchers, C. Blazina, D.S. Shen-Miller, G. Boyraz (eds.), New York 2011. Pagani C., Diversity and Social Cohesion, “Intercultural Education” (in press). Pagani C., Perception of a Common Fate in Human-Animal Relations and Its Relevance to Our Concern for Animals, “Anthrozoös” 2000, No. 13. Pagani C., Robustelli F. Youth’s Attitudes toward Racism: A Psycho-Socio-Cultural Perspective [in:] Conflicts in a Society in Transition, B. Szegál, I. András (eds.), Dunaújváros 2011. Pagani C., Robustelli F., Ascione F.R., Investigating Animal Abuse: Some Theoretical and Methodological Issues, “Anthrozoös” 2010, No. 23. Pagani C., Robustelli F., Lo sviluppo dell’aggressività nel bambino, “Bambini” 1998, No. 2. Pagani C., Robustelli F., Marek a scuola. Gli insegnanti e l’inserimento degli alunni stranieri nella scuola italiana, Milano 2005. Pagani C., Robustelli F., Young People, Multiculturalism, and Educational Interventions for the Development of Empathy, “International Social Science Journal” 2010, No. 200. Pagani C., Violence in Cross-cultural Relations as the Outcome of Specific Cognitive and Emotional Processes, “The Open Psychology Journal” 2011, No. 4 (Suppl 1-M2). Robustelli F., La competitività nella ricerca scientifica, “A” 2007, No. 37 (2). Robustelli F., La sperimentazione sugli animali [in:] Bioetica, Ricerca, e Società, R. Marchesini (ed.), San Martino di Sarsina 1995. Robustelli F., Ordine naturale e ordine umano: spunti educativi, “Scuola & Città” 1995, No. 12. Robustelli F., Pagani C., L’educazione contro la violenza, “Psicologia contemporanea” 1996, No. 136, XXIII. Rosenblatt A., Greenberg J., Solomon S., Pyszczynski T., Lyon D., Evidence For Terror Management Theory: I. The Effects of Mortality Salience on Reactions to Those Who Violate or Uphold Cultural Values, “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology” 1989, No. 57. Scheff T.J., Social-Emotional Origins of Violence: A Theory of Multiple Killing, “Aggression and Violent Behaviour” 2011, No. 16. The Seville Statement on Violence, D. Adams (ed.), Paris 1991. Violence – Some Alternatives, J.M. Ramirez (ed.), Madrid 1994.


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Violence is Not Biologically Determined. The Seville Statement on Violence twenty-five years later, C. Pagani, J.M. Ramirez (eds.), Roma 2011, http://eprints.ucm.es/13354/1/ XXXIII_CICA_book_of_abstracts.pdf.


ISSN 1230-266X

DOI: 10.15804/kie.2014.05.10

Grażyna Poraj University of Łódź, Poland

AGGRESSIVE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IN THE FAMILY ENVIRONMENT ABSTRACT Children’s individual experience gained within families may lead to the development of both prosocial and aggressive behaviours. The aim of the paper is to analyse the phenomenon of aggression in the family environment. Extensive specialist literature indicates that there are often many co-occurring factors that determine child aggression. Children live in a dysfunctional family, in conditions of poverty and parental pathology, experience parental hostility and violence, are neglected, their vital biological and psychological needs are not met, they undergo inadequate upbringing training. They also experience aggression in sibling relations. Thus, the family provides them with comprehensive aggressive education for years. An important issue is to prevent and control aggression in the family. It is not easy and requires actions at three levels: social, individual and family. The article also presents an interesting intervention model in a sibling aggression situation.

Key words: aggression, violence, family, parents, children, siblings, prevention, intervention

Aggressive Education of Children in the Family Environment

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1. Introduction Family is the most important place where child development and socialization take place. It is among its members that the child undergoes a kind of training, learns social norms, assimilates a system of values in life and builds his or her attitude towards the world. Children’s individual experience gained within families may lead to the development of both prosocial and aggressive behaviours. Undoubtedly, aggression is one of the many possible forms of behaviour observed and personally experienced by children in their families. Research confirms that aggressive children often have aggressive and rejecting parents1. In the modelling process they learn from their parents, as key figures, that aggression is a way to cope with various problems. Although children are mostly affected by the identification mechanism in childhood, it leaves a permanent and visible mark on their functioning throughout lives. The process of modelling aggressive behaviours by parents involves a wide array of adults’ behaviours. First and foremost, it is parents’ attitude towards each other. If it is predominated by conflicts, quarrels or hurling of insults, similar behaviours will develop in children. If children observe parents’ contemptuous, aggressive attitude towards others, e.g. neighbours, colleagues, people in the street, they will learn that those are proper reactions to people. As important in modelling are aggressive behaviours towards the child himself or herself, i.e. corporal punishment. A boy frequently beaten by his father will first introduce the same behaviour into relations with peers and then, as an adult, towards his own children. Siblings play an instrumental role in that process too. It is among siblings that the child learns when, whom and how to beat2. Therefore, researchers working in the discussed field agree that it is in the family setting that the dangerous and multifaceted process of children’s aggressive education takes place3. It has many sources, which accounts for serious difficulty in controlling and 1

D. Olweus, Familial and Temperamental Determinants of Aggressive Behavior in Adolescent Boy: A Causal Analysis, “Developmental Psychology” 1980, Vol. 16, pp. 644 – 660; G.R. Patterson, Performance Models for Antisocial Boy, “American Psychologist” 1986, Vol. 41, pp. 432 – 444; V. Viemero, Factors Affecting Development of Asocial and Criminal Behaviours of Adolescents [in:] Socialization and Aggression, A. Frączek, H. Zumkley (eds.), Warsaw 1993, pp. 191 – 205. 2 G.R. Patterson, op.cit. 3 J. Ranschburg, Anxiety, Anger, Aggression, Warsaw 1980; P. Brzozowski, Parental Upbringing Attitudes and Children’s Aggressiveness [in:] A Review of Research on Parental Attitudes, K. Pospiszyl (ed.), Lublin 1988; M.A. Straus, R.J. Gelles, How Violent are American Families? Estimates from the National Family Violence Resurvey and Other Studies [in:] Physical Violence in American Families: Risk Factors and Adaptations to Violence in 8.145 Families, M. Straus, R. Gelles (eds.), New Brunswick 1990; A. Frączek, L. Kirwil, Family Life and Aggression in Children: Research into Some Socialization Conditions Contributing to the Development of Aggression [in:] Socialization and Aggression,

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reducing it. All the more so because children from dysfunctional families neither complain nor seek help and, through their silence, give adult and juvenile family aggressors the sense of impunity. Another grave family problem is violence. Those are behaviours connected with an intention to inflict pain or injuries on family members. They usually repeat regularly and last permanently for years causing harm not only to their victims4, as they place a burden on the entire family, leading to disintegration, pathology, breakdown, and asocial and antisocial behaviours in children5. The aim of the paper is to analyse the phenomenon of children’s aggressive education taking into account: the phenomenon of aggression modelling that includes observation of parental aggressive behaviours towards each other and people around as well as aggression experienced in relations with parents and siblings. Without a doubt, it does not exhaust the issue but certainly raises the awareness of its wide range.

2. Aggression and violence in marital dyad Although statistics available on violence against the spouse seem to be decidedly understated and most cases remain undisclosed, it is a fairly common problem occurring in all cultures. Information about the scale of the phenomenon comes from various sources. For instance, World Health Organization studies indicate that domestic violence may affect from 15% to 71% of the population6. In turn, OBOP reports published in 1996 stated that there are about 750 thousand wives battered in families in Poland. Alarmingly, at the same time, a vast majority of cases of harassment in the family or child battering is never brought before the court. Interesting results of the 2010 OBOP study showed that it is a serious problem as A. Frączek, H. Zumkley (eds.), Warsaw 1993; J. Grochulska, Aggression in Children, Warsaw 1993; G. Poraj, Biological, Psychological and Social Origin vs. Control and Prevention of Aggressive Behaviours [in:] Disturbances in Children’s and Adolescents’ Behaviour in the Context of Difficult School and Extraschool Situations, D. Borecka-Biernat (ed.), Cracow 2011, pp. 169 – 191. 4 H.H. Krauss, B.J. Krauss, Domestic Violence and Its Prevention [in:] Violence and the Prevention of Violence, L.L. Adler, F.L. Denark (eds.), Waestport 1995, p. 142. 5 A. Woźniak-Krakowian, Violence towards Family. An Attempt at a Psychosocial Portrayal of the Domestic Violence Perpetrator [in:] Threats to Family Life, G. Poraj, J. Rostowski (eds.), Łódź 2003, pp. 201 – 212. 6 C. Garcia-Moreno, H.A. Jansennn, M. Ellsberg, L. Heine, C.H. Watts, Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence: Findings from the WHO Multi-country Study on Womens’ Health and Domestic Violence, “Lancet” 2006, Vol. 4, No. 368, pp. 1260 – 1269.


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in a phone survey carried out on a group of 3,000 respondents as many as 60% confirmed that they knew a family where violence between spouses occurred. Police statistics comparing the scale of the phenomenon in recent years reveal a steady decrease in the number of domestic violence victims. As shown in Table 1, the recorded number of domestic violence victims was 156.79 thousand in 2005 and 113.55 thousand, hence significantly fewer, in 2011. Main victims of violence are wives (from 58% to 61%); few are husbands (from 6% to 10%). A significant number of domestic violence victims in every analysed yearbook include also children and the elderly. The comparison of percentage rates of victims indicates an interesting regularity. The rate regarding the number of wives and husbands as victims of violence runs steady (or even slightly rises) over the compared years. Thus, the drop concerns solely the other victims (from 36% in 2005 to 28% in 2011). The steady rates are alarming and prove that we are still unable to reduce the phenomenon of domestic violence, especially against wives. Table 1. Police statistics on domestic violence from 2005 to 2011 according to the “Blue Card” procedure in thousands

2005

2007

2009

2011

Total number of domestic violence victims

156.79 (100%)

130.68 (100%)

132.80 (100%)

113.55 (100%)

including: wives

91.37 (58%)

76.16 (58%)

79.811 (60%)

70.73 (61%)

including: husbands

10.39 (6%)

8.56 (7%)

11.73 (9%)

10.72 (10%)

other victims

55.03 (36%)

45.96 (35%)

41.26 (31%)

32.10 (28%)

Source: http://www.statystyka.policja.pl/portal/st/944/50863/Przemoc_w_rodzinie.html

In turn, Table 2 presents detailed figures describing the phenomenon of domestic violence registered by the police in 2012. As can be seen, violence victims are mostly women (65% of the total number of victims in families); the figure is higher than in the preceding years analysed above. The victims live in families where relations are based on control and power. They constantly feel anxiety, fear or anger. The rate of victimised husbands runs at the level of 10%. Along with the numbers of violence victims among women and men, the table also shows suspected perpetrators, both women and men.

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Table 2. Police statistics on domestic violence against the spouse according to the “Blue Card” procedure for 2012 Total number of violence victims

76.993

Number of victims – women

50.241

65%

Number of victims – men

7.580

10%

51.531

100%

Total number of individuals suspected of violence

100%

Number of suspected perpetrators – women

3.522

7%

Number of suspected perpetrators – men

47.728

93%


As expected, men account for as many as 93% of suspected perpetrators of violence in families. Only 7% of individuals suspected of violence against the spouse are women. Extensive research has been conducted into the causes of aggression and violence against the spouse. Barentt and Wiehe point to three main groups of risks of harming the intimate partner. They include demographic factors, personality traits and variables concerning relations in a couple7. Demographic factors are gender and low socioeconomic status of violence perpetrators. Serious acts of physical aggression are committed mainly by lower social class men. On the other hand, women most commonly perform acts of revenge, which means that the acts are usually preceded by harassment by husbands. The analysis of individual traits of violence perpetrators reveals that the most important among risk factors are: antisocial personality, low self-esteem, pathological jealousy, childhood experience of violence, and observing violence in the family of origin. Relation variables involve the lack of partners’ commitment to the relationship, lack of communication skills and division of roles in the couple with the clear dominance of the man. It is certainly quite an overwhelming dominance including physical, financial and decision-making aspects8. According to A. Woźniak-Krakowian, the violence perpetrator is most often a man between thirty and fifty years of age9. He lives in a conurbation as it ensures him anonymity. He may also live in the country where the strong patriarchal tradition and need to gain control over family members still persist. He demonstrates 7

B. Krahe, Aggression, Gdańsk 2005, pp. 157 – 161. L.W. Bennet, O.J. Williams, Men Who Batter [in:] Family Violence, R.L. Hampton (ed.), Thousand Oaks 1999, pp. 227 – 259. 9 A. Woźniak-Krakowian, op.cit. 8


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violence towards his wife, sometimes also towards other members of the family, due to his upbringing. Aggression and violence are a norm to him in communicating his needs and serve to meet goals and force others into obedience. He may use psychological, physical or sexual violence. The psychological profile of the perpetrator proposed by Woźniak-Krakowian shows that he is unable to perform the role of the husband and father. He often displays jealousy of children, envy of the wife’s success, her professional position or education. He exhibits asocial and antisocial behaviours. He is ruthless, can punish his victims for real and imaginary faults. Regrettably, he has the sense of impunity as people around do nothing to stop his behaviour. He often feels lost and confused in the socio-political reality, and thus often uses alcohol which boosts his self-confidence. Regrettably, he happens to be a repeat offender in respect of offences against the family. As proved by D. Rode, intramarital violence has multifactorial aetiology10. The author analysed 180 court files of perpetrators of violence against wives. The mean age of aggressors was 41.2 years and of their wives – 32.4 years but no significant relationships were revealed between violence and the perpetrator’s age. They had been married from 2 to 47 years but also that factor was not associated with violence against the wife. Spouses, however, differed in their levels of education. Males usually had vocational education, whereas their wives had secondary one. The conducted analysis indicated that the leading cause of harming wives was alcohol abuse – in 72% of perpetrators. Such a study result is not rare as researchers analysing the issue unanimously agree that alcohol makes perpetrators feel absolved of responsibility for their own behaviour. Other violence determinants indicated by Rode are serious economic problems of the family (13.3%), including poor financial and living conditions, low income, poverty, unemployment. They trigger strong negative emotions which perpetrators can release in the only way they know. The author pointed to yet another factor generating violence against wives, namely personality disorders in perpetrators (9.5%). They were characterized by the lack of higher-order feelings and lowered self-criticism, increased combativeness, lack of empathy, inability to build lasting emotional relationships and predict results of their own behaviour, succumbing to addictions, and self-destructive tendencies. As the harming of children, harming of the spouse shows certain continuity. It manifests itself in frequent outbursts of anger and solving of all marital and family problems with the use of aggression or violence. Families affected by such experi10

D. Rode, Intramarital Violence – Manifestations and Psychosocial Determinants [in:] Threats to Family Life, G. Poraj, J. Rostowski (eds.), Łódź 2003, pp. 180 – 192.

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ence are burdened with a lasting aggressive pattern of interparental interactions. That causes the posttraumatic stress disorder in victims. According to B. Krahe, women harmed by their husbands very often experience a very dangerous phenomenon of being trapped in the relationship11. That entails the mechanism of blaming oneself, denial and adaptation to violence, which results in not seeking help, becoming resigned to one’s fate and staying in the dysfunctional relationship for years. Aggression and violence between spouses also affect their parental roles and children’s behaviour. The issue aroused the interest of J. McCord who analysed causes of aggressive behaviour in 174 boys12. The research revealed grave problems between parents. Their relationships were characterized by the lack of acceptance of each other and marked by emotional coldness and high combativeness, often aggression against each other. The studied parents admitted taking improper care of their children. Mothers exhibited insufficient or excessive parental control, whereas fathers displayed a rejecting attitude towards sons, often punished them, frequently used aggression and physical violence since early childhood. Boys got aggressive education by observing aggression and experiencing it in their family homes, which resulted, among others, in socially unacceptable behaviours in the school setting and conflicts with peers and adults. Undoubtedly, for the child, observing violence in the family is as strong a psychological trauma as being its victim. It is indicated, however, that consequences of such experience for children’s development vary considerably. In some they lead to difficulty in internalization, while in others they result in difficulty in externalization. Therefore, there are children in whom observing violence between parents causes aggression and serious conflicts associated with aggression in the extrafamilial setting. Research into the transmission of aggression and violence in the family proved that parental aggression allows to predict aggressive behaviours in the future relationship13. Some children react to couple violence by inhibition, anxiety and subordination. They find it very difficult to adapt to the extrafamilial social environment14. It seems, however, of lesser importance how exactly children 11

B. Krahe, op.cit. M.D. Kahn, G. Monks, Sibling Relational Problems [in:] DSM – IV Sourcebook, T.A. Widiger, A.J. Frances, H.A. Pincus, R. Ross, M.B. First, W.Davis (eds.), pp. 693 – 712. 13 P.A. Timmons Fritz, A.M. Smith Slep, K.D. O’Leary, Couple-Level Analysis of the Relation Between Family-of-Origin Aggression and Intimate Partner Violence, “Psychology of Violence” 2012, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 139 – 153. 14 E.M. Cummings, C. Zahn-Waxler, Emotions and Socialization of Aggression: Adults’ Angry Behaviour and Excitation and Aggression in Children [in:] Socialization and Aggression, A. Frączek, H. Zumkley (eds.),Warsaw 1993, p. 83. 12


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react to violence observed in their closest familial circle as all the above-mentioned consequences disturb the proper psychophysical development of the child and his or her socialization process. They leave their mark for the entire life.

