Please read Chapter 11 in the handbook. This is your choice based on your interests.
Summarize the chapter and in your writeup incorporate answers to the following questions:
Choose a theory/cause of violent behavior (genetic etc/socialization/cultural/psychological) and discuss how it relates to our understanding of rape.
How might the approach to reducing rape in our society differ if you are focusing on prevention as opposed to intervention strategies?
Are there elements of the chapter that relate to your area of expertise? If so, what are they and how do they further develop your understanding of your topic?
Chapter 11 focuses on the relationship between self-esteem, narcissism, and aggression. In the first section, they (the authors) summarize research that seems to suggest low self-esteem doesn't contribute to aggression, which seems to go against conventional wisdom. In the second section, the authors present several studies that were done that seem to suggest that high self-esteem and high levels of narcissism predict aggressive behavior. In fact, in these studies, they show that people with low self-esteem are usually the people who don’t act aggressively at all - even if they have high levels of narcissism. For the third section, Thomaes and Bushman discuss four different controversies regarding the research in this area. The first one is the idea that the relationship between self-views and aggression is in a U-shape (both high and low self-esteem lead to aggression). The two studies done on this theory don’t support it very well. The second controversy is the debate about the best way to measure aggressive behavior. The third controversy is another theory - this one is the “doughnut theory.” This theory differentiates between implicit (unconscious) and explicit (conscious) self-esteem. People with high explicit and low implicit self-esteem are said to be the most aggressive. The one study done on this theory supports it, so more needs to be done. The final controversy is about how aggression is defined. Some scientists define it as any behavior intended to harm someone who doesn’t want to be harmed, and some define it more broadly, including things like lying, stealing, vandalism, etc. There needs to be a definition that everyone can agree on. After discussing controversies, the authors briefly mention the clinical implications. Basically, the authors argue that prevention and intervention programs need to stop focusing on low self-esteem and try to correct kids’ very inflated self-esteems. They also mention a study using self-affirmation techniques that helped children behave less aggressively for a week (even the ones who scored high on narcissim). Finally, in the last section, they detail some things that need to be done in future research. There are three main things: first, there needs to be more knowledge on the developmental process and how this shapes both self-esteem and aggressive behaviors. Second, there needs to be studies done in cultures that are typically seen as collectivistic, where people don’t care as much about what others think of them as much as they care about what others think of the family or other relationships. This will help us see the differences and similarities between self-esteem and aggression, and if the links are present in both cultures. Lastly, the authors argue that studies involving self-compassion need to be done to see if it’s a trait that helps people be less aggressive.
I think that socialization can help us understand rape. First of all, the majority of rapists were either physically or sexually abused as children. This points to socialization. Also, many rapists report engaging in other less deviant sexual behavior such as viewing porn, voyeurism, and exhibition, among others. These are also things that point to socialization. Somewhere along the way, these kids were taught that it’s ok to do things to other people even if they don’t want them done. Also, a lot of rapists will use force if necessary and some will use force because they like to see others being hurt. The generally accepted explanation for this is that somewhere, the sadistic rapist (the one who likes to torture) learned to associate sexual pleasure with others’ pain. All this learning and associating doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Rapists pick up attitudes, beliefs, and actions from others that they watch on TV or in person, and they internalize these behaviors. If we’re going to try to prevent rape, we really need to teach children what good, healthy relationships look like. The teacher in my sex offenses class, Dr. Crew, did a study asking college kids where they got most of the sex information from. The top three answers for men? Peers, media, and porn. I’m not sure that these sources are teaching boys about normal sexual relationships. Parents and teachers really need to work together on this issue to make sure that boys (and girls, but rape is almost a completely male crime) know that what they see on TV is not real life. A lot of parents don’t talk to their kids about sex, and school kindof does, but it’s more focused on the technical aspect. We need to teach our children about the emotional aspect of sex, which oftentimes they have to try to figure out on their own. Porn and the media are NOT good teachers.
The chapter in general can relate to my topic, which I’ve narrowed from rapists to serial rapists. While there is a subset of rapists that are typically very socially awkward and have low self-esteem, the majority don’t have that problem. The majority DO see themselves very positively. This is true with serial rapists. They typically have high self-esteem, or at least, they profess to. They also act very aggressively in the rape. These are the rapists most people think of when they think of a rapist – the Ted Bundys, John Wayne Gacys, and so on. These rapists like to hurt their victims and it’s pretty common for them to murder them. I find the “doughnut theory” interesting, because I think it may explain some of these people. Ted Bundy, for instance, was abused as a child and was also teased in school. He seemed to have high self-esteem, but I think that unconsciously he may have still been that sad, scared kid. However, I don’t know how reliable a test is going to be for showing us what people believe about themselves unconsciously. It is difficult, if not impossible, to reach people’s unconscious. Besides, once you get there, how do you know you’re right? It’s all a guess. They don’t know - it’s unconscious for them. So while I like the chapter in general, because it does support some other things I’ve read over the years about serial rapists and their high self-esteem, I’m not sure that the theory I like the most is very useful.
Chapter eleven in our handbook talked about the role self-esteem and narcissism have on aggression. This is a very interesting topic as we have not covered it in class. It seems to be that self-esteem is a commonly overlooked factor when dealing with violent issues. When someone is violent, it seems as though the first thing on everyone's mind is that they must have been raised that way or had some psychological issue that caused them to be violent. However, what if the problem isn't as deep as that? What if the person commiting a violent act is just looking for an ego boost or for their fifteen seconds of fame? While the general public seems to have brushed off self-esteem as a cause for violence, Psychologists have been looking at this idea for years.