3. Aggression modelling and harming of children in the family environment It has been empirically proved that people learn aggressive behaviours by observing others’ behaviours as well as observing consequences of such behaviours15. In an already historical experiment, Bandura, Ross and Ross recorded reactions of children who had earlier observed aggressive and non-aggressive behaviours of adults16. The analysis of the reactions indicated that children who had earlier observed aggressive behaviours displayed tendencies to imitate them. In turn, children who had observed non-aggressive behaviours did not exhibit tendencies towards undesirable behaviours. It was also noted that gender played an important role in imitating the behaviours: girls more often imitated women, boys – men. That is the phenomenon of modelling whose essence was very accurately defined by J. Ranschburg: “if only the child’s abilities allow, he or she irreversibly and always learns the behaviour of the model, irrespective of whether the model’s behaviour brings success or failure, punishment or reward”17. Certainly, the most effective aggression models for children are the closest significant figures, i.e. parents. Research by Straus and Gelles produced surprising results18. They revealed that almost 100% of small children’s parents confirmed that they had hit their child at least once over the preceding year. Many of them claimed that it is often necessary to discipline the child by spanking him or her. The researchers decided that such punishment should be distinguished from harming violence having such damaging consequences for children. As many as 23 out of 1000 studied parents admitted that they had used the latter in the preceding 12 months. In turn, other researchers came to a conclusion that observing and experiencing violence in the 15

J. Grochulska, op.cit.; I. Pospiszyl, Aggression in the Family, Warsaw 1994; B. Wojcieszke, Interpersonal Relations [in:] Psychology. An Academic Textbook, J.Strelau (ed.), Gdańsk 2000, pp. 147 – 164; G. Poraj, Family and Child Aggressive Behaviour – Developmental Perspective [in:] Family Life Quality. Selected Issues,T. Rostowska (ed.), Łódź 2006, pp. 199 – 216. 16 A. Bandura, D. Ross, S.A. Ross, Imitation of Film-Mediated Aggressive Models, “Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology” 1963, Vol. 66, pp. 3 – 11. 17 J. Ranschburg, op.cit., p. 108. 18 M.A. Straus, R.J. Gelles, op.cit.

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family is rarely an isolated case but rather a series of repeated events, a cycle that may even last for years. It regularly introduces pathological behaviours into the child’s life and teaches him or her that aggressive behaviours are an effective way of coping in his or her life19. Due to their low status in the hierarchy of power, children are especially vulnerable to experiencing violence inflicted by their parents or other adults in the family environment20. The scale of the phenomenon can be observed in Poland thanks to police statistics. Although they do not give the complete picture of the range of the problem, they offer some hints as to its incidence. Table 3 below shows the numbers of children – domestic violence victims from 2005 to 2011, while Table 4 presents data for 2012. Figures shown in Table 3 are relatively high, although a downward trend can be observed. That decrease does not seem to instil optimism. As can be seen, younger children fall victim to violence in the family twice as often as older ones. Maybe Table 3. Police statistics on domestic violence against children according to the “Blue Card” procedure

2005

2007

2009

2011

Total number of domestic violence victims

156,788 (100%)

130,682 (100%)

132,796 (100%)

113,546 (100%)

children up to 13 years

37,227 (24%)

31,001 (24%)

27,502 (21%)

21,394 (18%)

minors aged 13 to 18 years

17,800 (11%)

14,963 (11%)

13,755 (10%)

10,704 (10%)


Table 4. Police statistics on domestic violence against children according to the “Blue Card” procedure for 2012 Total number of violence victims

76,993

100%

Number of victims – women

50,241

65%

Number of victims – men

7,580

10%

Number of victims – children and minors

19,172

25%

Source: http://www.statystyka.policja.pl/portal/st/944/50863/Przemoc_w_rodzinie.html 19 H.H. Krauss, B.J. Krauss, Domestic Violence and Its Prevention [in:] Violence and the Prevention of Violence, L.L. Adler, F.L. Denark (eds.), Waestport 1995, pp. 129 – 144. 20 B. Krahe, op.cit., p. 143.


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that is so because they are defenceless, which gives perpetrators the sense of impunity. Those data, however, do not reflect the full scale of the phenomenon. That kind of violence occurs in a specific closed circle of the family group and is very easy to hide from the world. All the more so because children unwillingly share their traumatic family life experience with others. They often suffer harm from people closest to them for years and no-one ever knows about it. The latest data for 2012 show that the police recorded as many as 25% of harmed children among all victims of violence in the family. Those are disclosed cases; hence, entailing legal consequences for perpetrators. Does the use of corporal punishment by parents in the process of upbringing contribute to the development of aggressive behaviours in children? An answer to that question can be found, among others, in results of a longitudinal study described by Straus et al21. They indicated a clear correlation between corporal punishment in the family home and improper behaviours in the school setting in 9-year-old children. They manifested themselves in behaviour issues, deceiving adults and aggression in peer relations. Those behaviours were of the lasting nature or even increased in intensity over the subsequent two years of the study. Gershoff, the author of an interesting meta-analysis of 88 studies into the consequences of corporal punishment, looked for information about whether they vary depending on punishment being experienced by children or adults. The consequences are undoubtedly always negative but it is worth examining whether adults are more resistant to them and cope better with such situations. Some significant differences were identified. In children, high negative correlations between corporal punishment and mental health were revealed. Such a relationship occurred in adults too – the correlation was also negative but moderate. The revealed consequence of corporal punishment by parents experienced in childhood is a tendency towards asocial, antisocial or even criminal behaviours in adulthood. Therefore, the author of the described meta-analysis comes to a conclusion that children harmed in the family environment exhibit internalization disorders, whereas adults burdened with childhood experience of harm display externalization disorders22. Certain regularity can be seen in many studies quoted in this paper: numerous factors determining children’s aggression very often co-occur. Children live in 21 M. Dominiak-Kochanek, A. Frączek, K. Konopka, Upbringing Style in the Family and Approval of Aggression in Social Life by Young Adults, “Psychologia Wychowawcza” 2013, No. 1 – 2, pp. 66 – 86. 22 E. Gershoff, Corporal Punishment by Parents and Associated Child Behaviors and Experience: A Meta-Analytic and Theoretical Review, “Psychological Bulletin” 2002, Vol. 128, pp. 539 – 578.

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a dysfunctional family, in conditions of poverty and parental pathology, experience parental hostility and violence, are neglected, their vital biological and psychological needs are not met, they undergo inadequate upbringing training. Hence, the family provides them with comprehensive aggressive education, which will be difficult to leave behind. Therefore, it is highly likely that harmed children will become harming parents in the future. Is it, however, unavoidable? Although harm experienced in childhood is a significant risk factor of aggression, that relationship does not seem deterministic. Not all children harmed in childhood treat their own children in the same way. What is important is the intensity of harm, its forms and parents’ individual traits. Simultaneously, it was found that adverse effects of harm can be reduced or alleviated by two factors: the first is the high intellectual level of the child, the other – the presence of at least one supportive person in the family23. The problem, however, is not clear-cut and requires further research. A.M. Smith Slep and S.G. O’Leary attempted to create a model of determinants of mothers’ and fathers’ aggression towards small children24. The study covered 453 families with children aged 3 to 7 years. Mothers and fathers participated in a detailed questionnaire survey concerning, among others, their demographic characteristics, families of origin and aggression experienced in childhood, individual traits, child upbringing manner, attitudes towards aggression, experienced stress, and mental condition. The authors clearly showed the complex operation of many factors in forming parental aggression, which they used as an argument as to why interventions in dysfunctional families that seek help had so far proved to be insufficiently effective. They revealed, among others, that although many risk factors identified in different studies, such as the age and education of parents, family income, parental alcohol problems and unrealistic expectations towards children, correlated with aggression, they were not significant enough to the analysed problem. Both similarities and differences between predictors of maternal and paternal aggression proved to be interesting – their models were similar but not identical in the context of revealed factors. The most significant factor in both mothers and fathers appeared to be the attitude of acceptance of aggression towards children which derived from aggression experienced in the family of origin. In mothers, the acceptance of parental aggression was accompanied by attributing responsibility for their own behaviours to children, aggression experienced in childhood, expression of anger, strict discipline, and, to a lesser but significant 23

B. Krahe, op.cit., p. 148. A.M. Smith Slep, S.G. O’Leary, Multivariate Model of Mothers’ and Fathers’ Aggression Toward Their Children, “Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology” 2007, Vol. 75, No. 5, pp. 739 – 751. 24


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extent, the family size. Predictors of fathers’ aggression towards small children also included the acceptance of parental aggression conditioned by aggression experienced in the family of origin, attributing responsibility to children, expression of anger, and strict discipline. Some predictors were found, however, which did not occur in mothers. Those were individual traits: impulsivity determined by aggression in the family of origin and correlated with feeling overwhelmed by the child’s behaviour, as well as depressive symptoms along with low professional status. They were not significant to maternal aggression. One particular variable emerged from the research conclusions and analysis of the constructed models – parental satisfaction. According to the authors, it could become a potential target of therapeutic actions aimed at changing parental behaviour, even in the context of so many revealed determinants of aggression. At the same time, main directions of work with parents were set: coping with one’s anger, working on attributions, disciplining and attitudes of acceptance of aggressive behaviour towards children.

4. Sibling Aggression Although aggression and violence commonly occur in sibling relations, the issue has rather been ignored by both parents and researchers. J.V. Caffaro and A. ConnCaffaro claim that that may be connected with a specific attitude towards the problem according to which harm inflicted by a child is not as painful as that caused by an adult25. Siblings, however, not only more often perpetrate acts of violence against one other than members of a peer group, but also deliver more dangerous blows26. Frequently, minor everyday conflicts between sisters and brothers may easily cross accepted boundaries, transforming into humiliation, harassment and dangerous physical violence. Researchers of the University of New Hampshire carried out a nationwide project exploring the phenomenon of sibling aggression in children up to 9 years of age and adolescents aged 10 to 17 years. They used phone interviews with parents, children and adolescents. They studied the total of 3,599 individuals and received alarming results. Almost thirty per cent of subjects confirmed that they had experienced violence from their sisters or brothers over the preceding year. It was in that group of subjects that numerous cases of behavioural disorders, depression, 25

J.V. Caffaro, A. Conn-Caffaro, Treating Sibling Abuse Families, “Aggression and Violent Behavior” 2005, Vol. 10, pp. 604 – 623. 26 F.L. Ilg, L.B. Ames, S.M. Baker, Child Mental Development from 0 to 10 Years. A Handbook for Parents, Psychologists and Physicians, Gdańsk 1994, pp. 204 – 206.

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emotional fragility, tendency to experience negative emotions – anxiety, fear, anger or annoyance – were observed27. Attention has been drawn by clinicians and therapists to dangerous consequences of experienced sibling aggression and violence. Harm inflicted by the brother or sister in childhood leaves a permanent mark in the form of serious emotional disorders in relations with people or adaptation problems in professional life. J.V. Caffaro and A. Conn-Caffaro proved that sibling aggression is the most common form of family violence in the United States28. It is recorded five times as often as child battering by parents or harassment of the spouse. More than a half of American children experienced pulling, beating, biting, and kicking by siblings and about 15% experienced such violence regularly. They feel consequences in adulthood. They cannot cope with problems, feel anxiety and fear, do not believe in themselves, which makes them often use specialist help. Referring to studies by various authors, S.D. Herzberger proved a clear relationship between sibling violence and children’s gender and age29. Much more problems occur in same-gender siblings. Violence significantly more often occurs in families between brothers rather than sisters as boys most commonly become both victims and perpetrators of violence. The study also indicated that the cause of sibling conflicts is, first and foremost, violence in marital relations, older children’s domination of younger ones, and partiality of parents in upbringing. It was also proved that parental interventions into disputes between children often exacerbate violence against victims. Parents too late and most often improperly react to their children’s undesirable behaviours and most commonly are unable to discipline the aggressive child30. Relatively new research concerning determinants of aggression, also among siblings, was described by the team of University of Michigan employees: L. Miller, A. Grabel, A. Thomas, E. Bermann and S. Graham-Bermann31. The authors reviewed studies into the issue to date and found that, although it is the most common type of violence in the family, few researchers had attempted to grapple with 27 C. Jenkis Tucker, D. Finkelhor, H. Turner, A. Shattuck, Association of Sibling Aggression with Child and Adolescent Mental Health, “Pedriatric” 2013, Vol. 1. 28 J.V. Caffaro, A. Conn-Caffaro, Sibling Abuse Trauma: Assessment and Intervention Strategies for Children, Families, and Adult, New York 1998. 29 S.D. Herzberger, Domestic Violence. The Perspective of Social Psychology, Warsaw 2002. 30 G.R. Patterson, op.cit. 31 L. Miller, A. Grabel, A. Thomas, E. Bermann, S. Graham-Bermann, The Associations Between Community Violence, Television Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, Parent-Child Aggression, and Aggression in Sibling Relationships of a Sample of Preschoolers, “Psychology of Violence” 2012, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 165 – 178.


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it. The scale of the problem appeared to be large. For instance, the already cited M.A. Straus and R.J. Gelles demonstrated that 80% of children aged 3 to 17 years experienced sibling violence at least once32. In turn, during 3-hour observations carried out in families, Martin and Ross noted from 7 to 12 severe aggressive sibling events33. A significant predictor of aggression involving conflicts among siblings was the age of children. As many as 53% of subjects admitted experiencing regular physical violence perpetrated by older siblings. In another study into the relationship between children’s age and aggression Furman and Buhrmister noted that a significantly higher number of conflicts occurs in siblings of a small age difference than in siblings where age difference between brothers or sisters is big34. The already described regularity was confirmed, since, as children grow, they less often resort to sibling aggression and violence as a way to cope with various problems. Thus, it seems that the advancing socialization process increases their social competences and effectiveness in solving conflicts. A crucial variable is also children’s gender. In a broad study on adolescents and young adults, boys admitted that they had often exhibited aggression towards their siblings, whereas girls confirmed that they had usually fallen prey to such aggression35. It was also established that sibling conflict resolution by force was typical of boys. Girls, in turn, most often took an ignoring attitude in such conflict situations. It was also observed that in the group of 360 five- and six-year-old subjects, first-born children more often displayed aggression towards younger siblings of the male gender, more seldom – towards sisters. Boys born as second children more often came into conflict with older sisters than older brothers. However, aggression more commonly occurred in children’s behaviour in relations with same-gender siblings rather than with opposite-gender siblings36. Moreover, in another interesting study boys admitted higher acceptance of aggression towards siblings than girls37. In the case of the discussed problem, the stability of symptoms of sibling aggression still remains a crucial and open issue. Interesting results of a longitudinal 32

M.A. Straus, R.J. Gelles, op.cit. J.L. Martin, H.S. Ross, Sibling Aggression: Sex Differences and Parents’ Reactions, “International Journal of Behavioral Development” 2005, Vol. 29, pp. 129 – 138. 34 M.D. Kahn, G. Monks, op.cit., pp. 693 – 712. 35 D.M. Button, R. Gealt, High Risk Behaviors among Victims of Sibling Violence, “Journal of Family Violence” 2010, Vol. 25, pp. 131 – 140. 36 M.D. Kahn, G. Monks, op.cit. 37 L.E. Miller et al., op.cit., p. 166. 33

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study into that problem were described by Stillwell and Dunn38. They had been observing children’s behaviour towards younger siblings for six years. First observations were carried out shortly after younger siblings’ birth, the next – after 14 months and after six years. Results of the observations revealed a significant positive correlation between the initial and final aggressive behaviours of fist-born children towards siblings. The researchers came to a conclusion that aggression towards siblings may most likely be a more powerful predictor in respect of exhibiting aggression in extrafamilial relations than any other conflict interaction in the family. Miller et al. point to limitations of the research to date39. A majority of that was conducted on adolescents and adults and focused on one selected type of aggression or violence. That did not ensure a comprehensive picture of the problem. They also decided that an important step in preventing sibling aggression and violence is to determine their sources. They based their opinion on the results of earlier research by Button and Gealt who had proved that violence towards siblings was provoked by intramarital conflicts and violence, violence experienced by children from parents as well as peer aggression and violence40. That indicated the presence of many determinants of the phenomenon which should be comprehensively analysed. By using a questionnaire survey, they tried to identify factors that might trigger aggression and violence against brothers and sisters. They studied 213 families in an intervention programme – mother-child dyads, to be precise – exposed to various kinds of violence: street violence, interparental violence, violence in the media. Mothers were aged 18 to 43 years; most of them worked and had secondary education. In a multi-ethnic group of children, there were 108 girls and 105 boys aged 3 to 5.5 years. Conclusions drawn from the study do not come as a surprise. It can be clearly seen that American children live surrounded by aggression nowadays: they observe it at home, in the street, and in the media. The latter have a huge impact on children and often model violence, also towards siblings. It turned out, however, that the strongest predictor of sibling aggression and violence is an aggressive father. That certainly concerns his acts of violence against both the wife and the children. Therefore, children’s contact with aggression should be reduced in various aspects, especially in the closest environment of the child – the family.