Our handbook points out that the idea of self-esteem causing aggressive behavior is not new to the world of Psychology in the least. There have even been studies done on this very topic with the results reaping mixed reviews. Our handbook, in particular, does not seem to find the findings of one study looking at self-esttem and aggression very appealing.
Our handbook leads us into a different, although slightly similar direction that they feel to be more probable. That is, the link between narcissim and aggression. It seems to be that there is a stronger link between narcissim and aggression than that of self-esteem and violence.
In terms of rape, there are many different reasons we can come up with to determine why someone raped another human being. It could be due to the culture they lived in, their socialization, or their biology. The one that I find most interesting, however, is the impact culture has on rape. I am currently taking a class called Gender in Cross-Cultural Perpective and we have actually examined a topic not too dissmilar from this. We have been looking at the roles women play in certain environments and how their contributions to their particular culture have an impact on how they are treated by their male counterparts. What we found is that different cultural beliefs (like how land and other belongings are passed down in families) lead to the way women are treated. While we here in America might see a culture like the Nuer as very violent due to how they treat their women (with rape and arranged marriage being something of a norm), they see it as perfectly normal. Also, nothing is being done about these practices due to how they are seen as "normal".
If we look at the culture in our own community, we can see something very similar. Men make more money, hold more positions of power than women, own more land and property, and are (even if we don't want to admit it...) are physically stronger than most women. While I do not want to stereotype, it is a sad fact that women are raped more than men are. This is because our culture has adopted a subliminal thinking that women are weaker than men. Some men, from what I have seen/heard, almost seem to get pleasure in feeling dominant over a woman.
However, we are lucky enough to live in a culture where we do not let this kind of behavior/activity go without punishment. While we have intervention programs (such as counseling and therapy for victims) we can still stand to have more prevention programs. Thankfully, we have seen small examples of these programs here at UNI. If you go into Lang Hall on the top floor, you see all these posters along the walls that have a man and a woman standing together. On these posters, you see phrases like, "When she said not to, we didn't" that help promote men to be strong and take a stand against rape. Even steps as small as these are nice and help tackle this horrendous issue. However, there is more that we can do.
I personally imagine prevention programs starting really early in schools...like late elementary, junior high age. Pretty much at the same time when we all had to go through that akward day where they guys were taken into one classroom and the girls taken into the other and we were taught about the wonders of the human body. Yeah...those were the days. By teaching both boys and girls about the dangers of rape and (especailly for women) what you can do to protect yourself if you fear things are starting to go too far, we can prevent a lot more rapes in the community. Teaching both boys and girls that EACH gender and sexual orientation is just as special and should be treated with respect will also help prevent rape.
Of course, intervention would look a lot different. I see intervention programs for rapists being a lot like sensitivity training for employees (or former employees) go through after they have been accused of sexual harassment. While there will be similar aspects to these intervention programs (like teaching how to respect the members of the opposite sex), these programs will be very different. There have even been people that have said rapists should be sterilized. Hopefully the world doesn't have to come to that, but who knows? Also, the people who rape will forever be on the sex offender registry and have to live in different areas and introduce themselves to their neighbors as a sex offender. This is an intervention because this will without a doubt keep people who could have been unsuspecting victims alert.
Intervention for women would also be different than prevention. Instead of focusing on how to protect themselves in case of a fear they will get raped, the focus will be on how to rebuild their lives in the unfortunate event that they have been raped. Rape devastates a woman's life. They may have flashbacks, they may sever relationships with other men due to a generalized fear of men, and they may have to deal with the fear of pregnancy, STD's/STI's...the list goes on and on. Intervention programs will target issues like these and help rape victims of either gender get back on their feet instead of focusing soley on how to protect yourself. Intervention programs may not have stopped rape from initially happening, but it may very well prevent it from happening again.
Rape fits in very nicely, I feel, with chapter eleven of our book. Men/women that rape are just like bullies. They are looking for a nice way to stroke their ego. In some cases, they may even have low self-esteem and feel that the only way they can get a girl/guy to fall in love with them or respect them is to force them into doing sexual acts. This sadly may make them feel stronger and more confident. However, by placing even more intervention and prevention programs into place, we can drastically reduce this black plague on human history.
Personally, I think chapter eleven does have a lot to do with my expert topic. In regards to bullying, some kids bully because they want to feel superior and are unsatisfied with their current lives. In order to build themselves up, they have to bring others down. While this is not the case for all bullies by any means, this is at least a partial explanation for why some students bully. They may get a high out of picking on a weaker child. For example, I was teased and bullied all the time when I was growing up for being short. Kids that I never even knew bullied me. Later on in my school career, I learned that they were only singling me out because they were unhappy with different aspects of their body. Maybe they thought they were too fat or too scrawny. Who knows? All I knew was that they chose to pick on me because I was an easy target. It is easy for bullies to pick on kids that are different than them. This gives them the boost they need to fule their ego.
With ideas like this in mind, we can get prevention and intervention programs in place that target this kind of bullying. We can show kids that there are other ways to boost your confidence and get a little nudge to your ego without attacking someone else.
Chapter 11 focuses on the relationship between narcissism, self-esteem, and aggression. In the first section, the authors discuss different perspectives on this topic that has come up in the past. One perspective is that low self-esteem causes aggression, known as the Low Self-Esteem Hypothesis. Scholars believed this view for a number of reasons including the well-established idea that unpleasant events increase aggression. Also, people generally want to have high self-esteem; therefore individuals with low self-esteem may become frustrated or angry and may behave aggressively to feel better about themselves. The Low Self-Esteem Hypothesis has been tested in research applying it to adults and children. Overall, recent research has found little support for the idea that low self-esteem increases or causes aggressive behaviors in adults or children.
The second section the authors discuss relates to the relationship between narcissism, high self-esteem, and aggressive behavior. The authors present multiple studies which, overall, suggest that narcissistic self-views may predispose individuals to engage in aggressive behaviors. These studies generally agree with the threatened egotism hypothesis stating that people who have big egos behave aggressively when other people threaten their sizable ego. One study found that narcissistic participants who acted aggressively against the person who insulted them showed the highest levels of aggression. Another study found that aggression levels were highest in overt narcissistic individuals who also had high levels of self-esteem. Overall, the most aggressive people were found to be those who had high levels of self-esteem and narcissistic traits.
The third section talked about four different controversies regarding research done on this topic. The first controversy is about whether or not the relationship between self-views and aggressive is U-shaped or linear. There has been little support for a U-shaped relationship (both high and low self-esteem may lead to aggressive behaviors). The second controversy is about what the best way to measure aggression is. The third controversy is over another theory related to this topic called the “doughnut theory”. This theory touches on the differences between explicit and implicit self-esteem. This theory suggests that people who experience high explicit self-esteem and low implicit self-esteem are remarkably aggressive. Overall, there is mixed evidence supporting this theory. The fourth controversy is over how we think about and define aggression. Some researchers define it as any behavior intended to harm another person who doesn’t want to be harmed while other researchers have developed a broader definition which incorporates behaviors such as lying, stealing, and other antisocial/delinquent behaviors. Future research will definitely benefit if researchers can all agree on a similar definition (although I’m sure that’ll never happen at least in the near future).
The next section discusses implications this type of research has on developing effective prevention and intervention strategies. The authors suggest these strategies should cover the broad spectrum of possible causes of aggressive behavior and also that they should begin early in child’s developmental years. According to the authors, most prevention and intervention strategies have focused on boosting children and adolescents’ self-esteem. The authors suggest, and research backs up, the idea that these strategies should instead focus on individuals with feelings of high to excessively high levels of self-esteem rather than low self-esteem.
The authors then conclude by discussing possible ideas for future research. First off, the authors suggest more research needs to be done on how the developmental process effects self-esteem and aggressive behaviors in children and adolescents. Research focusing on the developmental process could potentially help clinicians identify critical age periods during which children’s perceptions and feelings of self-esteem and aggressive behaviors may be most influenced. The authors also suggest that research on self-esteem and aggression needs to be done in countries who have more collectivistic cultures. Lastly, the authors suggest that research needs to be done on self-views that may decrease the tendencies for people to behave aggressively.
I think a theory focusing on socialization can help us understand rape. One point we talked about in class today was the majority of rapists experienced some form of abuse as children usually by the opposite-sex parent (example used of a mother in class). They could have witnessed/experienced other forms of violence within the household as well. This may lead potential rapists to develop a need to have power and dominance over women. People who have these types of feelings are not simply born with them; instead, they learn through being socialized in a culture that includes media which supports their feelings and beliefs. People witness, hear about, or partake in violence because they have somehow developed an idea that it’s okay do be aggressive towards other people, or that it makes them feel better about themselves if they use force on another individual because they enjoy inflicting that pain and suffering.
With focusing on prevention to reducing rape in our society, I think the necessary information needs to get out to children and young adults early in their lives—late elementary school or beginning of middle school. School systems and parents both need to take an active part in the process to ensure the information gets to the kids. Children, both girls and boys, need to be given information regarding what healthy relationships look like and how it’s not okay to act aggressively towards others for any reason. This information needs to be reiterated throughout elementary, middle, and high school obviously in different formats because a fifth grader isn’t going to show the same level of understanding as a high schooler. We talked about in class how prevention strategies should look into the question of how we can make people tip away from committing acts rape instead of having them tip into the situation. As for intervention strategies are definitely different than prevention strategies on this topic. Intervention for rapists might include things such as therapy or counseling which includes discussion on just how negatively their actions affect their victims, how and why they should respect members of both sexes, and maybe even help them better understand their negative feelings and possible ways to change and/or control these behaviors. It’s hard for me to believe that rapists and sexual predators can be “changed” or “cured”. I’m not sure if any amount of intervention for rapists could work.
The chapter relates somewhat to my topic of expertise (girl gangs). Some girl gang members perceive acts of aggression (e.g., fighting) as commonplace and necessary to survive in the live they are living. Although, it’s important to keep in mind that not all gangs are violent in nature. Most of my knowledge on gangs focuses on male gang members; therefore, I still have a lot more research to do on similarities and differences between female gangs and male gangs.
Chapter 11 is about narcissism, self-esteem, and aggression, and how all three connect with each other. The chapter started with the historical perspective, which entails how low self-esteem used to only be correlated with aggressive actions and behavior and high self-esteem was correlated with good behavior. However, the chapter later goes into more detail about the real associations of high and low self-esteem. Lower self-esteem, although it not being conducive to a person at all, is still much less likely to make a person engage in a higher aggressive manner than a person with normal self-esteem. On the other hand, those with an inflated self-esteem tend to be more likely to have characteristics of narcissism and actually display more aggressive behavior. Many studies were done to study self-esteem (some laboratory settings and others a more naturalistic approach), but there are still many different subcategories to place people with violence from high self-esteem. Also, there was a mention of low self-esteem and violence in relation to children only, which still had some confounding issues, but was nonetheless informative. The chapter even mentioned proposed ideas on how to lower aggression in narcissistic individuals (who often will not engage in aggressive behavior unless their ego is threatened).