38 39 40

M.D. Kahn, G. Monks, op.cit., pp. 693 – 712. L.E. Miller et al., op.cit., p. 182. D.M. Button, R. Gealt, op.cit, pp. 131 – 140.


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It was also proved that sibling aggression significantly increases the likelihood of asocial and antisocial behaviour in the future41. As already discussed, when looking for causes of sibling aggression, researchers list various dysfunctions of the family environment. For instance, McCord et al. analysed family situations of 174 aggressive boys42. They found: serious problems between parents and the lack of acceptance of their parental roles; the lack of proper care provided by parents; inappropriate upbringing actions (deviating from commonly accepted norms); strict disciplining in the upbringing process (frequent threats and punishments), as well as excessive or insufficient parental control. Other studies revealed the following significant elements of family life: parental aggression towards children and consent to sibling aggression43. The multitude of causes certainly makes the designing of preventive actions and interventions more difficult.

5. Prevention and Control of Aggression in the Family Consequences of aggression experienced in the family are very damaging and far-reaching for all victims, both children and adults. Thus, their prevention and reduction strategies are proposed to be considered at three levels: at the social level through the formation of a common attitude of zero-tolerance for domestic violence, supported by legal regulations to facilitate disclosure and unconditional punishment of such behaviours. An important social task is to develop and promote a network of institutions for the protection of domestic violence victims. at the family level in the form of interventions made in families threatened with or already experiencing the problem of violence. That is done by teaching parents upbringing skills and developing their skills of appropriate coping with their own negative emotions. That model of intervention contributes to the process of creating a non-violent family environment. It is extremely difficult to implement because it requires the involvement of parents. It is sometimes also impossible to apply due to poor prognostications for cooperation and changes in the family. In such a case violence should be stopped by changing victims’ environment. 41 42 43

Ibidem. M.D. Kahn, G. Monks, op.cit., pp. 693 – 712. M.D. Kahn, G. Monks, op.cit., p. 698.

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at the individual level psychological therapy is offered to victims and perpetrators. Victims should be supported and helped in becoming psychologically independent and coping with life. Perpetrators are taught to control their anger; their habitual aggressive behaviour patterns are altered; they are taught desirable behaviours, empathy in relations with others. The task seems very difficult but there are reports of its possible success44. Experience shows that parents cannot cope with sibling aggression, which does not come as a surprise as it is a very complex problem. What is more, proposals of interventions designed for them are scarce. Parents often do not allow children to express negative emotions, nip them in the bud, but also do not help children solve their problems and often ignore those. They sometimes easily punish one of the children to whom they attribute blame for the conflict. Those are ineffective methods. What may help is constant care taken of strong emotional ties in the family and reduction of children’s rivalry for parental love to the minimum. Parents have to learn to divide their time equally among children as none of them should feel neglected. It is crucial to set and enforce boundaries to ensure appropriate space in the family for each child as each child needs privacy. Children should be treated individually but also taught how to reach an agreement with one another. Children badly need help in looking for ways to express anger without causing damage and solving conflicts without using aggression. A model of intervention in a sibling aggression situation was constructed by J. Caspi45. He described the process of creating the model which he himself successfully verified many a time in therapeutic practice. He distinguished two fundamental areas within the model: – knowledge of factors contributing to sibling aggression (considering family as a functioning system, family constellations, individual traits of children); – practical approach according to task-oriented systemic therapy (intervention guidance and tasks for siblings and parents aimed at improving their relations). In three thoroughly discussed cases the author presented central interventions adapted to the sibling aggression problem. In the first case it was changing the sequence of behaviours in dividing toys and parents’ time between daughters: a six- and nine-year-old. In the second family the central intervention aimed to remove favouring by parents and change the son’s belief that they had forgotten 44

B. Krahe, op.cit., pp. 211 – 214. J.Caspi, Building a Sibling Aggression Treatment Model: Design and Development Research in Action, “Health & Social Work” 2013, Vol. 1, No. 38, pp. 53 – 57. 45


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about him. The third case was adjusting the caretaker’s role of the oldest brother. The central intervention consisted in convincing the aggressive thirteen-year-old son that the mother understood his frustration connected with taking care of younger siblings and supported him in that role when he did not manage to discipline his younger sisters. The model is very interesting and shows an interesting method of working with siblings. The author declares further intense tests with monitored effectiveness. The aggressive education of children and adolescents is not limited solely to the family environment. It also marks the school environment, the second educational environment crucial to the development of the child’s personality and his or her socialization. Regrettably, strong aggression modelling is also associated with the contemporary media. In that context, the effective control of children’s and adolescents’ aggressive education seems to be an enormous challenge.

REFERENCES: Bandura A., Ross D., Ross S.A., Imitation of Film-Mediated Aggressive Models, “Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology” 1963, Vol. 66. Bennet L.W., Williams O.J., Men Who Batter [in:] Family Violence, R.L. Hampton (ed.), Thousand Oaks 1999. Brzozowski P., Postawy wychowawcze rodziców a agresywność dzieci [Parental Upbringing Attitudes and Children’s Aggressiveness] [in:] Z badań nad postawami rodzicielskimi [A Review of Research on Parental Attitudes], K. Pospiszyl (ed.), Lublin 1988. Button D.M., Gealt R., High Risk Behaviors among Victims of Sibling Violence, “Journal of Family Violence” 2010, Vol. 25. Caffaro J.V., Conn-Caffaro A., Sibling Abuse Trauma: Assessment and Intervention Strategies for Children, Families, and Adults, New York 1998. Caffaro J.V., Conn-Caffaro A., Treating Sibling Abuse Families, “Aggression and Violent Behavior” 2005, Vol. 10. Caspi J., Building a Sibling Aggression Treatment Model: Design and Development Research in Action, “Health & Social Work” 2013 Vol. 1. Cummings E.M., Zahn-Waxler C., Emocje i socjalizacja agresji: gniewne zachowanie się dorosłych a pobudzenie i agresja dzieci [Emotions and Socialization of Aggression: Adults’ Angry Behaviour and Excitation and Aggression in Children] [in:] Socjalizacja a agresja [Socialization and Aggression], A. Frączek and H. Zumkley (eds.), Warsaw 1993. Dominiak-Kochanek M., Frączek A., Konopka A., Styl wychowania w rodzinie a aprobata

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agresji w życiu społecznym przez młodych dorosłych [Upbringing Style in the Family and Approval of Aggression in Social Life by Young Adults], “Psychologia Wychowawcza” 2013, No. 1 – 2. Frączek A., Kirwil L., Życie rodzinne a agresja dzieci: badania nad niektórymi warunkami socjalizacji sprzyjającymi rozwojowi agresji [Family Life and Aggression in Children: Research into Some Socialization Conditions Contributing to the Development of Aggression] [in:] Socjalizacja a agresja [Socialization and Aggression], A. Frączek, H. Zumkley (eds.), Warsaw 1993. Garcia-Moreno C., Jansennn H.A., Ellsberg M., Heine L., Watts C.H., Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence: Findings from the WHO Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence, “Lancet“ 2006, Vol. 4, No. 368. Gershoff E., Corporal Punishment by Parents and Associated Child Behaviors and Experience: A Meta-analytic and Theoretical Review, ”Psychological Bulletin” 2002, No. 128. Grochulska J., Agresja u dzieci [Aggression in Children], Warsaw 1993. Herzberger S.D., Przemoc domowa. Perspektywa psychologii społecznej [Domestic Violence. The Perspective of Social Psychology], Warsaw 2002. Ilg F.L., Ames L.B., Baker S.M., Rozwój psychiczny dziecka od 0 do 10 lat. Poradnik dla rodziców, psychologów i lekarzy [Child Mental Development from 0 to 10 Years. A Handbook for Parents, Psychologists and Physicians], Gdańsk 1994. Jenkis C., Tucker A., Finkelhor D., Turner H., Shattuck A., Association of Sibling Aggression with Child and Adolescent Mental Health, “Pediatrics” 2013, Vol. 1. Kahn M.D., Monks G., Sibling Relational Problems [in:] DSM – IV Sourcebook, T.A. Widiger, A.J. Frances, H.A. Pincus, R. Ross, M.B. First, W. Davis (eds.). Krahe B., Agresja [Aggression], Gdańsk 2005. Krauss H.H., Krauss B.J., Domestic Violence and Its Prevention [in:] Violence and the Prevention of Violence, L.L. Adler, F.L. Denark (eds.), Waestport 1995. Martin J.L., Ross H.S., Sibling Aggression: Sex Differences and Parents’ Reactions, “International Journal of Behavioral Development” 2005, Vol. 29. Miller L., Grabel A., Thomas A., Bermann E., Graham-Bermann S., The Associations between Community Violence, Television Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, Parent-Child Aggression, and Aggression in Sibling Relationships of a Sample of Preschoolers, “Psychology of Violence” 2012, Vol 2, No. 2. Olweus D., Familial and Temperamental Determinants of Aggressive Behavior in Adolescent Boy: A Causal Analysis, “Developmental Psychology” 1980, Vol. 16. Patterson G.R., Performance Models for Antisocial Boy, “American Psychologist” 1986, Vol. 41. Poraj G., Rodzina a agresywne zachowanie dzieci – perspektywa rozwojowa [Family and Child Aggressive Behaviour – Developmental Perspective] [in:] Jakość życia rodzinnego.


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Wybrane zagadnienia [Family Life Quality. Selected Issues], T. Rostowska (ed.), Łódź 2006. Poraj G., Biologiczne, psychologiczne i społeczne podłoże a kontrola i profilaktyka zachowań agresywnych [Biological, Psychological and Social Origin vs. Control and Prevention of Aggressive Behaviours] [in:] Zaburzenia w zachowaniu dzieci i młodzieży w kontekście trudnych sytuacji szkolnych i pozaszkolnych [Disturbances in Children’s and Adolescents’ Behaviour in the Context of Difficult School and Extraschool Situations], D. Borecka-Biernat (ed.), Cracow 2011. Pospiszyl I., Przemoc w rodzinie [Aggression in the Family], Warsaw 1994. Ranschburg J., Lęk, gniew, agresja [Anxiety, Anger, Aggression], Warsaw 1980. Rode D., Przemoc wewnątrzmałżeńska – przejawy i psychospołeczne uwarunkowania [Intramarital Violence – Manifestations and Psychosocial Determinants] [in:] Zagrożenia życia rodzinnego [Threats to Family Life], G. Poraj, J. Rostowski (eds.), Łódź 2003. Smith Slep A.M, O’Leary S.G., Multivariate Model of Mothers’ and Fathers’ Aggression toward Their Children, “Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology” 2007, Vol. 75, No. 5. Straus M.A., Gelles R.J., How Violent Are American Families? Estimates from the National Family Violence Resurvey and Other Studies [in:] Physical Violence in American Families: Risk Factors and Adaptations to Violence in 8,145 Families, New Brunswick 1990. Wojcieszke B., Relacje interpersonalne [Interpersonal Relations] [in:] Psychologia. Podręcznik Akademicki [Psychology. An Academic Textbook], J. Strelau (ed.),Gdańsk 2000. Viemero V., Czynniki wpływające na rozwój aspołecznych i przestępczych zachowań młodzieży [Factors Affecting Development of Asocial and Criminal Behaviours of Adolescents] [in:] Socjalizacja a agresja [Socialization and Aggression], A. Frączek, H. Zumkley (eds.), Warsaw 1993. Woźniak-Krakowian A., Przemoc wobec rodziny. Próba psychologiczno-socjologicznego portretu sprawcy przemocy w rodzinie [Violence towards Family. An Attempt at a Psychosocial Portrayal of the Domestic Violence Perpetrator] [in:] Zagrożenia życia rodzinnego [Threats to Family Life], G. Poraj, J. Rostowski (eds.), Łódź 2003. Timmons Fritz P.A., Smith Slep A.M, O’Leary K.D., Couple-Level Analysis of the Relation Between Family-of-Origin Aggression and Intimate Partner Violence, “Psychology of Violence” 2012, Vol. 2, No. 2.


ISSN 1230-266X

DOI: 10.15804/kie.2014.05.11

J. Martin Ramirez Hoover Institution, Stanford University, USA

WHY A STATEMENT ON VIOLENCE? VIOLENCE CAN BE PSYCHOBIOLOGICALLY TAMED ABSTRACT The Seville Statement on Violence (SSV) was originated by a launched UN-Committee of the International Society for Research on Aggression (ISRA) in the late seventies of the past century. Its final product, elaborated by more than twenty scholars from different scientific disciplines and from all continents, was presented in 1986 at the VI Coloquio Internacional sobre Cerebro y Agresión (CICA) in Seville. Three years later, it was endorsed by the 25th General Conference of UNESCO in Paris. Its main message was that violence, and consequently war too, are avoidable and aggressiveness can be tamed. The present article comments what were the main reasons which urged to elaborate it, and some difficulties found on the way.

Key words: Seville Statement, aggression, violence, peace

1. Introduction The Seville Statement on Violence (SSV), elaborated in the early 1980s by scientists from all the world and from many different disciplines, scholars from different scientific disciplines and from all continents, was presented in Sevile in 1986,

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endorsed by the 25th General Conference of UNESCO in 1989, and successfully followed by the creation of the UNESCO’s Culture for Peace Programme (1994), as well as the subsequent Decade of Science for Peace. In plain words, its main message is that, far from falling into the psychological trap of believing that people cannot change and that peace is therefore impossible1, violence can be avoidable, making clear that there is nothing in biology that stands in the way of achieving peace and making a world without war (see: Adams2, Ramirez3). Even more, violence is useless: “Violence destroys; it is not useful at all”, as Pope Benedict XVI stated during his visit in Lebanon (14 September 2012). Aggressiveness can be psychobiologically tamed and, consequently, biology makes it possible to end violence and the suffering it causes. We need not accept human aggression as a fate. As the Nobel Price winner Konrad Lorenz pointed out, “we shall not improve our chances of counteracting [intra-specific aggression] if we accept it as something metaphysical and inevitable, but on the other hand, we shall perhaps succeed in finding remedies if we investigate the chain of its natural causation”4. Far from condemning humanity to war, thus, war is not in our genes, as stated very expressively by Eibl-Eibesfeldt5. We can therefore happily join the Beatles (or more specifically John Lennon and Yoko Ono), and sing with them that “War is over, if you want it” (1969).

2. Statment As covener of the Statement, I am going to make a short historical comment on its genesis: which were the main reasons which urged us to elaborate the SSV, which difficulties we found on the way, and how we finally achieved this first “scientific step” towards peace. For a psychobiologist who studies brain mechanisms supposed to be involved in aggressive behavior, conceptual as well as ethical problems arise from the fact 1 P. Tyler, Fortress Israel: The Inside Story of the Military Elite Who Run the Country – And Why They Can’t Make Peace, Farrar–Straus–Giroux 2012. 2 D. Adams, The Seville Statement of Violence: Preparing the Ground for the Constructing of Peace, Paris 1991. 3 J.M. Ramirez, Aggression: Causes and Functions, “Hiroshima Forum for Psychology” 1996, No. 17, pp. 21 – 37. 4 K. Lorenz, Das sogenannte Bose. Zur Naturgeschichte der Aggression, Wien 1963. 5 I. Eibl-Eibesfeldt, The Biology of Peace and War, London 1979.

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that research dealing with brain-behaviour relationships is both a research endeavour like any other and one that clearly differs from many others. It differs in that the data obtained, the interpretation given and the generalized conception of brain-behaviour relationships that is derived from them, contribute to shape our vision of man, his “nature”, his being and his evolution. Conversely, this vision of ourselves, of our supposed “nature”, is bound to somehow orient – unconsciously, or more deliberately – the way in which we construct the conceptual framework within which we elaborate our working hypotheses and how we interpret the results obtained when verifying them. It matters all the more to be fully aware of these reciprocal relationships between personal convictions and actual scientific endeavour since our basic interest lies in a deeper understanding of the biological determinants of our own personality and behaviour, even though our experimental analysis is carried out – for obvious ethical reasons – on the brain of some animal species. The true weight and the real influence of our personal convictions clearly appear when, on the basis of one and the same array of available facts, but, admittedly, with selective emphasis put on some of them, some feel entitled to deliver, with regard to human aggression and violence, a “message” of necessity and fate, while others are led to deliver one of freedom, responsibility, and hope (for more precise questions related to this topic as well as many relevant individual features fruitfully subjected to psychobiological investigation (see: Karli6, Ramirez7). Some people say that war and violence cannot be ended because they are part of our biology, in the same way that they used to justify slavery and racial or sexist domination by claiming that they were biological and inevitable. In the same way that they were wrong in these latter justifications, it is also scientifically incorrect that peace is not possible. Therefore, we, scholars dedicated to research on aggression, thought that it was our responsibility as scientists to speak out on the basis of the latest information, although aware that conclusions in science are never final. The elaboration of a document stating the scientific state of art on the field of human aggression and violence would give a needed message of hope to humankind, as opposed to the myth that it was something naturally inevitable. The obstacles found in our attempts, however, illustrate the extent to which ideological preconceptions often interfere with an actual scientific endeavour. I want to mention briefly some events objectively revealing. In the late seventies of the last century, the International Society for Research on Aggression (ISRA) decided to launch a UN-Committee that, among other goals, 6 7

P. Karli, Opening words, XII World ISRA Meeting, Strasbourg 1996, 26/8/96. J.M. Ramirez, Human Aggression. A Multiphaceted Phenomenon, Madrid 2003.


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would aim at organizing a series of symposia under the auspices of UNESCO. It was hoped that these symposia would eventually lead towards a UNESCO statement on human violence, following the example of what had previously been achieved by UNESCO with regard to the notion of the “human race”. A provisional programme was drafted and submitted to UNESCO. Both, our Swiss colleage Pierre de Sénarclens and Mr M’Bow, at that time head of the Division for Human Rights and Peace and director-general of UNESCO, respectively, responded in a most favourable and encouraging way. But then, highly polemical discussions took place within UNESCO concerning our proposal, to the extent that Pierre de Sénarclens resigned from his UNESCO position (he went back to Lausanne to resume his teaching of political sciences) and M’Bow sent a second letter telling the President of ISRA that the proposed topic was too “touchy” to be dealt with under the auspices of UNESCO. Some time later, Carlos Chagas, at that time President of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, invited us to draft a motivated proposal for a Symposium devoted to “the biological and sociocultural determinants of human violence”. We soon heard from him that the Pope had read the proposal, that he fully approved of both its structure and general spirit, and that he encouraged us to proceed. But then, after a long silence, we learned that the Pontifical Academy had come to the same conclusion that the UNESCO: apparently it was not timely to deal with the determinants of violence. However, instead of giving up, we – scientists from very different disciplines – kept discussing freely, openly about it. The main question we wanted to answer was whether modern natural and social sciences knew of any biological factors that were an insurmountable or serious obstacle to the goal of world peace… We exchanged the latest information about animal behavior, psychology, brain research, genetics and other related sciences. Finally, a draft was elaborated and sent to all of us for its study. Then, around twenty of us met in Seville and La Rabida. And after one week of practical seclusion – very proper given that we were in a monastery, just from where Columbus started his discovering trip to the New World – the final Statement on Violence was born. It was May of 1986, the International Year of Peace. Afterwards it has been endorsed and published by many scientific organizations around the world, and the very UNESCO, by decision of its General Conference at its 25th session (Paris, 16/11/1989), endorsed it and ordered its dissemination. Obviously establishing that peace is psychobiologically possible is a first necessary step – peace must begin in the mind of each person with the belief that it is possible – but it is not enough. A second important step has to come, giving some suggestions about where and how to find the peace we scientists are looking for.

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3. Challenges The challenge is to counteract the prevailing culture of violence, which has pervaded so many societies, and to transform it into a culture of peace. Within this universal and transdisciplinary task for constructing peace, scientists have a specific role to play. How to contribute towards this transformation? Let me offer a couple of suggestions, without the pretension of being comprehensive. First, we have to understand the problem and its possible solutions: to know what is aggression, violence and war, and what peace really means in its deepest meaning, as well as what their interacting biological and cultural factors are. Second, we should emphasize the potential value of education to provide a major contribution to the control of aggression, in the prevention of violence and in the achievement of peace, stressing the importance of a comprehensive and global education with a transdisciplinary approach. This task is especially important during the early critical periods of development. We should convince the society about the benefits of investing adequate resources in such extensive educative efforts, instead of limiting its resorts to control aggression and to solve conflicts by means of threats or punishment. A third scope is to find permanently shift attitudes, values and behaviour in order to promote peace and social justice, and the non-violent resolution of conflict and security through a transdisciplinary approach. This requires cooperation at all levels, everyone working together for peace and reconciliation. While problems are relatively obvious – even if you are not in direct contact with aggression, you often can be indirectly affected – effective resolutions are not. They depend on understanding problems. A most effective means of understanding them is its systematical study, utilizing scientific techniques. For example, in our case, with a greater knowledge of the many causes of aggression, we can develop an appreciation of the possibilities for controlling it, as well as an understanding of some of the reasons why we have failed to effectively control it in the past, such as a lack of its appropriate definition and measurement (see: Ramirez8). For example, in our case, with a greater knowledge of the many causes and kinds of aggression, we can develop an appreciation of the possibilities for controlling it, as well as an understanding of some of the reasons why we have failed

8

J.M. Ramirez, Aggression [in:] Encyclopedia of Comparative Psychology, G. Greenberg, M.M. Haraway (eds.), New York 1997, pp. 649 – 658.


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to effectively control it in the past, such as lack of an appropriate definition and measurement (Ramirez9). Here, I will just state that biology and environment taken separately are never causes of anything in an organism’s development. The human brain should no longer be considered as a generator of possible − or, even less, inevitably occurring − aggressive behaviour (with improper emphasis on some humoral factor or even a single gene thought to be specifically implicated), but rather as the mediator of a dialogue which may take on an aggressive form for reasons that can only be truly clarified through joint interdisciplinary efforts. Biology is the foundation of all behaviour only in the same way that bricks and paper are the foundations of all (traditional) libraries, but the content of the library, whilst being printed on paper, is not otherwise dependant on the bricks and paper. Biology is the means by which information is accumulated and transmitted both in day-to-day interactions between people (in brain), the generation to generation transmission of adaptations right up to speciation information (the genome). But it is the interaction with the environment that steers these changes. It is just as true, then, to say that the environment is the foundation of the content of behaviour and that the interaction between the environment and the phenotype determines which behaviours will be selected, i.e. reinforced. Behaviour, then, is the selection of what can be done (the phenotype) from what is available (the environment, including conspecifics) with the ultimate goal of maximum survival of current and future generations. In humans, survival of non-physical elements may be treated highly or higher than the physical: one’s reputation, legacy, knowledge, religion, people, country, political belief, and so on may be the object of behaviour over and above one’s physical survival, inheritance and legacy (see: Robert Karl Stonjek10). In other words, organisms are open systems in more ways than one. Behavior is controlled not only by biological characteristics, mainly of the brain and nervous system, but also in large part by external events surrounding and impinging upon that brain and nervous system. Human beings possess biological structures conducive to use of language, true, but without a “linguistic environment” those structures would not function. Delimitating this assertion to our topic, an adequate control of aggression is certainly a reality in innumerable discrete settings, and it is not an unrealistic goal for a society. Since there is no one factor that overwhelmingly produces aggression, 9

J.M. Ramirez, The Nature of Violence. Its Reduction Is in Our Grasp [in:] Violence. Some Alternatives, J.M. Ramírez (ed.), Madrid 1994. 10 R.K. Stonjek, www. evolutionary-psychology.yahoogroups, 2012.

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what we need is a comprehensive approach, integrating different perspectives on violence, with an appreciation for the various objectively supported contributions of biology, learning mechanisms, social experiences, and, what is more important, their dynamic integration. Our purpose has to be to begin the process of integrating the various domains of science that are studying the development of aggression and peace, in an attempt to use science to guide society in its efforts to prevent and control harmful aggression. Basic scientists, within their experimental settings, may have the luxury of separating the biology of aggression from its psychosocial and environmental context with questions arising within their isolated domains. But, if we want to reach the ultimate goal of application of scientific information in the real world, we can never separate them. There is a constant and circular interaction. As Craig Ferris likes to say, “development is 100% environment and 100% heredity”, in a dynamic interaction11.

4. Peace and value This brings me to the next major feature. If we want to achieve peace, we first need to know what peace really means in its deepest meaning. According to Paul VI, the new name of peace is “development” because, if we understand as peace the harmonic whole of all what people need, personally and socially, for their happiness, development is a very good way for achieving it. Development embraces dimensions so distinct and integrated as culture, economy, education, politics, and promotion of the weakest, as well as a profound respect for human dignity and human life, and of the environment in which we live… An optimal approach towards peace, therefore, would be to prevent the problems of violence and war with a political, cultural and economical intervention, alleviating poverty and other social conditions that breed these problems (Ramirez12). A true peace thus has to be supported by a real development of the humanity subordinating all goods and technical resources to the human dignity, with a more just distribution of the world’s resources within and between societies. The only sure foundation on which to lay a better welfare state, a happier society and 11

C.F. Ferris, T. Grisso, Understanding Aggressive Behavior in Children, New York 1996. J.M. Ramirez, Poverty as a Deterioration of Human Rights: Poverty Can Physically Impair Brain through Stress, 58th Pugwash International Conference on Justice, Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, The Hague, The Netherlands, 2009, pp. 17 – 20. 12


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a more pleasant life is a real development of humanity subordinating all goods and technical resources to human dignity. Therefore, peace = development + justice. And, since we would like to live in a permanent state of peace and well being, we have to lay down solid foundations to make peace education available (Ramirez13). One way to contribute towards the transformation of a culture of war into a culture of peace is to permanently shift attitudes, values and behaviour in order to promote peace and social justice, and the non-violent resolution of conflict and security through a transdisciplinary approach. This primary scope, which is the aim of the UNESCO’s Culture of Peace Programme (1994), requires cooperation at all levels, everyone working together for peace and reconciliation. Education becomes a preventative measure that recognises the value of human life and is less conducive to aggression, informing individuals and caregivers about how to deal with the causes of aggression and with its control (e.g. by reducing wealth differentials, emphasizing achievement rather than competitiveness, reducing the availability of weapons and removing other triggers for aggression) (Hinde, Nelson & Wrangham14). Starting with pre- and postnatal healthcare, it would progress through the raising and formal education of children, and continue into adult social settings. Besides the formal education, one needs to learn how to deal with emotion, how to transform anger and fear into love and compassion, how to communicate positively with others… and become happy. Thus, much depends on where the boundaries between in-group and out-group are perceived to lie. Given the genetic uniformity of the human species, there is no biological justification for feelings of in-group favoritism and out-group derogation, based on an inexistent in-group superiority. It is possible and praiseworthy to love one’s own culture (patriotism), but we can do it without denigrating others (nationalism). In this way, we can expand the scope of the in-group, providing better education which gives greater emphasis to our common humanity than to cultural differences, thereby continuing to extend the perceived boundaries of the in-group (Hinde, et al15). A very specific point which has to be raised is the in-group versus out-group issue. It is well known that, whereas prosociality is directed primarily towards the group to which the individual belongs, selfishness is much less inhibited towards out-group members. This explains why acts of aggression are shown more readily 13

J.M. Ramirez, The Educational Task of Overcoming Violence [in:] Violence. Some Alternatives, J.M. Ramírez (ed.), Madrid 1994. 14 R.A. Hinde, R.J. Nelson, R. Wrangham, War is Not Inevitable: Aggressiveness Can Be Tamed, unpublished Statement 2010. 15 R.A. Hinde, R.J. Nelson, R. Wrangham, op.cit.

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to strangers and members of other groups than to members of the same group. And its most extreme act, killing, which is morally forbidden in virtually all human societies, except where legitimized by societal consensus, in war is sanctioned and even praised for enemies, because they are portrayed as dangerous and even sub-human by propaganda. An increased connectedness of peoples around the world inspires a vision of a future in which the common humanity of all peoples will be globally recognised. This attitude matches quite well with what Pope Benedict said in the contetx of the Middle East conflict during his above mentioned visit to Lebanon: “If we want peace, we have to see in the other a person to be respected and loved” (14 Sept 2012). Expanding the scope of the in-group can be expected to continue to promote increased prosociality. “Instead of Us Versus Them, Us Plus Them” (Pittinsky16).

5. Conclusions Finally, I have to remark that this important task of achieving a culture of peace (elsewhere it has been suggested to get through a series of steps, such as peace education, schooling of emotions, and conflict resolution; see: Ramirez17) is not an exclusive domain of government, police and other security forces, or any other public institutions or authorities. On the contrary, it demands the participation of the entire society: educational institutions, religious movements, mass media, families, and, last but not least, everybody. Each of us has a specific part of responsibility in this achievement because these tasks also rest upon the consciousness of individual participants for whom pessimism and optimism are crucial factors. On the occassion of his 1987 visit to Gdańsk, cradle of Solidarity, John Paul II told the youth that “before there is a revolution in the world, it has to be a revolution in our hearts, minds and characters, out of which will come truth, life and justice”18. Even if until now we have not had time for peace, the time has come to

16

T. Pittinsky, Us Plus Them: Tapping the Positive Power of Difference, Cambridge 2012. J.M. Ramirez, Moving Toward Peace [in:] Conflict, Violence, Terrorism, and their Prevention, J.M. Ramirez, C. Morrison, A.J. Kendall (eds.), Newcastle 2014, pp. 191 – 206. 18 J. Luxmoore, J. Babiuch, The Vatican and the Red Flag: The Struggle for the Soul of Eastern Europe, New York 1999, p. 214. 17


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take on the commitment to heal our society, the world, and ourselves by the power of truth, life and justice, especially through science19. I am aware that this is really difficult to apply into our mind and hearts, and that patience must become a habit that will help us deal with life more “peacefully”. But with the confidence of knowing that peace is possible, we will be able to influence our surroundings positively and making the world better, even it is indeed a hard task. And, in order to achieve it, we should never forget that we must learn to develop inner peace within our minds. Finishing with the same words of the Seville Statement of Violence20, just as “wars begin in the minds of men, peace also begins in our minds. The same species who invented war is capable of inventing peace.” The responsibility, thus, lies with each of us!

REFERENCES: Adams D., The Seville Statement of Violence: Preparing the Ground for the Constructing of Peace, Paris 1991. Eibl-Eibesfeldt I., The Biology of Peace and War, London 1979. Ferris C.F., Grisso T., Understanding Aggressive Behavior in Children, New York 1996. Hinde R.A., Nelson R.J, Wrangham R., War Is Not Inevitable: Aggressiveness Can Be Tamed, unpublished Statement 2010. John Paul II, Homily directed to the youth gathered in Westerplatte, Gdańsk 1987, http:// jp2.wojsko-polskie.pl. Karli P., Opening words, XII World ISRA Meeting, Strasbourg 1996, 26/8/96. Lorenz K., Das sogenannte Bose. Zur Naturgeschichte der Aggression, Wien 1963. Luxmoore J., Babiuch J., The Vatican and the Red Flag: The Struggle for the Soul of Eastern Europe, New York 1999. Pittinsky T., Us Plus Them: Tapping the Positive Power of Difference, Cambridge 2012. Ramirez J.M., The Nature of Violence. Its Reduction Is in Our Grasp [in:] Violence. Some Alternatives, J.M. Ramírez (ed.), Madrid 1994. Ramirez J.M., The Educational Task of Overcoming Violence [in:] Violence. Some Alternatives, J.M. Ramírez (ed.), Madrid 1994. Ramirez J.M., Aggression: Causes and Functions, “Hiroshima Forum for Psychology” 1996, No. 17. 19

John Paul II, Homily directed to the youth gathered in Westerplatte, Gdańsk 1987, http://jp2. wojsko-polskie.pl. 20 Seville Statement of Violence, “Cahiers du Mouvement Universel de la Responsabilité Scientifique” 1986, No. 5, pp. 51 – 59.