When reading the chapter and relating its contents to the subject of rape, it seems the psychological theory would have some merit. Aggressiveness in an individual could be exacerbated by multiple things throughout life. Trauma, for example, was discussed in the chapter in the form of parental coldness. It can lead to undesirable behaviors in an individual, and if these behaviors are not fixed, it can lead to aggression toward others in adulthood. Another example of psychological problems related (also mentioned in class) to rape and aggression was the relationship between a male child and his mother. It seems as though those whose relationship with the opposite sex parent is inappropriate often leads to misconstrued and inapt thoughts towards women when grown. This sort of thought almost becomes ingrained into their everyday thought patterns (and in a way, normal). This sort of twisted relationship with (this case being gender-specific) women becomes about having power over another rather than about the sexual implications.
Trying to reduce rape by focusing on prevention strategies rather than by intervention is already in effect now, but not in an extremely profound way. People often see posters plastered all around warning, most often, women about how often rape occurs and many cities have information around on how to protect oneself. UNI even has a few posters targeting males, which would probably be more effective in the account of date rape or involving alcohol. Classes pertaining to what rape actually is and all the subcategories entailed in rape (such as marital rape or consensual sex with a minor) should be held, especially in high school and college settings so others will know more about rape in an educational sense. This could help males in making the wrong decision just by ignorance, and classes to inform others will help men and women protect themselves, just as one would use in intervention strategies. As mentioned in class, there are many gray areas included in rape which others will not know anything about, unless told. Also, having someone who is knowledgeable in this area discussing such an uncomfortable topic will be helpful just by educational value.
This chapter relates loosely to my area of expertise, in the fact that narcissism and more so aggression will often be related to cases of familial violence. The issue of self esteem could be integrated with both the victim and the perpetrator on each spectrum. I could possibly delve more into the theory of self-esteem and aggression. For example (as a hypothesis), it might be those who abuse their significant other will more likely have higher self-esteem issues and in turn, the victims of abuse will have significantly lowered self-esteem. There is much more information over this topic that can be discussed, along with how high self-esteem and aggression are not always together, and the controversies associated with self-esteem.
Chapter 11 is about aggression and its relation to self-esteem and aggression. Many previous views of aggression linked it to low self-esteem. This seems reasonable at first. If low self-esteem makes you feel bad then it might be linked to acting badly (being aggressive). It could be used to regulate the negative self-feelings one has. Also, aggression may have to do with rejecting social norms which some think people with low self-esteem often do. While all of this sounds believable, studies have shown that low self-esteem is not correlated with high aggression. In fact, low self-esteem has been shown to eliminate aggressive behavior in studies concerning self-esteem and narcissism. People in these studies with high levels of narcissism and self-esteem were found most aggressive.
Another thing studied was the doughnut theory. This theory says that even though aggressive people have high self-views and tend to be narcissistic, they also have underlying feelings of inadequacy. This seems to go against the findings about self-esteem but the theory says we have explicit and implicit self-esteem. Aggressive people may be those with high explicit self-esteem and low implicit self-esteem. This person may act as though they have very high self-esteem when in reality they have feelings of inadequacy which can make them act aggressively toward threats to their adequacy. I find this theory very interesting and although just a theory it could be very helpful in determining why someone is aggressive.
There are programs designed to reduce or prevent aggression in children. However, these programs focus on building self-esteem. These programs are thought to help children avoid acting out aggressively as a result of their pain. These programs are obviously not the direction to take in prevention and intervention. Programs should focus on narcissism and inflated self-views. This can be done by helping children realize their strengths AND weaknesses. They should also focus on promotion of truthfulness. Finally, the programs should teach children to be accepting of criticism and to not become defensive.
The root of these self-views that cause aggression have been linked by many to socialization factors. A parenting style that has been thought to lead to narcissism is overvaluation. Excessive praise, putting extreme importance on achievement, and basing ever day things on performance are all aspects of this style of parenting. Another possible cause of narcissism could come from parental rejection and coldness toward the child. With this, the child may try to seek constant attention.
One act that is highly aggressive is rape. Why might people do this? With my expert topic being family influence/socialization, I would argue that at least part of the reason is socialization. It is possible that parenting style has an effect on rapists that lead to a component of the cause of their actions. The parenting explanations I have already given may lead to aggression which is a component of a rapist. I previously read that aggression can continue through generations and this is undoubtedly partly due to the aggressive socialization of the child by the parent(s). Behavior modeling is very important when looking at trans-generational aggression. Narcissism should also be looked at when talking about rapists since narcissism and high self-esteem have been linked to aggression and aggression is a part of rape. Narcissism is one of the big 7 personality traits. Personality has been found to be about half due to genetics and half due to environment. Therefore, narcissism is at least somewhat an aspect of socialization as social interactions are included in environment. As far as specifically linking narcissism to rape, narcissists may feel a sense of entitlement or like they need to have power over their situations and may use rape as a way of showing they get whatever they want and that they do have power.
Chapter 11 was about how narcissism and low or high self esteem are related to aggression and violent behavior. Although it does not appear to directly relate to our class topic of rape, it is important to connect this chapter to the topic of rape. This is because, as discussed in class, rape is about power over another person. It is an extremely aggressive behavior, which is possibly caused or related to some of the theories discussed in this chapter.
One theoretical or possible cause for violent behavior is how an individual is socialized, particularly within the family as a child. Often times, those who commit violent or aggressive acts against others were abused in some way themselves, typically as a child. As discussed in class, a good portion of rapists are men who were abused by their mothers as children. I think it is possible that their violent acts as adults (such as raping) are a power struggle. The perpetrator was abused by a woman, so he seeks to gain power and control over a woman, which is symbolic to gaining power and control over the abuse in his life.