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Ramirez J.M., Aggression [in:] Encyclopedia of Comparative Psychology, G. Greenberg, M.M. Haraway (eds.), New York 1997. Ramirez J.M., Human Aggression. A Multiphaceted Phenomenon, Madrid 2003. Ramirez J.M., Poverty as a Deterioration of Human Rights: Poverty Can Physically Impair Brain through Stress, 58th Pugwash International Conference on Justice, Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, The Hague, The Netherlands, 2009. Ramirez J.M., Aggressiveness Can Be Psychobiologically Milded: Biology Does Not Condemn Humanity to Violence, International Conference on Nuclear Threats and Security, Dubrovnik, 14 – 17 September 2012. Ramirez J.M., Moving Toward Peace [in:] Conflict, Violence, Terrorism, and their Prevention, J.M. Ramirez, C. Morrison, A.J. Kendall (eds.), Newcastle 2014. Ramirez J.M., Santisteban C., Fujihara T., Van Goozen S, Differences between Experiences of Anger and Readiness to Angry Action: A Study of Japanese and Spanish Students, “Aggressive Behavior” 2002, No. 23 (6). Seville Statement of Violence, “Cahiers du Mouvement Universel de la Responsabilité Scientifique” 1986, No. 5. Stonjek D.K., evolutionary-psychology.yahoogroups, 2012. Tyler P., Fortress Israel: The Inside Story of the Military Elite Who Run the Country – And Why They Can’t Make Peace, Farra–Straus–Giroux 2012. Williams R., The Trusting Heart, New York 1986.


ISSN 1230-266X

DOI: 10.15804/kie.2014.05.12

V i o l e t C h e u n g - B l u n d e n a , M a n Yo k e M o k e, Pranita Ramanan University of San Francisco

EMPATHY: A DOUBLE EDGED SWORD ABSTRACT In the domain of interpersonal relations empathy has been widely regarded as a valuable tool for peacebuilding. Past research has shown that if enough empathy is extended to a victim of violence, insight into the victim’s plight tends to give pause to the aggressor and also prompt bystanders to help. While the victim is the sole recipient of empathy in an interpersonal conflict, elevating the concept of empathy from an individual level analysis to a group level analysis encounters further complications. In intergroup conflicts, both parties in the conflict stand to receive empathy. In light of this, one theoretical question is whether both kinds of empathy, those directed to the ingroup members and the outgroup members, have similar utilities in peacebuilding. We reference the literature on intergroup contact and intergroup threats, to scrutinize the role of empathy in intergroup conflicts. We argue that ingroup and outgroup empathy have the opposite effects on group violence – directing empathy to the outgroup results in the denouncement of aggression, whereas directing empathy to the ingroup may lead to a desire to counterattack. Thus, rather than boosting the overall amplitude of empathy, striking the right balance is the key of leveraging empathy towards peace.

Key words: empathy, ethnocultural empathy, ingroup and outgroup, aggression, war, peace

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Violet Cheung-Blundena, Man Yoke Moke,Pranita Ramanan

1. Introduction Empathy is an indispensable tool with respect to peacebuilding because people with this trait exhibit a wide range of prosocial behaviors at all ages. Empathic children shun bullies and help victims1. Empathic adults volunteer, donate, pick up dropped objects for a confederate, assist graduate students to conduct studies, aid people who fall off of crutches, and even accept electrical shocks for others (C.A. Anderson et al.2, C. Batson et al.3, J. Dunn & P. Munn4, N.D. Feshbach & S. Feshbach5, P. Miller & N. Eisenberg6, R. Zeldin, S. Small, & R. Savin-Williams7). Empathy works as a remedy for aggression as it enlightens the protagonist to the victim’s plight. Imagining someone else’s trauma is often enough to make the protagonist change his/her aggressive tendencies8. This way of assuming a different perspective to achieve empathy is sometimes called cognitive empathy9. Beyond cognitive exercises, another way to accomplish empathy is by vicariously feeling the victims’ sensations and these feelings also help the protagonist to denounce aggression. To highlight the emotional nature of empathy, other popular labels are emotion contagion, autonomic nervous system synchronicity, physiological

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N. Eisenberg, M. Schaller, R.A. Fabes, D. Bustamante, R.M. Mathy, R. Shell, K. Rhodes, Differentiation of Personal Distress and Sympathy in Children and Adults, “Developmental Psychology” 1988, No. 24(6), pp. 766 – 775. 2 C.A. Anderson, A. Shibuya, N. Ihori, E.L. Swing, B.J. Bushman, A. Sakamoto, M. Saleem, Violent Video Game Effects on Aggression, Empathy, and Prosocial Behavior in Eastern and Western Countries: A Meta-Analytic Review, “Psychological Bulletin” 2010, No. 136(2), pp. 151 – 173. 3 C. Batson, J.G. Batson, C.A. Griffitt, S. Barrientos, J. Brandt, P. Sprengelmeyer, M.J. Bayly, Negative-State Relief and the Empathy – Altruism Hypothesis, “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology” 1989, No. 56(6), pp. 922 – 933. 4 J. Dunn, P. Munn, Siblings and the Development of Prosocial Behavior, “International Journal of Behavioral Development” 1986, No. 9(3), pp. 265 – 284. 5 N.D. Feshbach, S. Feshbach, The Relationship between Empathy and Aggression in Two Age Groups, “Developmental Psychology” 1969, No. 1 2), pp. 102 – 107. 6 P.A. Miller, N. Eisenberg, The Relation of Empathy to Aggressive and Externalizing/Antisocial Behavior, “Psychological Bulletin” 1988, No. 103(3), pp. 324 – 344. 7 R. Zeldin, S.A. Small, R.C. Savin-Williams, Prosocial Interactions in Two Mixed-Sex Adolescent Groups, “Child Development” 1982, No. 53(6), pp. 1492 – 1498. 8 T. Malti, L. Gasser, M. Buchmann, Aggressive and Prosocial Children’s Emotion Attributions and Moral Reasoning, “Aggressive Behavior” 2009, No. 35(1), pp. 90 – 102. 9 M.H. Davis, Measuring Individual Differences in Empathy: Evidence for a Multidimensional Approach, “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology” 1983, No. 44(1), pp. 113 – 126.

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linkage or empathic resonance (see more: Davis10, Levenson & Ruef11, Watson & Greenberg12). Most researchers today have abandoned the debate of the true nature of empathy and accept its complex composition. The growing consensus is that empathy is consisted of at least the cognitive and the emotional components, plus a third component which enjoyed less general acceptance (de Waal13, Eisenberg & Eggum14). Its complex nature could deem empathy a collection of loosely connected ideas without a coherent core. Evolution research however, has asserted a sense of unity in the psychological construct. Altruistic behavior has a phylogenetic root that can be traced back to birds and it has15. For example, primates not only become intensely distressed when they witness harm to their peers but also come to aid the troubled individuals. In addition, primates have demonstrated behaviors that do not have immediate and personal benefits, such as caring for a blind group member. With an improved theory of mind, humans are more able to discern the mindset of another. Empathy built on such an acute awareness of someone else’s position is only more accurate and eloquent. Genetic research has shown that empathy is heritable from parents to children. A.Knafo, S. Isreal and R. Ebstein16 studied children’s dopamine receptor D4 7-repeat allele in pairs of twins. Their results showed that the effect of genes accounted for 34% to 53% of variance in the similarities of empathetic behavior. It seems that the way humans responded to the selective pressure to their species has been encoded in the genes which in turn guide the manifestations of empathetic feelings and prosocial behaviors17. The research into the genetic basis of empathy is in an

10 M.H. Davis, Empathy: Negotiating the Border between Self and Other [in:] The Social Life of Emotions, L.Z. Tiedens, C. Leach (eds.), New York 2004, pp. 19 – 42. 11 R.W. Levenson, A.M. Ruef, Empathy: A Physiological Substrate, “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology” 1992, No. 63(2), pp. 234 – 246. 12 J.C. Watson, L.S. Greenberg, Empathic Resonance: A Neuroscience Perspective [in:] The Social Neuroscience of Empathy, J. Decety, W. Ickes (eds.), Cambridge 2009, pp. 125 – 137. 13 F.M. de Waal, Putting the Altruism Back into Altruism: The Evolution of Empathy, “Annual Review of Psychology” 2008, pp. 59279 – 59300. 14 N. Eisenberg, N.D. Eggum, Empathic Responding: Sympathy and Personal Distress [in:] The Social Neuroscience of Empathy, J. Decety, W. Ickes (eds.), Cambridge 2009, pp. 71 – 83. 15 F.M. de Waal, op.cit. 16 A. Knafo, S. Israel, R.P. Ebstein, Heritability of Children’s Prosocial Behavior and Differential Susceptibility to Parenting by Variation in the Dopamine Receptor D4 Gene, “Development And Psychopathology” 2011, No. 23(1), pp. 53 – 67. 17 M.L. Hoffman, Moral Development [in:] Developmental Psychology: An Advanced Textbook, M. Bornstein, M. Lamb (eds.), Hillsdale 1988, pp. 497 – 548.

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early stage and it is promising that more genes will be identified and the impact of the genes will be verified across the life span. Besides evolution and genes, empathy is also quantifiable in neurobiological terms18. The neuroanatomies implicated for empathy include the limbic system, as well as parts of the prefrontal, temporal cortex, orbitofrontal and right parietal cortex19. The initial discovery of “mirror neurons” has also been extended to explain the basic mechanism of empathy20. Behavioral research has given further credence to the existence of this psychological construct. Empathy exhibits notable stability in middle childhood and adolescents21. Test-retest self-report measures correlated at around.40 during this developmental period22. Besides stability overtime, empathy also demonstrates consistency across situations23. C. Marangoni, S. Garcia, W. Ickes and G. Teng24 found that some people are better “empathizers” and more accurate perceivers than others. However, they also suggested that observers’ accuracy could be improved by increasing acquaintanceship and providing immediate veridical feedback (see Gladstein & Feldstein25 for using film to induce empathy). The viability of empathy should lend great hopes for peacebuilding. Caregivers intuitively know to ask aggressive children to reflect on how the victims feel; educators build similar curricula to increase emotional intelligence in school aged children. If ethnic group members and members of humanity at large are made empathetic, intergroup aggression can be mitigated. In fact, the concept of empathy has been construed on a group level and a noteworthy construct is ethnocultural

18 R. Elliott, A.C. Bohart, J.C. Watson, L.S. Greenberg, Empathy, “Psychotherapy” 2011, No. 48(1), pp. 43 – 49. 19 J. Decety, Dissecting the Neural Mechanisms Mediating Empathy, “Emotion Review” 2011, No. 3(1), pp. 92 – 108. 20 J. Decety, C. Lamm, Empathy versus Personal Distress: Recent Evidence from Social Euroscience [in:] The Social Neuroscience of Empathy, J. Decety, W. Ickes (eds.), Cambridge 2009, pp. 199 – 213. 21 J. Block, On Further Conjectures Regarding Acquiescence, “Psychological Bulletin” 1971, No. 76(3), pp. 205 – 210. 22 N. Eisenberg, P.A. Miller, R. Shell, S. McNalley, C. Shea, Prosocial Development in Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study, “Developmental Psychology” 1991, No. 27(5), pp. 849 – 857. 23 R. Zeldin, R.S. Savin-Williams, S.A. Small, Dimensions of Prosocial Behavior in Adolescent Male, “The Journal of Social Psychology” 1984, No. 123(2), pp. 159 – 168. 24 C. Marangoni, S. Garcia, W. Ickes, G. Teng, Empathic Accuracy in a Clinically Relevant Setting, “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology” 1995, No. 68(5), pp. 854 – 869. 25 A. Gladstein, J.C. Feldstein, Using Film to Increase Counselor Empathic Experiences, “Counselor Education and Supervision” 1983, No. 2(23), pp. 125 – 131.


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empathy26, which has already demonstrated some utility in intergroup peace. Political or ethnic victims showed more ability to empathize, and thus a willingness to help others in distress27. Group members with ethnocultural empathy (which was correlated with personal empathy) tended to be more open about building peaceful relationships with other ethnic groups28 and scored lower on militaristic attitude29. N. Milgram30 identified the impact of cultural empathy on interethnic relations. The study focused on two long-standing groups in conflict, the Israeli Jews and Arabs, and measured their affective empathy, cognitive empathy, and inter-ethnic discomfort. Participants with higher cultural empathy showed more readiness for relations with members of the other group. It was concluded that cultural empathy is related to personal readiness, expected readiness, conflict resolution, and contact importance. If the members of the ingroup are exposed to the perspectives, concerns, and experiences of the outgroup, cultural empathy will be enhanced and there is a greater likelihood of a positive relationship between the two groups. One complication of elevating the concept of empathy from an individual level to group level is the question of target. Empathy is often directed at someone/ something. It is understandable for the target to go unmentioned in interpersonal interactions – it automatically means the victim and the victim is fairly obvious in the bully-bullied or the batterer-battered relations. An early mention of the problem of target in empathy can be found in White’s31 observation about the blind spots in realistic empathy. Empathy does not seem to apply to all people; each person has limits to his/her own empathy such that their empathy is only lent to a personalized selection of targets.

26 Y. Wang, M. Davidson, O.F. Yakushko, H. Savoy, J.A. Tan, J.K. Bleier, The Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy: Development, Validation, and Reliability, “Journal of Counseling Psychology” 2003, No. 50(2), pp. 221 – 234. 27 E. Staub, Preventing Violence and Terrorism and Promoting Positive Relations between Dutch and Muslim Communities in Amsterdam, “Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology” 2007, No. 13(3), pp. 333 – 360. 28 N. Milgram, M. Geisis, N. Katz, L. Haskaya, Correlates of Readiness for Interethnic Relations of Israeli Jews and Arabs, “Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology” 2008, No. 14(1), pp. 93 – 118. 29 L.L. Nelson, Correlations between Inner Peace, Interpersonal Behavior, and Global Attitudes, paper presented at 115th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association at San Francisco, 2007. 30 N. Milgram et al., op.cit. 31 R.K. White, The Kinds of Empathy Needed in Arms Control Negotiation, “American Journal of Social Psychiatry” 1987, No. 7(3), pp.181 – 184.

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A study conducted by C. Batson32 illustrates the idea of blind spots by showing that empathy is differentially applied to stigmatized groups. Three scenarios were introduced related to AIDS, the homeless, and murderers. Each experiment was measured with a high empathy condition and low empathy condition for a scenario where the victim is responsible or the victim is not responsible. Participants were assessed based on their emotional states, empathetic responses, and attitudes towards the target group. Empathy manipulation was effective in inducing empathy in both victim-not-responsible and the victim-responsible conditions, but the effect was stronger in victim-not-responsible condition. Under this light, ethnocultural empathy in a way, is a call for removing blind spots and applying empathy equally to all. In an intergroup conflict, the outgroup is often in the blind spot as it is difficult to extend empathy to people who are dissimilar to “us” in crucial ways, such as religion, political values and cultural practices. Given that the construct was developed against the backdrop of the increasing diversifications of the ethnic groups in the U.S. and the need to promote the acceptance of individuals from different racial and ethnic backgrounds33, the definition of ethnocultural empathy – interest, knowledge, and affective concern for another group – implicitly assumed that this particular brand of empathy is directed at the outgroup. Even though ethnocultural empathy has moved the concept of empathy from an individual level analysis to a group analysis, it has neglected the fact that victims can be found on both sides of a conflict. Take 9/11 and the ensuing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as an example, one group of victims were the Muslims (i.e. the civilians who died or might die in the Middle East conflict). When empathic Americans direct their empathy at this target, they might denounce the military response to the 9/11 attacks. But the reality at the time was that the Americans who died in the 9/11 attacks were the more visible group of victims. In fact, this group of victims is still more memorable to the American public as the relatives of 9/11 victims appeared regularly on mainstream news outlets in the immediate aftermath and on the anniversaries of 9/11. A key theoretical question to ask is whether the existing understanding of empathy can be applied to an American who felt a particularly deep sense of connection with the 9/11 victims. Can we trust the heightened feelings and thinking to lead these Americans to reject the military solutions in Afghanistan and Iraq? 32

C. Batson, S. Early, G. Salvarani, Perspective Taking: Imagining How Another Feels versus Imagining How You Would Feel, “Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin” 1997, No. 23(7), pp. 751 – 758. 33 Wang et al., op.cit.


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Our question on the two versions of empathy is not about quantity. There is little doubt that more empathy is generally elicited by the suffering of an ingroup member than that of an outgroup member. Past research has used pain perception as a proxy for empathy and found that observers had an easier time building physiological linkages with the ingroup member than with the outgroup member. Specifically, observers showed more activations in the anterior cingulate cortex (which is activated in pain perception) as well as greater empathic response (in the form of resonant corticospinal inhibition) when they watched the ingroup members in pain than when they watched the outgroup members suffer34. Nor is our question about comparing the degree of aggression towards the outgroup versus the ingroup. There is little doubt that an average person has fewer qualms about harming an outgroup member than if they have to hurt an ingroup member. Even highly empathic protagonists are not immune from this differential. For example, A. Mehrabian and N. Epstein measured participants’ emotional empathy before assigning them into mock teaching conditions where the “teachers” were placed at two different levels of immediacy to the “students”. The task of the teacher was to choose a level of shock to punish the “slow-learning students”35. Results showed a significant empathy X immediacy interaction effect suggesting that while low empathetic “teachers” aggressed equally to both immediate and distant victims, the high empathetic “teachers” was significantly affected by the immediacy of the victims. These teachers aggressed less towards a nearby victim as compared to faraway victims. Our question on outgroup and ingroup empathy pertains to the qualitative differences in the way they relate to aggression. We are convinced that outgroup empathy, as was conceptualized and researched in ethnocultural empathy, is a valuable tool in peacemaking. But we question the empathy-nonaggression link when the empathy is directed at a victim in one’s own group. A common notion is that it is particularly difficult to watch a loved one suffer and the results of that kind of experience are often hatred and vengeance – the opposite of peace. This pathway can also be understood anecdotally. Someone moving to harm a baby in front of the mother would get to experience the wrath of ingroup empathy firsthand. The answer to the question on the qualitative difference between the two versions of empathy may be gleaned from the research on several outgroup and ingroup dynamics. This line of research does not focus on empathy per se, but 34

X. Xu, X. Zuo, X. Wang, S. Han, Do You Feel My Pain? Racial Group Membership Modulates Empathic Neural Responses, “The Journal of Neuroscience” 2009, No. 29(26), pp. 8525 – 8529. 35 A. Mehrabian, N. Epstein, A Measure of Emotional Empathy, “Journal of Personality” 1972, No. 40(4), pp. 525 – 543.

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touches on the role of empathy in related topics such as the interpretation of outside threats or prejudiced attitudes towards an outgroup. Nonetheless, ingroup and outgroup provide a vocabulary with which to deliberate the targeting issue in empathy and a tool to visualize the underlying mechanism between empathy and group aggression.

2. Outgroup Trust One of the utilities of Allport’s intergroup contact theory is to promote intergroup contact as a way to reduce prejudice. Although prejudice is only meant to refer to an irrational hostility to people of a certain group (Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, n.d.), a broader application of intergroup contact theory is to tackle intergroup conflict at the societal level and politically explosive issues. Many of the recent studies on intergroup contact theory reckoned empathy as an explanatory variable as to why intergroup contact reduces animosity. This line of research can shed light on the inner workings of empathy because the roles of the ingroup and outgroup are clearly articulated. Previous research has manipulated empathy and anxiety to support the intergroup contact theory. Multiple pathways were found to connect intergroup contact to prejudice via empathy and anxiety. A study conducted by T. Pettigrew and L. Tropp demonstrated that enhancing knowledge about the outgroup, reducing anxiety of intergroup contact, increasing empathy and increasing perspective are effective ways of lowering prejudice. In particular, influencing anxiety and empathy proved to have the strongest mean correlation with reducing prejudice36. Vescio et al. conducted a study where stereotypic perceptions were formed by either receiving conformation of a negative stereotype or receiving disconfirmation of the same stereotype. Regardless of confirming or disconfirming stereotypicality, asking subjects to adopt the target’s perspective led to improved intergroup attitudes37. By reducing prejudice and forming a new perspective, the ingroup develops more trust towards the outgroup, which has come to be known as outgroup trust. M. Noor et al. investigated the roles of outgroup trust as well as empathy in their

36 T.F. Pettigrew, L.R. Tropp, How Does Intergroup Contact Reduce Prejudice? Meta-Analytic Tests of Three Mediators, “European Journal of Social Psychology” 2008, No. 38(6), pp. 922 – 934. 37 T.K. Vescio, G.B. Sechrist, M.P. Paolucci, Perspective Taking and Prejudice Reduction: The Mediational Role of Empathy Arousal and Situational Attributions, “European Journal of Social Psychology” 2003, No. 33(4), pp. 455 – 472.


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study of intergroup reconciliation in Northern Ireland38. The aim of the study was to understand the post-conflict relations between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland by developing a theoretical model of reconciliation orientation (ROM). Participants of this study were Northern Irish undergraduate students who completed a questionnaire pertaining to the outcome variables of interest – intergroup forgiveness and subjective evaluation of past violence (which tapped into the justification for the violence acts conducted by one’s own group). The questionnaire also assessed several mediators, including outgroup trust and empathy. Results showed that empathy was a positive predictor for forgiveness and a negative predictor for the subjective evaluation of past violence. In order for the ingroup to be more forgiving of the outgroup and less righteous about their own past violent deeds, there should be certain level of outgroup trust in addition to empathy. The kind of empathy that was effective in improving the intergroup relations in Northern Ireland seems to be directed at the outgroup. The target of empathy is made clearer in another study of a sample of Bosnian Muslims in terms of their readiness to forgive the misdeeds committed by Bosnian Serbs during the 1992–95 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina39. Results showed that empathy and outgroup trust were the significant mediators in the positive relationship between contact and forgiveness. In this study, the authors have adopted the term outgroup empathy explicitly in their mediation analysis to punctuate the fact that the empathy they measured was towards the outgroup. Sample items included “I sometimes think how Serbs might have felt during the war,” and “Usually, I am able to understand Serbs point of view”40. Empathy is conducive to forgiveness because it induces affective and cognitive transformations when each group looks at the conflict from a new angle. This new angle is from the perspective of the other side, or the outgroup. The literature of intergroup contact can be taken to mean that developing empathy towards the outgroup may be wielded as a tool to improve intergroup peace. Therefore, outgroup empathy operates in a similar fashion as the existing understanding of empathy in interpersonal domains.

38

M. Noor, R. Brown, G. Prentice, Precursors and Mediators of Intergroup Reconciliation in Northern Ireland: A New Model, “British Journal of Social Psychology” 2008, No. 47(3), pp. 481 – 495. 39 S. Cehajic, R. Brown, E. Castano, Forgive and Forget? Antecedents and Consequences of Intergroup Forgiveness in Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Political Psychology” 2008, No. 29(3), pp. 351 – 367. 40 S. Cehajic et al., op.cit, p. 358

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3. Ingroup Identity The research on the topic of intergroup threat offered some insights into how a group interprets and responds to an outside threat41. Although empathy has rarely been explicitly identified in this line of research, the ability to think or feel for members in one’s own group, or what we call ingroup empathy, is inevitably a part of the underlying mechanism. We review some of the relevant literature below and draw the conclusion that ingroup empathy defies the conventional wisdom of empathy and may even perpetuate group aggression. Intergroup threats occur when members of an ingroup feel challenged by the actions of an outgroup. The conditions or types of threats include realistic threat, symbolic threat, intergroup anxiety, and negative stereotypes. An example of realistic threat is competition for resources. When two groups have to share limited resources, the belief that only one group can succeed tends to create negative outgroup attitudes. In particular, this rivalry among groups will increase ingroup solidarity and ingroup/outgroup distinction due to conflicting goals, and the end result can be increased hostility between groups42. For example, Sherif and Sherif43 divided children into two groups with well-drawn boundaries. When the groups realized that they were to play a zero-sum game and there could be only one winner, they started to act violently towards the other group. Another type of threat, esteem threat, can be used to illustrate a similar relation between threat perception and antagonism, when the threat does not involve tangible resources or materials. A study by N. Branscombe and D. Wann found that when highly identified American participants watched an American boxer losing a match to a Russian boxer, they reported an increased likelihood of derogating Russians44. The mediating mechanism in this case was the perceived threats to the collective self-esteem of Americans. It also follows that people who identify strongly with the ingroup will experience greater esteem threat and as a result, they feel more responsible to maintain a positive group image, hence motivated to increase group esteem.

41 B.M. Riek, E.W. Mania, S.L. Gaertner, Intergroup Threat and Outgroup Attitudes: A MetaAnalytic Review, “Personality and Social Psychology Review” 2006, No. 10(4), pp. 336 – 342. 42 Ibidem. 43 Ibidem, p. 239. 44 N. Branscombe, D. Wann, Collective Self-Esteem Consequences of Outgroup Derogation When a Valued Social Identity Is on Trial, “European Journal of Social Psychology” 1994, No. 24(6), pp. 641 – 657.


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Since the degree of identification towards one’s own group seems to motivate the ingroup members to develop antagonistic attitudes towards the outgroup members, the concept of ingroup identification warrants a closer look. L. Tropp and S. Wright suggested that ingroup identification is not a simple act of self-categorization but includes a host of psychological ramifications45. When a social identity is salient, individuals act and think as group members and rely on the ingroup as a guide for their own thoughts and behaviors. The well accepted definition of ingroup identification includes four components, how individuals see themselves within as a group, the significance of the group to an individual’s sense of self, pride in one’s group, and “psychological attachment” where individual “feels close to” a specific ingroup46. L. Tropp and S. Wright believe that there is a common theme underlying the various components of ingroup identification and the conceptual core is the degree to which the ingroup is included in the self47. Rather than being perceived as separate beings, self and other are regarded as “overlapping selves.” In other words, a psychological connection among group members or a subjective sense of interconnectedness can be found among the ingroup members. As the definition of ingroup identification expands from simple self-categorization to include psychological attachment, it starts to merge into the construct space of empathy. Rather than referring to connectedness between self and other on a general level, this particular type of empathy refers to an individual’s sense of connectedness with one’s own group members. If we were to accept the fact that the expanded view of ingroup identification is akin to the idea of ingroup empathy, then the research findings on ingroup identification provides a different view of how empathic group members operate when his/her group faces an outside threat. A person who is guided by a keen connection to the ingroup should be more eager to protect their group’s welfare and seek to maintain both a positive and distinct image of their group. Another mention-worthy study offered support to the link between ingroup empathy and intergroup violence even though it falls slightly outside the tradition of intergroup identification theory. V. Yzerbyt, M. Dumont, D. Wigboldus and E. Gordijn, followed the tradition of social emotion model which examined emotions in group settings. Emotions have been traditionally examined on an interpersonal level in terms of the antecedent event, the experience of the emo45

L. Tropp, S. Wright, Ingroup Identification as the Inclusion of Ingroup in the Self, “Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin” 2001, No. 27(5), pp. 585 – 600. 46 R.R. Lau, Individual and Contextual Influences on Group Identification, “Social Psychology Quarterly” 1989, No. 52(3), pp. 220 – 231. 47 L. Trop, op.cit.

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tion (psychology and facial expressions), as well as the related action tendency48. For example, a moral transgression when perceived as an insult will trigger an anger response, which will then prompt approach or attack behaviors49. Smith (1993) formulated the theory of social emotions, which suggest that the dynamic of emotions may be influenced by group identity. A study by V. Yzerbyt and his team tested whether emotional reactions would change as a function of social categorization. Results showed that emotional reactions of anger and its offensive action tendencies were more prevalent when participants were induced to see the victims and themselves as part of the same group50. This study took a step further from an unwillingness to forgive in some of the studies and suggested that high ingroup identification can lead to a greater tendency to attack or punish the outgroup. Admittedly, ingroup identification applies to many types of groups. Group boundaries can be drawn along the lines of ethnicity, politics, national identity, etc. One of the salient group bases is religion and religious fundamentalists can be reinterpreted in this framework as a strong ingroup identification to a religious collective. This type of ingroup would be the case in point for critics who wonder if group values could modify the overall effect of ingroup empathy. It is certainly plausible if a group developed firm values around peace and humanity, it will be resistant to violent tendencies. But according to Z. Rothschild, A. Abdollahi, and T. Pyszczynski, religious fundamentalists tend to exhibit higher levels of prejudice, ethnocentrism and militarism, regardless of their strong religious ethics51. Therefore, the associated body of literature linking religious fundamentalism to intergroup aggression, may be seen as a concrete manifestation of a tight ingroup who feel that their values are under siege and that they are willing to abandon certain religious teachings in order to use violence to protect their group integrity.

48 V. Yzerbyt, M. Dumont, D. Wigboldus, E. Gordijn, I Fell for Us: The Impact of Categorization and Identification on Emotions and Action Tendencies, “Journal of Social Psychology” 2003, No. 42, pp. 533 – 549. 49 V. Cheung-Blunden, B. Blunden, Paving the Road to War with Group Membership, Appraisal Antecedents, and Anger, “Aggressive Behavior” 2008, No. 34(2), pp. 175 – 189. 50 V. Yezerbyt et al., op.cit. 51 Z. Rothschild, A. Abdollahi, T. Pyszczynski, Does Peace Have a Prayer? The Effect of Mortality Salience, Compassionate Values, and Religious Fundamentalism on Hostility toward Out-Groups, “Journal of Experimental Social Psychology” 2009, No. 45(4), pp. 816 – 827.


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4. Conclusion In an interpersonal setting, there is usually one recipient of empathy – the victim – and insight into the victim’s plight is what gives pause to the aggressor and prompts bystanders to help. The assumption that empathy is always directed at the victim may be the reason why the issue of target has not surfaced in the theories about empathy. As a result, this assumption continued when the construct of empathy was elevated from an individual level analysis to a group level analysis. A closer look at the new constructs developed to capture group empathy, such as ethnocultural empathy, suggests that the receiver of empathy is assumed to be the outgroup (or victims in the outgroup). A review of the research along the line of Allport’s intergroup contact theory confirmed that outgroup empathy is nurtured through intergroup contact and its overall effect is in line with the well-known empathy-nonaggression hypothesis – less prejudiced attitudes and less violence towards the outgroup. However, we argued in this paper that in intergroup settings, there is another party that stands to receive empathy. The idea that empathy can be directed at an ingroup member who is distressed by an intergroup conflict has been a neglected topic. Admittedly, past studies have pointed out the differential ability to build rapport with an ingroup member over an outgroup member, and alluded to the possibilities that empathy knows boundaries52. Rather than a matter of the amount of empathy, the question raised in this paper pertains to the way empathy plays out in a dynamic intergroup conflict, and how empathy directed at the ingroup and outgroup can have qualitatively different utilities in peacebuilding. We reviewed the literature on intergroup threats and highlighted that ingroup identity goes beyond a simple act of self-categorization, and includes a subjective sense of interconnectedness with ingroup members. This idea of interconnectedness, the ease with which to reflect on the common past history, current experiences, and future prospects is akin to the definition of empathy, except that the target in this case is the ingroup. We leveraged the research findings on ingroup identity and showed that ingroup empathy can result in greater animosity against the outgroup and even perpetuate violence. To the extent that general empathy exists in each person on a basic trait level, the trait may manifest in separate forms depending on whether the ingroup or outgroup is in focus. Ingroup and outgroup empathy may differ significantly, and

52

J. Decety, op.cit.

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the most damaging combination to peace prospect is low outgroup empathy and high ingroup empathy. Therefore, rather than suggesting that empathic people are inherently resistant to aggressive tendencies in intergroup conflicts, we contend that empathy may serve as a double-edged sword. It can quell or exacerbate an antagonistic response depending on the targets of empathy. We have advanced the group level analysis of empathy to include both ingroup and outgroup empathy. The hypothesis that the two versions of empathy exert different effects on intergroup peace ought to be tested on a range of platforms on which trait empathy has been scrutinized – evolution, genes, neurobiology, physiology, and behaviors. The language of ingroup and outgroup is adapted based on the two lines of literature we have reviewed. These terminologies may be critiqued based on the common notion of heterogeneity within groups or simultaneous memberships that a person possesses (such as family, socio-economic class, ethnic group, city, and country). Nonetheless, we believe that ingroup and outgroup are the best framework to articulate the neglected topic in the analysis of empathy on a group level and allow research to investigate how the target of empathy can modify empathy’s utility in peacebuilding efforts. It has been said that the increasing open-mindedness towards diversity and the ability of the Internet to draw the world closer, may eventually help to erase group boundaries in the future. However, group dynamics remain salient for the time being. Redrawing group borders still generates deep angst, not necessarily because of the immediate costs or benefits but because of the psychological implications. The uproar over the surveillance of German Chancellor Angela Markel by the National Security Agency may diminish as President Obama has promised to moderate such practices, but the psychological effects will continue to reverberate in the respective group members for a long time. The recent debate on whether Ukraine should join the European Union goes beyond the immediate question of whom the Ukrainians will trade with, as it provokes the deeper question of who the “one people” includes. To work with the reality of salient group memberships, one way to educate citizens is to caution against a sense of complacency. Acts of ingroup empathy are easy to perform and can actually stand in the way of peaceful relations with outsiders. Citizens must challenge themselves to extend their empathy to people who live outside their borders, pray to different gods, and cherish a different set of values. This kind of outgroup empathy is harder to manifest, but it is highly promising to peaceful group relations. A concrete way to sway empathy in the general public is via the media. For example, in the aftermath of 9/11, the mainstream media in the U.S. fanned the flames of outrage by ruminating on the carnage of the Twin


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Towers and reminding Americans of their values53. They could have just as easily depicted a shop owner in Baghdad and his/her distress about the impending invasion. A truly balanced view promotes a deeper empathy for the predicament of both parties in a conflict. If empathic adults are willing to accept electric shocks on behalf of total strangers, perhaps they will take pause before they allow their leadership to unleash the dogs of war. Empathy, when harnessed correctly, can be a useful resource to mitigate the desire for further aggression in intergroup conflicts.