Another possible explanation for rape is cultural and societal influences. Most rape is done by a non-stranger. Also, rape can include just pressuring someone into having sex. Rape does not have to be violent, but it is always traumatizing to the victim. There are several social contexts in which an individual would not consider his acts as rape. For example, a couple is married for a long time, and they rarely engage in sex anymore. The husband begins to coerce his wife into having sex with him on a nightly basis by telling her that she would have sex with him if she loved him. He tries nightly to romance her with flowers and candles, so she gives in and has sex with him. She thinks she should because he is trying so hard. Although the husband is not being aggressive or violent, he is still committing a legal act of rape. He is coercing someone who originally said "no" to sex into having sex. Very traditional societal gender roles would say that a woman should have sex with her husband and make him happy, because he is the family's provider and protector.
Another way that culture could be connected to rape is the Western culture idea of casual, consensual sex. This is especially a problem in college areas where drinking is present. Drinking and "hooking up" is a huge problem in college areas. Casual sex becomes such a norm, especially in the culture of college campuses. According to UNI's rape policy, a person cannot give consent to sex if he or she is under the influence of any substance. This would include being drunk. In this case, what seems to be casual, consensual sex between two adults becomes an instance of rape. Because these ideas of casual sex are so often reinforced through our culture, we become desensitized to the idea that it can be rape in certain situations.
When focusing on rape prevention, it is most important to understand that most rape is not committed by a stranger jumping out of the bushes. Most rape is committed by someone who knows the victim. This can include boyfriends, friends, acquaintances, husbands, and so forth. I think the most important prevention strategy is to inform people of what is legally considered rape. Many situations of coercion or pressure to have sex do not seem like they would be rape. However, pressuring and coercing someone into sex is still considered rape. It is also important that people stay informed about the fact that most rape is committed by someone the victim knows. Another good approach to prevention would be to implement these ideas into relationships of all kinds. Understanding that both partners may not always want to have sex, even though they may be dating or married, and understanding that pressuring a partner is rape may help prevent rape amongst couples, especially spousal rape.
Part of prevention is also understanding what causes rape. The textbook makes an attempt to connect self esteem and narcissism to aggressive behaviors. We linked this chapter to rape by understanding that rape is an aggressive behavior that is often about power and control over another individual. If we can understand what causes rape, we can target high-risk individuals at a young age to keep them informed about the harm that rape will do to people. With intervention strategies, it is often too late to determine and try to prevent any causes of rape from occurring. Intervention strategies are more about removing a victim from the situation, and then trying to repair damage done to the victim.
Although related indirectly, my expert area of self harm could relate to rape in certain situations. First, a victim who engages in self harm behavior is often weak. Rapists often target weak victims that they can easily control. Being a weak person who engages in self harm does not exactly make a person a "guaranteed" victim of rape, but rather a more-likely target for a perpetrator. This could be especially dangerous if the perpetrator knows how weak their victim is, and preys upon that weakness by using coercion and force to obtain power and sex. Another way that self harm may relate to rape is that it could be a result of depression, self worth, or other mental health issues due to being a victim of rape. Thinking back to Tamela from the assigned Intervention episode who was a cutter, she was molested as a child. This molestation and the lack of its treatment is what she identified as the ultimate cause for her mental health issues and self harm behaviors.
Relating self harm to rape helps me better understand both victims of rape and those who self harm. It seems that self harm can be co-morbid with several other problems and issues in a person's life. This could involve rape, molestation, physical abuse, emotional abuse, or bullying in schools. Nearly any type of violence discussed in this class could possibly lead to mental health issues, and eventually self harm behaviors. Understanding this helps me better understand what is going on inside the lives of some people who self harm.
The book discusses how the concept of self esteem and narcissism relate to violence. This chapter included many studies and research done on how violence can/cannot be connected to each concept resulting in mixed findings. At one time, it was thought that low self esteem directly correlated to violence, but recent research is suggesting that there is little support for this. Instead, research is looking at how inflated views of one’s self may actually be more directly related to violence.
I particularly found the section on narcissism very interesting. Studies are looking into when someone’s ego is threatened and what violence patterns occur because of this threat. Narcissistic individuals have a grandiose view of themselves and feel superior to others. It is important to note that even with this view of themselves, it does not mean that they have high self esteem. The inflated sense of themselves they have could be ingrained in them because of past situational or environmental or psychological factors where they are now using their inflated ego as a defense mechanism. Studies are showing that when that ego is threatened, aggression is more likely to occur. Research also shows that the most aggressive people are those with high levels of narcissism and self esteem who are put in a situation where they are humiliated or shamed.
Fitting these ideas into the issue of rape is fairly simple. If someone views him/herself as a person who can easily get someone into bed, get others to do what he/she wants, or feels the need to have power over others and then these ideas/needs are threatened by the other’s reaction or behavior, he/she may become aggressive and rape the person in order to prove their power/ability/etc. For example, if a narcissistic man attempts to flirt or get attention from a woman and the woman completely rejects or humiliates him, he may be more likely to become aggressive in the form of rape (or another violent act).
The concept of self image and aggression does relate to my area of study in some ways. Children and adolescents can often put up a “front” for others to impress or to show how confident they are when really they may not be. If someone was to threaten that image, children are more likely to become violent due to their self control not being as mature as adults. Children may feel as though they need to prove themselves to others by fighting, bullying, or joining in aggressive behavior, and will do whatever necessary to prove this to be accepted by others.
Chapter 11 discussed the relationship between aggression, self-esteem, and narcissism. The chapter focused around the long-standing belief that low self-esteem leads to aggressive behavior. The authors presented their ideas and research that contradict this thought. The authors stated that this belief rooted itself in history because it was thought that low self-esteem equates with bad characteristics, thus aggression, and high self-esteem equates with good characteristics such as no aggression. Research is now uncovering the opposite findings in that individuals with high self-esteem can develop an inflated self-esteem. An inflated self-esteem many times is present in those with high narcissism. The feelings of entitlement, grandious, and the belief of being better and more able than others are all characteristics of a narcissistic person. Recent research has found that narcissistic individuals are actually more aggressive than those with low self-esteem, especially when their ego is threatened.