REFERENCES: Anderson C.A., Shibuya A., Ihori N., Swing E.L., Bushman B.J., Sakamoto A., Saleem M., Violent Video Game Effects on Aggression, Empathy, and Prosocial Behavior in Eastern and Western Countries: A Meta-Analytic Review, “Psychological Bulletin” 2010, No. 136(2). Batson C., Early S., Salvarani G., Perspective Taking: Imagining How Another Feels versus Imagining How You Would Feel, “Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin” 1997, No. 23(7). Batson C., Batson J.G., Griffitt C.A., Barrientos S., Brandt J., Sprengelmeyer P., Bayly M.J., Negative-State Relief and the Empathy – Altruism Hypothesis, “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology” 1989, No. 56(6). Block J., On Further Conjectures Regarding Acquiescence, “Psychological Bulletin” 1971, No. 76(3). Branscombe N.R., Wann D.L., Collective Self-Esteem Consequences of Outgroup Derogation When a Valued Social Identity Is on Trial, “European Journal of Social Psychology” 1994, No. 24(6). Cehajic S., Brown R., Castano E., Forgive and Forget? Antecedents and Consequences of Intergroup Forgiveness in Bosnia and Herzegovina, “Political Psychology” 2008, No. 29(3). Cheung-Blunden V., Blunden B., Paving the Road to War with Group Membership, Appraisal Antecedents, and Anger, “Aggressive Behavior” 2008, No. 34(2). Cheung-Blunden V., Blunden B., The Emotional Construal of War: Anger, Fear, and Other Negative Emotions, “Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology” 2008, No. 14(2). Davis M.H., Measuring Individual Differences in Empathy: Evidence for a Multidimensional Approach, “Journal of Personality and Social Psychology” 1983, No. 44(1). 53

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ISSN 1230-266X

DOI: 10.15804/kie.2014.05.13

Danuta Borecka-Biernat Wroclaw Univeristy, Poland

SELF-ESTEEM AND LOCUS OF CONTROL AS DETERMINANTS OF AGGRESSIVE COPING STRATEGY OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN A SOCIAL CONFLICT SITUATION ABSTRACT The aim of the study was to evaluate the contribution of self-esteem and locus of control in generating in the youth an aggressive coping strategy in a social conflict situation. The study made use of a proprietary questionnaire to study the coping strategy of youth in a social conflict situation (KSMK), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES), and the questionnaire to Study the Locus of Control (KBPK) created by G. Krasowicz and A. KurzypWojnarska. Empirical studies were carried out in junior high schools [Polish: gimnazjum] in Wroclaw and the surrounding area. They involved 811 adolescents (414 girls and 397 boys) aged 13 – 15. In the light of the performed studies it was stated that low general selfesteem in youth and strong belief in the influence of others on positive or negative effects of events play a particular role in the choice of aggressive strategy of young people to cope in a social conflict situation.

Key words: junior high school youth, self-esteem, locus of control, emotional reactions, aggressive coping strategy, social conflict situations

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1. Introduction In psychology the concept of “a difficult situation” is closely associated with activities people are doing to regulate their relations with the environment. In such actions they often encounter obstacles, get under the influence of inhibitions and there are cases that they fail to achieve the intended goal1. Difficult situations constitute an internally clearly diversified group. It is especially worth noting that difficult social situations in which, according to M. Tyszkowa2 “the values and aspirations of an individual are subject to a threat or are prevented by other people by the mere fact of their presence or because of specific forms of counter actions or only incompatible with own aspirations (goals) of the individual”. From among situations of this type M. Tyszkowa3 distinguishes social conflict situations in which the aspirations of an individual are contrary to or inconsistent with the aspirations of other people and the achievement of his/her own aspirations is threatened. In the life of teenagers difficult situations of social interaction containing an element of a threat to the achievement of aspirations (satisfy the needs) are particularly frequent. The results of the study show that young people in their adolescence consider interpersonal conflicts the source of a strong sense of stress: a conflict with the teacher, arguments with school friends and with a boyfriend or girlfriend, and also quarrels with one or both parents and other family members4. A school conflict is interpreted as a clash of conflicting or inconsistent aspirations and behaviours of teachers and students or students with each other taking place in connection with teaching and educational process at school5. Z. Plewicka6,

1

T. Tomaszewski, Ślady i wzorce, Warszawa 1984, pp. 134 – 145. M. Tyszkowa, Funkcjonowanie dzieci w sytuacjach trudnych, „Oświata i Wychowanie” 1979, nr 6, p. 211. 3 Ibidem, pp. 210 – 217. 4 R. Jaworski, Konflikt pokoleń w okresie adolescencji. Psychologiczne aspekty radzenia sobie ze stresem [in:] Problemy człowieka w świecie psychologii, R. Jaworski, A. Wielgus, J. Łukjaniuk (eds.), Płock 2000, pp. 27 – 54; M. Guszkowska, A. Gorący, J. Rychta-Siedlecka, Ważne zdarzenia życiowe i codzienne kłopoty jako źródło stresu w percepcji młodzieży, „Edukacja Otwarta” 2001, nr 4, pp. 155 – 164; A. Woźniak-Krakowian, G. Wieczorek, Przemoc w szkole jako zjawisko społeczne [in:] Problemy marginalizacji dzieci i młodzieży, A. Woźniak-Krakowian, E. Napora, I. Gomółka-Walaszek (eds.), Częstochowa 2009, pp. 115 – 150. 5 M. Tyszkowa, Zachowanie się dzieci i młodzieży w sytuacjach trudnych. Teoretyczno-metodologiczne podstawy badań [in:] Zachowanie się młodzieży w sytuacjach trudnych i rozwój osobowości, M. Tyszkowa (ed.), Poznań 1977, pp. 7 – 17. 6 Z. Plewicka, Sytuacje konfliktowe uczniów w szkole [in:] Zachowanie się młodzieży w sytuacjach trudnych i rozwój osobowości, M. Tyszkowa (ed.), Poznań 1977, pp. 37 – 50. 2

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J. Różańska-Kowal7 and G. Miłkowska8 investigated school conflict situations of students aged between 14 to 19. These were conflicts with teachers and peers in the class. Descriptions of school conflicts accounted for 68% of conflicts with teachers. The most controversial situations in the teacher-student combination are school grades. Students usually blame teachers for giving too low grades, underestimating the effort, not noticing improvements, giving failing grades not for educational results but for other offenses, and for favouring particular individuals. Another controversial group of factors described by students is teachers’ tactless behaviour. They are reflected in mockery, calling names, ridiculing student’s production in front of the class, devaluing the traits of appearance, behaviour, character, and the general value of the student as a person. The third group of controversial factors is the domineering pressure and inflexibility of the teacher’s requirements. It is expected from the students that they should assimilate and reproduce knowledge in every subject without taking into account their individual traits of character, interests and abilities. It is worth noting – as Z. Plewicka9 noted – that students’ conflicts with teachers are, as a rule, situations difficult for the student and quite insignificant for teachers who most often do not notice them or disregard them. However, as the students spend more time at school the frequency of studentteacher conflicts increases. In turn, descriptions of peer conflicts at school constitute 32% of the material collected by Z. Plewicka10. She divides them into individual and individual-group conflicts as also conflicts between formal and informal groups. Most descriptions of individual conflicts are reserved to primary schools (45%). Their main causes are: taunts and ridicule, groundless accusations, backbiting, betrayal, indiscretion, competition for grades, for favours from the opposite sex or lack of manners in behaviour. Individual-group conflicts show a decreasing tendency over the passage of years spent at school. In the last two years of primary school they represent 37% of the collected material. Frequently occurring are conflicts concerning social isolation of a student from the group, social background differences between a student and the majority of people in the group, and being above average in comparison with the group. As a result of the study carried out by the author it was found that a small number of students strongly identified with the group and described inter7

J. Różańska-Kowal, Szkoła jako główne źródło stresu młodzieży w wieku dorastania, „Kwartalnik Pedagogiczny” 2004, nr 3, pp. 203 – 214. 8 G. Miłkowska, Agresja w okresie dorastania-charakterystyka, przejawy, przeciwdziałanie [in:] Zagrożenia okresu dorastania, Z. Izdebski (ed.), Zielona Góra 2012, pp. 91 – 110. 9 Z. Plewicka, op.cit., pp. 39 – 43. 10 Ibidem, p. 43.

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group conflicts as their unpleasant school experiences. It turns out that conflicts between “bunches” of girls arise in the context of competing for the favour of boys and grades at school. In turn, antagonistic “bunches” of boys compete mainly for control over the class and prestige in sports. According to the author, peer conflicts, despite a strong emotional load, are short-lived and at the same time the frequency of conflicts gets smaller as students spend more time at school. This does not mean that conflicts are a marginal phenomenon in the students social life. The source of tension and difficult situations for young people are also situations outside school, that is disagreements with friends, partners – boyfriends/girlfriends or contempt of peers. J. Różańska-Kowal (2004) notes that disagreements between friends arise because of differences in opinions and uncontrolled impulsivity, as well as outbursts of anger most often for trivial reasons. Difficult situations for girls are misunderstandings and breaking up with their boyfriends. In addition to everyday difficulties associated with school, another source of everyday problems of young people are contacts with their parents. Conflicts in the parent-child, child-parent relations that in adolescence are a universal phenomenon and an important source of tensions as young people grow11. The source of stress here is the feeling of lack of communication with the parents and their excessive demands. Many of such conflicts concern everyday situations – differences in opinions, tastes associated, e.g. with clothes, music, performing household duties, spending free time, and the hours of coming back home. We are dealing here with the clash of young people’s growing need for independence with the standards determined by their parents, orders and prohibitions and tendencies to control, supervise the life and behaviour of children approaching adulthood. Moreover, adolescence period is the stage of discovering new authorities, new needs and changes in the system of values. Therefore, the occurrence of generational conflict is also affected by the difference of the system of values preferred by the world of adults and adolescent children. Apart from that, puberty causes growing interest in the opposite sex. The choice of a boyfriend/girlfriend by a child may trigger dissatisfaction of parents and constitute the embers of conflict. A growing child requires absolute tolerance and acceptance for the chosen person and complete freedom in matters of the heart. Similarly, the growing children’s lack of acceptance for their own appearance, exaggerating their imagined flaws and defects of beauty causes demands not only towards their figures but also towards the parents. Undoubtedly, changing disposition, mood swings, and impulsivity irritability triggered by the storm of hormones in teenagers annoy the parents; the fact that they are not 11

R. Jaworski, op.cit., pp. 27 – 54; J. Różańska-Kowal, op.cit., pp. 203 – 214.


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able to control their children’s emotional processes which in turn is the basis for conflicts. It is worth noting – as Cz. Matusewicz12 noted – that misunderstandings and conflicts with a mother and father occur in approximately 55 – 65% of the population of primary and secondary school students, and here boys tend to be more confrontational than girls. Also the intensity of family conflicts increases. Difficult situations cannot be ruled out from human life. From the moment of birth each person must learn to cope with difficulties and challenges that they face. A difficult situation encourages a young person to an activity aimed to recover balance between the requirements of the situation and the abilities to adapt and/ or to improve the state of emotions. An activity that a young person undertakes in a difficult situation is considered in a specific situational context as a strategy of coping in a current difficult situation13. Numerous studies and even common observation suggest that adolescents have a considerable repertoire of coping strategies in difficult social situations at their disposal14. One of them is the strategy of aggression that takes the form of an initiated physical or verbal attack directed to certain persons, causing damage in the physical, mental and social well-being of others (i.e. causing pain, suffering, destruction, leading to loss of appreciated values). This is applied when the situation faced by individuals is assessed by them as a threat to their well-being15. The strategy in the form of an aggressive response to difficulties is not directed towards solving and overcoming a difficult situation, it allows to only reduce the unpleasant emotional tension. In contrast the goal that they initially had set is replaced by another – achievement of well-being. Persons adopting the strategy of aggression do not burden themselves with difficulties of solving the problem. An unsolved problem in the longer time perspective evokes a sense of dissatisfaction as opposed to the achievements of other people and the sense of helplessness and lack of control over the difficult situation16.

12

Cz. Matusewicz, Konflikty w zespołach uczniowskich [in:] Encyklopedia Pedagogiczna, W. Pomykało (ed.), Warszawa 1997, pp. 285 – 287. 13 K. Wrześniewski, Style a strategie radzenia sobie ze stresem. Problemy pomiaru [in:] Człowiek w sytuacji stresu. Problemy teoretyczne i metodologiczne, I. Heszen-Niejodek, Z. Ratajczak (ed.), Katowice 1996, pp. 44 – 64. 14 Ph. Donaldson, Patterns of Children’s Coping with Life Stress, “American Journal of Orthopsychiatry” 2000, No. 70, pp. 351 – 359; A. Frączek, Wszystko o twojej agresji, „Charaktery” 2003, nr 7, pp. 28 – 30; J. Różańska-Kowal, op.cit., pp. 203 – 214; R. Sikora, E. Pisula, Wiek i płeć a radzenie sobie ze stresem przez młodzież w wieku 12 – 17 lat, „Przegląd Psychologiczny” 2008, nr 51, pp. 405 – 421. 15 R. Stach, Zachowanie agresywne, Wrocław 1989, p. 32. 16 D. Borecka-Biernat, Strategie radzenia sobie młodzieży w trudnych sytuacjach społecznych. Psychospołeczne uwarunkowania, Wrocław 2006, p. 62.

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From what we already know, human coping strategies are always analyzed in a particular difficult situation because they largely depend on the perception of such a situation. Therefore, it is worth noting how young people cope with conflict situations that take place in schools, in relations with peers or at home. Recent results of the studies indicate that particularly stressful for adolescents is the school environment, especially situations of conflict with teachers and classmates. Furthermore, empirical evidence contained in the literature showes that young people use many different strategies to cope with problems at school17. Among the coping strategies mentioned by young people in the context of school difficult situations we can distinguish aggressive behaviours towards people and objects. From the data obtained by E. Nitendel-Bujakowa18, A. Woźniak-Krakowian, G. Wieczorek19, and G. Miłkowska20 it can be seen that lessons are the situations that are particularly favourable to aggressive ways to recover from stress. When asked about the causes of aggression in the classroom the students covered by the study mentioned, among others, fear of bad grades, fear of failure, large amount of homework, unexpected tests, teacher’s antipathy to students, fear of reprimand, fear of spiteful remarks addressed to them, and fear of worsening the opinion and relations with friends. Students’ aggression consisted, among other things, in deliberate preventing teachers from conducting lessons, destroying personal items left on the teacher’s desk, stating unfavourable opinions about a teacher to friends and parents. It is also worth mentioning that more than half of the surveyed students admitted that they undertake aggressive behaviours during lesson breaks. Here dominate manifestations of physical aggression (poking, pushing, and kicking) and among the forms of verbal aggression there are nicknames, ridiculing a person or their possession, and mockery. Especially dangerous during the lesson breaks are secluded places where students spend time mostly without the presence of a teacher (cloakroom, hallway, and toilet). Students asked about the causes of aggression during the break point out to, among other tings, settling scores and conflicts. A significant portion of students is getting into conflicts with other students and for these reasons they experience states of unpleasant emotional stress.