This chapter can be related to the subject of rape. Many rapists feel they are superior to women and feel entitlement. Many have a narcissistic personality. I thought the U-shaped theory was interesting and useful. It contends that aggression related to self-esteem takes a U shape; low self-esteem can cause aggression and high self-esteem can cause aggression. It is optimal when an individual is in the middle of this spectrum. When looking at the four typologies of rapists, this U-shape theory can be useful in explaining self-esteem on a continuum. The four types of rapists are anger-retaliation, power assertive, sadistic, and power reassurance. This chapter suggests high self-esteem instead of low self-esteem leads to aggression, but when considering the four typologies and the U-shape theory, one can see it is possible that both play a large role. The one I would specifically like to mention is the power reassurance rapist. This type of rapists suffers from severely low self-esteem. They feel severe inadequacy in all areas of their live, so they are looking for some form of control and reassurance. In class, it was mentioned that inadequacy and low self-esteem are two different things, but in the case of a power reassurance rapist, I think they play hand-in-hand. The power reassurance rapists is an example of aggression from low self-esteem and the other three rapist typologies exemplify individuals with inflated self-esteem and narcissism, specifically the power assertive rapist. This chapter goes against the idea that low self-esteem leads to aggression, but I feel it is important to consider both ends of the spectrum when it comes to self-esteem and aggression.
The above discussion of self-esteem and narcissism relates to a psychological theory of aggression. Narcissism is a personality trait, which does relate to my expert topic of personality characteristics and how they play a role in aggression and violence. Those with displaying narcissistic traits have gradious feelings about themselves and their abilities. This can lead to violence if someone challenges their ego or if they feel their life and feelings should be more highly regarded than others.
This chapter does discuss prevention regarding the inflated self-esteem. They propose that instead of targeting low self-esteem issues, more problems would be prevented by targeting high self-esteem. Examples of programs that include equality, respect for the opposite sex, relaxation, among other programs. If those individuals with risk of inflated self-esteem are identified and prevention takes place, this chapter suggests aggression will decrease. This would also play a role in reducing rape. Prevention must begin early in childhood and continue as human development takes course. Relating rape, prevention, and self-esteem, I think it is important to start educating children at a young age in order to get to that 'optimal' level of self-esteem. If a child grows up learning how to understand themselves and understand others, they will have better social well-being and hopefully a healthy level of self-esteem.
The theory that low self-esteem causes aggressive behavior has been around for a long time. Today's view of that statement goes into it much deeper than just the simple claim it states. People who have low self-esteem want to find any way possible to hide it, and an effective way to disguise low self-esteem is to act violently or aggressive toward others. Aggressive behavior sends off the signal to others that you feel powerful and think highly of yourself. When in reality it is the opposite most of the time. It is understood that unpleasant events that make people feel bad cause them to act aggressively. Unpleasant events also cause low self-esteem, so it makes since to hypothesize that low self-esteem causes aggressive behavior right? People with low self-esteem want to feel better about themselves, and inflicting harm on somebody vulnerable that you know you can be victorious against is a great way to feel dominant. And we all know dominance makes us feel GREAT! This situation and feeling leads right into "rape" situations.
Roy Baumeister had a different view from this theory. He and some of his assistants came to the conclusion that self-view had more of a chance at increasing aggression than low self-esteem did. People who think too high about themselves tend to be more aggressive because they feel they are superior to the others around them and can get away with treating them any kind of way. Where as someone who think normal or feels they are worthless are least likely to be aggressive because they feel so inferior.
Low self-esteem is believed to start in young children, which would carry on into young adult hood. As children grow older they'll realize that acting aggressive toward their peers will help them hide their insecurities and low self-esteem well and they will continue to act this way as long as it is working for them. It is rare that a person will develop low self-esteem in adulthood, because by now most people have developed an identity that they are comfortable with and have accepted. Children on the other hand are seeking an identity and are more vulnerable to be hurt by minor things, especially minor things that come from people close to them.
Rapist are usually people who have low self-esteem and are in serious need of feeling dominant. A lot of male rapist were abused as a child by their mother or female care giver. This causes them to grow up as a child with low self-esteem and insecurities which will lead them to do anything they can to feel superior over females. Low self-esteem has a high correlation with rape. Rape is rarely ever about sex (as I thought when I was growing up), but almost always about feeling dominant and powerful.
Rape prevention strategies could include pointing out and finding kids (k-12) who were abused or mistreated at a young age (typically by their mother) and helping them find self-esteem and understand that they don't need to seek dominance, because all they will be doing is inflicting the pain they felt on someone else and causing a chain reaction (possibly). Rape intervention could include helping rape victims understand that it wasn't anything they did that cause their attacker to rape them or when talking to a rapist and helping them overcome their insecurities and realize they don't need to take their anger out on an innocent bystander. Intervention with a rapist may be frowned upon because people of today's society will believe they just deserve to be punished and take whatever punishment they're giving not seeing the big picture of counseling a rapist (to prevent future rapist from arising).
This chapter relates perfect with my topic of expertise because my topic is dealing with "the mind of a rapist" and why they rape. This chapter touches rape and hits heavy on low self-esteem and aggression. Low self-esteem is a big issue with rapist and aggression is the outcome of them dealing with/hiding their insecurities.