17 J. Różańska-Kowal, op.cit., pp. 203 – 214; K. Polak, Uczeń w sytuacji konfliktów szkolnych [in:] Sytuacje konfliktowe w środowisku rodzinnym, szkolnym i rówieśniczym, D. Borecka-Biernat (ed.), Warszawa 2010, pp. 23 – 40. 18 E. Nitendel-Bujakowa, Lęki szkolne jako wyznacznik funkcjonowania dziecka, „Problemy poradnictwa psychologiczno-pedagogicznego” 2001, nr 1, pp. 15 – 37. 19 A. Woźniak-Krakowian, G. Wieczorek, op.cit., pp. 115 – 150. 20 G. Miłkowska, op.cit., pp. 91 – 110.


217

These tensions are most often released by students through engaging in quarrels, name calling, ridicule or fights. Interesting research on strategies to cope with conflict situations in a peer group were conducted by A. Frączek21. Adolescent children: nine-, eleven- and fifteen-year-olds living in Israel, Finland, Poland and Italy took part in the studies. The results of these studies show that girls cope better than boys with conflicts and more often tend to reach an agreement. With boys, however, aggressive strategy occurs more frequently than with girls. Aggression in boys and girls takes different forms. In the latter it tends to be more indirect, it is hidden and used for defence. It is of passive nature, takes the form of complaining, accusing, sulking, and emotional rejection. Boys apply open, physical, and more active and direct forms of aggressive behaviour. These studies have shown that physical and instrumental aggression is more frequent in younger children, whereas in older – verbal and hostile aggression. Conflict situations with parents pose a more and more important source of tension as the children grow. R. Jaworski22 notes that conflicts in the child-parent relations are a common phenomenon during adolescence. Children at an older school age wish to free themselves from the tutelage of their parents and demand granting more rights than before with their entire behaviour. Encountered obstacles and failures and the prohibitions and restrictions imposed by the parents cause reactions of anger expressed in arrogant responses, slamming the door, sometimes in tears or direct acts of aggression directed at objects or people. In relation to parents the aggression of adolescent children is manifested in words, ironic statements, ignoring commands or silence. The author found that in conflict situations a teenager often shows a lot of ruthlessness, aggression, brutality, indifference, and even cynicism. Previous considerations show that a social conflict situation involves the issues of aggressive coping strategies in a specific situational context aiming to avoid or minimize tensions, losses, and adverse effects. There should be asked a question why young people in a social conflict situation chose the strategy in the form of an aggressive reaction to difficulties. According to M. Tyszkowa23 in the psychological mechanism of human behaviour in difficult situations an important role is played by basic cognitive structures of personality. A person’s group of concepts and ideas about themselves, the expectations towards oneself, what is the structure of the 21 22 23

A. Frączek, op.cit., p. 29. R. Jaworski, op.cit., p. 27. M. Tyszkowa, Zachowanie się dzieci w sytuacjach trudnych, Warszawa 1986, pp. 86 – 103.

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“I” and their subjective beliefs concerning the control over a situation determine the manner of cognitive perceiving and interpreting external situation, which in return affects the behaviour in this situation. Information concerning their own person and qualities that make up the knowledge about themselves constitute a prerequisite to assess their own abilities in difficult situations24. From what we know self-esteem constitutes an assessing and evaluating component of the structure of the “I”. The influence of self-esteem is visible in the functioning of an individual in difficult situations. As it turns out, unfavourable, poorly organized and irrelevant structure of the “I” undergoes a threat in a difficult situation which causes – according to M. Tyszkowa25 – shifting of the target of the activity towards the defence of the individual’s own “I”. The result is disorganization of activities aimed at the target. Test results obtained, among others by M. Tyszkowa26, D. Kubacka-Jasiecka27, T. Rostowska28, N. Ogińska-Bulik29, D. Borecka-Biernat30, and S. Eftimie and S. Ionescu31 showed that low and high (inadequate) self-esteem play an unfavourable role in the behaviour of young people in difficult situations. Least susceptible to disorganization of behaviour in difficult situations are persons manifesting high (adequate) level of self-esteem. As it turns out in the contact of an individual with difficulties of a situation an inadequate self-esteem leads to an increased sense of personal insecurity and progressive disorganization of behaviour. A tendency to aggressive behaviours emerges in case of low and high (inadequate) assessment of oneself, of own abilities and effectiveness of actions in the face of various difficult events. Here it is worth to mention some empirical data from the studies by H. Kulas32 that show that for two-thirds of adolescent girls and boys with low self-esteem their contacts 24

Ibidem, pp. 65 – 76. M. Tyszkowa, Zachowanie się dzieci i młodzieży w sytuacjach trudnych. Teoretyczno-metodologiczne podstawy badań [in:] Zachowanie się młodzieży w sytuacjach trudnych i rozwój osobowości, M. Tyszkowa (ed.), Poznań 1977, pp. 7 – 17. 26 M. Tyszkowa, Odporność psychiczna [in:] Encyklopedia Pedagogiczna, W. Pomykało (ed.), Warszawa 1997, pp. 475 – 478. 27 D. Kubacka-Jasiecka, Młodzieżowe zachowania agresywne w zmaganiu się z zagrożeniem Ja, „Kwartalnik Polskiej Psychologii Rozwojowej” 1995, nr 3(2), pp. 3 – 21. 28 T. Rostowska, Konflikt międzypokoleniowy w rodzinie. Analiza psychologiczna, Łódź 2001, pp. 77 – 80. 29 N. Ogińska-Bulik, Zasoby osobiste w radzeniu sobie ze stresem, „Zeszyty Naukowe WSHE w Łodzi” 2000, nr 8(13), pp. 93 – 103. 30 D. Borecka-Biernat, op.cit., pp. 200 – 215. 31 P. Eftimie, P. Ionescu, Self Esteem on Aggressive Adolescents, “Buletinul UniversităŃii Petrol – Gaze din Ploiesti, Seria StiinŃele EducaŃiei” 2010, Vol. LXII, No. 2, pp. 146 – 153. 32 H. Kulas, Samoocena młodzieży, Warszawa 1986, pp. 163 – 169. 25


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with friends in the classroom were unfavourable and confrontational, whereas only 6.7% with high level of self-esteem determined their relationships with their peers in the classroom this way. Studies by H. Kulas33 further show that extremely high self-esteem does not favour maintaining beneficial relationships with others. Students with very high (inadequate) self-esteem are usually characterized by arrogance, overconfidence, disrespectful attitude towards others, and disregard for the opinion of the environment. The students covered by the study blamed teachers, sometimes parents, friends and never themselves for the lack of success in learning. Blaming others was accompanied by aggression, which as a result destroyed proper relationships with them. And so, too high, wrong self-esteem makes an individual to be guided in their behaviour by their desires rather than actual abilities. This determines uncritical readiness to undertake tasks when their abilities do not justify their performance. Not obtaining what they had expected, an individual is exposed to frustration and so disappoints others due to poor performance or non-performance of the task. They are often suspected of lack of accountability, are exposed to disapproval and criticism and defending against these unpleasant consequences they try to minimize their own guilt, trying to shift responsibility to others, which as a consequence leads to a conflict with the environment. As can be seen, current studies devoted to correlation between self-esteem and aggression allow to conclude that low or very high (inadequate) level of selfesteem is accompanied by aggression manifested by an individual in social contact situations. It means that low and high (inadequate) self-esteem reduces mental resilience to difficult situations, decreases efficiency of the actions and makes it difficult to an individual to adapt or cope in a difficult situation. Even a small obstacle or faint threat may, in people with low or high (inadequate) self-esteem, cause uncontrolled aggression. The functioning of a human being in difficult situations is also decided by other components of personality. M. Tyszkowa34 draws attention to mechanisms of control by comparing their effects to a control over a situation. A human being operates in situations in which the successes and failures they experience are treated as a consequence of the forces that are beyond the reach of personal control – we then talk about the external locus of control or the result of actions depends on their own behaviour and skills and then it is referred to as the internal locus of

33

Ibidem, pp. 169 – 172. M. Tyszkowa, Sytuacyjno-poznawcza koncepcja odporności psychicznej, „Przegląd Psychologiczny” 1978, nr 1, pp. 3 – 15. 34

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control35. And so, people tend to perceive most situations as such in which they see a big influence of uncontrolled factors on the results of their activities and thus perceive themselves as “not controlling the situation”. Others, however, tend to perceive situations as such in which the results of their activities depend on themselves and thus perceive themselves as “controlling the situation”. Control mechanisms determine “what changes human functioning is subjected to in cases of encountering a difficult situation”36. This means that subjective beliefs of a individual concerning their control over the surrounding world are an important variable regulating the course of process of coping in a difficult situation. The conviction of the possibility of influence (or its lack) on the course of events significantly modifies the efforts made by the individual to cope with the difficult situation and determines the ways to cope with it. Generally the locus of control is an important individual factor modifying human functioning in difficult situations determining the applied strategies to cope with problems. A sense of control over a situation and so the conviction that the situation depends on own activity of the subject (that something can be done to change it) is the foundation to continue the efforts to overcome difficulties and intensify exploratory activity in order to find a way out of the difficulty. This in turn increases the likelihood of achieving the desired result because it creates an opportunity to overcome difficulties37. As can be seen, people’s subjective belief in their control over a situation is governed by the course of the process of coping in a difficult situation affecting the undertaken coping strategies. On the other hand, the assessment of a situation as such to which people have no belief that they have some control over is associated with destructive form of coping in a difficult situation. Lack of belief in the possibility to influence life events that happen to an individual effectively makes it impossible to cope with difficulties and triggers aggression. The study carried out among others by K. Zajączkowski38, I. Pufal-Struzik39, M. Gacek40, 35 R. Drwal, Poczucie kontroli jako wymiar osobowości- podstawy teoretyczne, techniki badawcze i wyniki badań, „Materiały do Nauczania Psychologii” 1978, p. III, t. 3, pp. 307 – 345. 36 J. Reykowski, Funkcjonowanie osobowości w warunkach stresu psychologicznego, Warszawa 1966, p. 87. 37 G. Bishop, Psychologia zdrowia, Wrocław 2000; P. Kurtek, Regulacyjna rola poczucia kontroli w radzeniu sobie młodzieży z niepełnosprawnością intelektualną lekkiego stopnia w sytuacjach trudnych, „Przegląd Psychologiczny” 2005, nr 3, pp. 277 – 294. 38 K. Zajączkowski, Poczucie kontroli zachowania a skłonności agresywne nieletnich przestępców, „Roczniki Pedagogiki Specjalnej” 1992, nr 3, pp.146 – 155. 39 I. Pufal-Struzik, Niektóre cechy osobowości młodzieży agresywnej, „Psychologia Wychowawcza” 1997, nr 2, pp. 151 – 156. 40 M. Gacek, Niektóre osobowościowe determinanty odporności młodzieży akademickiej na stres psychologiczny-doniesienie z badań, „Annales Universitatis Mariae Curie-Skłodowska” 2000, Vol LV, Suppl. VII, No. 10, sectio D, pp. 43 – 46.


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N. Ogińska-Bulik41, T. Rostowska42, and D. Borecka-Biernat43 shows that conflictive relationships with other young people (e.g. animosity, malevolence, blaming) are the forms of behaviour coexisting most often with the sense of external control. Assessment of a situation as to which a young people are convinced that they have no control over is associated with an aggressive form of coping with problems. To sum up the previous considerations, we can conclude that the applied strategy of aggression in a social conflict situation largely depends on subjective variables shaped in the course of diverse experiences of an individual starting from early childhood.

2. Research problems The study sought to answer the following research questions: Is there and what is the relationship between the level of self-esteem and strategy of aggression of young people coping in a social conflict situation? Is there and what is the association between the locus of control and strategy of aggression of young people coping in a social conflict situation?

3. Research methods and research group The study made use of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES)44, the questionnaire to Study the Locus of Control (KBPK) created by G. Krasowicz and A. KurzypWojnarska45, and a proprietary questionnaire to study the coping strategy of youth in a social conflict situation (KSMK)46. Measurement. The M. Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (SES) gives the opportunity to calculate the level of general (global) self-esteem in both youth as also adults. SES consists of 10 diagnostic descriptive statements concerning own person by 41

N. Ogińska-Bulik, op.cit., pp. 93 – 103. T. Rostowska, op.cit., pp. 80 – 83. 43 D. Borecka-Biernat, op.cit., pp. 215 – 227. 44 M. Łaguna, K. Lachowicz-Tabaczek, I. Dzwonkowska, Skala samooceny SES Morrisa Rosenberga – polska adaptacja metody, „Psychologia Społeczna” 2007, nr 2, pp. 164 – 176. 45 G. Krasowicz, A. Kurzyp-Wojnarska, Kwestionariusz do badania poczucia kontroli (KBPK). Podręcznik, Warszawa 1990, p. 39. 46 D. Borecka-Biernat, Kwestionariusz strategii radzenia sobie młodzieży w sytuacji konfliktu społecznego, „Psychologia Wychowawcza” 2012, nr 1 – 2, pp. 86 – 118. 42

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means of which the subject makes a self-description of their “I”. The person under study gives answers on a four-degree scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree. The subject can obtain from 1 to 4 points for every answer. Final results range from 10 to 40 points. A high score in the Scale means a high level of general (global) self-esteem. The Polish version of the SES method is a reliable tool with proven construct validity. KBPK questionnaire is used to measure the variable of personality called the locus of control. It consists of 46 forced-choice questions, 36 of which are diagnostic items and the remaining 10 are buffer questions. Diagnostic questions on simple situations in the life of school youth make up two scales: the scale of successes (S) and the scale of failures (F). Questions about favourable events form the scale of successes (S) and questions about adverse events – the scale of failures (F). The sum of the results obtained in the scales of successes and failures creates an indicator of the generalized locus of control (S+F). High scores on the scales indicate a sense of internal control of the consequences of events. According to G. Krasowicz and A. Kurzyp-Wojnarska47, the authors of KBPK questionnaire, it satisfies the psychometric requirements. Proprietary KSMK questionnaire is intended to examine coping strategies in a social conflict situation undertaken by young people in adolescence. It consists of a description of 33 difficult social conflict situations. Each situation was given 4 behaviours expressing coping with a social conflict situation – the first refers to aggressive coping (A), the second to avoidance coping (A1), the third to submissive coping (S) and the fourth to task-oriented coping in a social conflict situation (T). The results are obtained for each scale separately by summing up the selected behaviours in 33 situations belonging to a given scale. Since the scales are composed of 33 items the persons under study may score from 0 to 33 points on each of them. The KSMK questionnaire is characterised by favourable psychometric parameters. The scale reliability coefficients determined by an integral consistency method (Cronbach’s alpha) are from alpha = 0.73 (for the scales “Aggression”, “Submission” and “Task”) to alpha = 0.694 (the “Avoidance” scale). The accuracy of the scales was tested in a number of ways, the convergent validity was confirmed, among other things, with respect to the results of A-R questionnaire by K. Ostrowska, Children’s Assertive Behaviour Scale – CABS by L. Michelson and R Wood adapted by M. Oleś and the adolescents’ conflict resolution style questionnaire by T. Honess et al. in the adaptation by B. Lachowska. The sten scale standards have been 47

G. Krasowicz, A. Kurzyp-Wojnarska, Kwestionariusz do badania poczucia kontroli (KBPK). Podręcznik, Warszawa 1990, pp. 16 – 27.


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developed based on a sample survey of 1,877 students, including 975 girls and 902 boys aged 13 – 15 from first, second and third class of junior high schools from all sixteen provinces in Poland. Sample survey of the individuals covered by the study. A group of 414 girls and 397 boys aged 13 – 15 have been covered by the study. In general the study covered 811 people. The subjects were the students of first, second and third class of junior high schools in Wrocław and the surrounding area. The nature of the study was a group study and it was carried out in schools.

4. Analysis of the results of the study In order to check the possible correlation between the level of general self-esteem and aggressive coping strategy in a social conflict situation the results in SES and KSMK questionnaires were correlated. The correlation coefficient (Pearson’s r) for the entire group and for groups separated by gender are presented in Table 1. Table 1. Correlation coefficients (Pearson’s r) between the results of the SES questionnaire and the “A” scale of the KSMK questionnaire for the entire group (N = 811) and for girls (N = 414) and boys (N = 397) “A” Scale of the KSMK questionnaire Questionnaire SES

Girls

Boys

Total

r = 0.06 n.s.

r = − 0.16 p

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