The main focus of chapter 11 involved how narcissism and self-esteem lead to aggression. One of the most common beliefs is that aggressive individuals tend to have lower self-esteem. The authors presented research on what they called the “Low Self-Esteem Hypothesis”. Research in this area however, has produced mixed results. Some studies do find correlations between low self-esteem and aggression, while others find the complete opposite. I also noticed a few potential confounds in this type of research. The authors point out that research involving adult participants have used undergraduate students in these studies. Clearly, this is not a representative of the country as a whole. Therefore, the findings of some of these studies are not generalizable to the population. The authors also point out that the majority of the studies looking at the “Low Self-esteem Hypothesis” have either yielded no correlations or small positive correlations between self-esteem and aggression. Another confound are the methodology used in this research. For example, most of these studies involve using self-report measures. It should come as no surprise that many individuals aren’t keen on admitting they engage in activities that are not socially desirable, particularly aggression. They may underreport some of these behaviors while others may even exaggerate or over-report such behavior. These studies also do not take social and contextual factors into account. All of these issues are also present for research looking at children and aggression.
The authors were clearly not fans of the “Low Self-esteem Hypothesis”. Instead, they offered support to the influence of narcissism on aggressive behavior. Instead of behaving aggressively due to a low self-esteem, individuals behave aggressively because they feel their ego is being threatened (i.e. threatened egotism). The authors claim that there is countless research that supports this theory/hypothesis that has been replicated across a variety of research methodology including self-report questionnaires, lab settings, and field settings. They also differentiate between what they call covert narcissism and overt narcissism. Covert narcissists, according to the authors, have a low self-esteem. This did not make sense to me whatsoever. First the authors make an argument against the low self-esteem hypothesis, then they say that low self-esteem in narcissists cause them to behave aggressively. I couldn’t disagree more with their argument. When they present research that allegedly supports their views, they fail to describe how they measured narcissism to begin with (study on p. 208). Anyway, moving on…the authors conclude that the link between narcissism and aggression are independent of demographic characteristics such as age, gender, and type of aggression.
The authors conclude the chapter by describing some controversies, or limitations of the research presented (e.g. lack of research looking at self views and aggression from a curvilinear perspective, lack of uniformity in the operationalization of aggression, the “doughnut theory”, and how to measure aggression) as well as clinical implications of this research.
In terms of our understanding of rape, I feel the best approach to understanding would be to take on a socialization perspective. Although the chapter discussed low self-esteem and narcissism as direct links to aggression, there are a number of societal/environmental factors that could have an effect on both of these. For instance, poverty and lack of education breeds low self-esteem, which can lead to feelings of frustration, which can lead to aggressive acts. Growing up in an abusive home and witnessing domestic violence can also lead someone to become aggressive. They never learn healthy coping mechanisms and instead learn that being abusive is a useful means to obtain desired goals. The media also plays a huge role, particularly in the perpetuation of rape myths. Examples of rape myths include: “She was wearing sexy clothing and is flirtatious, therefore she had it coming” or “It’s her fault for being out so late at night”, etc. There is countless research documenting aggression and pornography. Those who watch certain forms of pornography, such as the dominatrix or sadomasochistic type, display higher levels of aggression, particularly toward women, and show higher levels of support of rape myths. All of these issues can very easily explain rape.
In terms of prevention and intervention, I think that both should target both men and women. As we discussed in class last week, one of the problems with both intervention and prevention programs of domestic violence is that they target the victim (usually women). We came to the consensus that doing so does not fix the issue. Therefore, it is paramount that prevention and intervention programs focusing on rape should target both sexes. The reality is however, that both programs target women only. Prevention programs usually focus on self-defense while intervention programs focus on recovery (both physical and psychological) and increasing awareness.
I don’t think this chapter ties in all too well with my topic (genocide). I guess the idea of narcissism and aggression would to a certain extent. The groups who are either trying to take control, or already have control over a weaker group, do display some level of narcissism. For instance Hitler and his Nazi followers believed or at least claimed to be a superior race. I think the topic of rape ties in much better with genocide. It is used as a form of control over the weaker group.
Chapter 11 evaluates the the relationship between self esteem and aggresion, focusing a significant amount on the role of narcissism. The controversies discuss the link between self-views and aggression. This includes the perception of self esteem and the perceived levels of aggressive tendencies. The chapter identifies the assumptions that low self esteem leads to an increase in violent behaviors. The research indicates that "unpleasant events, which make people feel bad, increase aggression." While this notion may be true in some situations, it should not be generalized that unpleasant events will inevitably lead to aggressive behaivors. The chapter also indicates that "aggression is viewed as a strategy to regulate the pain and distress associated with one's negative self-feelings." Another view relating aggression and self-esteem is that individuals with low self-esteem often reject societal norms, which include restricting aggressive behavior. I believe this notion is applicable in gaining more understanding of the link between aggression and rape. Individuals exhibiting low self-esteem who tend to reject societal norms, would be inevitably more likely to engage in violent behaivor. When individuals lack the insight and regulation regarding societal norms, they become more suseptible and prone to violent behaviors. The other concept reviewed in this chapter is the role of high levels of self-esteem and the relation to aggressive behaivors. One study indicated that inflated self-views increase aggression, especially when people suffer a blow to their ego. In relation to rape, I feel that this concept is also very applicable. If an individual is denied or rejected by another in relation to sexual activity when applying this concept it is clear that individuals who may struggle to manage their aggressive tendencies would be more likely to engage in this type of violent behavior. This concept can be applied to individuals with narcissistic traits and tendencies. If the exaggeration of "self love" is threatened by another individual it would appear that the narcissistic tendency would be to retaliate in an aggressive manner. In many situations this would be very applicable when assessing rape as a form of violent behavior.
I feel this chapter supports a psychological theoretical perspective to gaining a better understanding of rape. The chapter provides insight on the tendencies to commit this type of violent act as well as providing the reader with more insight regarding the vulnerability of perpetrators. The information provided in this chapter is very beneficial in understanding more appropriate and effective ways to develop intervention programs to address rape. For our society to utilize this information to focus on more prevention strategies to reduce rape as opposed to intervention strategies I believe it indicates the importance of analyzing the psychological aspect of rape. In my opinion, the most effective way to reduce rape would be to provide more appropriate intervention strategies to individuals who are struggling significantly with managing their own emotions and who are lacking the ability to stabilize their self-esteem.
Chapter eleven in our handbook discusses the role that self-esteem and narcissism have on aggression. When you think of aggression, you the think of frustrated people expressing their anger. Contrary to that belief, chapter eleven discusses how people with low self esteem really don’t contribute to aggression. The chapter also shows studies that are done to demonstrate how people with high aggression usually have a high self esteem. These studies show that people with low self-esteem are not really that aggressive at all.
A theory or violent cause of behavior that would relate to the understanding would definitely be the psychological cause of behavior. Behind every rape, there is a reasoning as to why the perpetrator committed the crime, and how the victim is expected to feel after it. A reason why someone would commit such as crime as rape could be explained by some recent trauma or a past event that triggered them into committing the crime. Trauma was explained in the chapter as the result of cold parenting. Another reasoning for rape would be societal influences. Rape is shown to be a sign of dominance. If a man, (or woman, though rare) was trying to rape someone, they could be doing so because of the dominant instinct. The dominance could be from trying to impress their peers, which would be dependant upon the culture. College is common for rape, especially when alcohol or drugs are involved.
When focusing on prevention, rather than intervention strategies, it is important to remember that rape can be done by anyone, but is usually done by someone we know. I believe that people are more likely to come out if they don’t know the person, rather than knowing them. If we focus on teaching people how to watch for warning signs such as aggression, or changes in behavior of someone they know then we might be able to prevent it. Also, understanding why rape happens could also prevent it. If we can understand the narcissistic and aggressive behaviors behind rape, then maybe we can prevent it.
When relating rape and aggression to elder abuse, it is possible, but pretty rare. Usually rape occurs for the younger generation, the ones who are more able. When you do turn on the news, you usually don’t hear about rape against older adults, but you do hear about abuse. In a hypothetical situation, someone in a nursing home who has a high-self esteem may be the person that relates to the elders the easiest, or who is around them more. These people may be seen as the better employee because of the way they interact with the residents. But, because people with high self-esteem are shown to have more aggression, then they would be more likely to commit aggressive acts such as rape.
Chapter 11
This chapter discussed the link between self-view/self-esteem and aggressive behavior. During the first part of the chapter the authors talk about how peoples ideas on low self-esteem correlating to high aggression is not true. They talk about how self-report measures do not support that hypothesis. In the next part of the textbook, they talk about a few studies that look at the effects of high self-esteem and high narcissism and how it relates to high aggression in adults. The authors go on to talk about four different theories of aggression and self-esteem in the rest of the chapter. They talked about research that supports the “u-shaped” theory of aggression and how it relates to aggression, that individuals with high and low self-esteem are likely to have higher aggression than people with moderate self-esteem. The second thing that looked at was the best way to measure aggression. Aggression is not something that you can just pinpoint about a person; many people have aggressive tendencies that people don’t even know about because they don’t ever express their aggression towards others. The third thing that the authors looked at was the type of self-esteem that people have, conscious or unconscious self-esteem and how it relates to aggressive tendencies. The last thing they looked at was the way that aggression is defined, like I was saying before aggression is not a “black and white” kind of emotion/behavior, it comes in many forms which makes it difficult to study and measure. What one person might think is an aggressive behavior may be completely different from what you think is an aggressive behavior, such as swearing or harming an animal. People are socialized to think of some behavior as acceptable and unacceptable.
Choose a theory/cause of violent behavior and discuss how it relates to our understanding of rape.
In relation to this chapter, psychological factors contribute to the understanding of rape. As most psychologist and criminologist know, rape is a violent act in relation to power and dominance, not sex. Most rapists, rape victims for a sense of authority and power of their victims and they express that power through sexually channeled behaviors. So I think that these self-esteem models discussed can help to understand rape. I think the idea of the “U-Shaped” model could be useful to understand rapists. Many rapists come from poor socialization and families so their psychological wellbeing is often times not healthy and distorted by learned behaviors. If they themselves were abused as children so their self-esteems are often low, or as children they abused others so their self-esteems are often high from previous domination. I think the psychological factor of esteem how it relates to aggression can be related to the understanding of rape.
How might the approach to reducing rape in our society differ in you are focusing on prevention as opposed to intervention strategies?
Prevention needs to begin to with the perpetrator, not the victim. I think that’s the most important part of changing the rate of victimization. In society we are so focused on helping the victim, which is obviously important, but we also need to focus on targeting the rapists before they rape.
Are there elements of the chapter that relate to your area of expertise? Yes. If so, what are they and how do they further develop your understanding of your topic? My expert topic is date rape, which is a component of rape. The different theories on aggression and self-esteem can be related to date rape as well as rape. Like I said earlier in my blog, psychological factors in combination with socialization and other factors contribute to the mindset of a rapist, even among adolescents. They are not as developed however, so they are most like to participate in violent offenses, like date rape, because they do not cognitively think through the decisions that they make. Their mind frames of being “17 and invincible” drives their self-esteem higher and can contribute to their thinking about being able to rape someone and get away with it. Also, with higher self-esteem they demand more power and dominance, which may be a factor in their participation in date rape in order to gain that power and control because many of them still live in their parents households and do not have power at
Chapter 11
This chapter discussed the link between self-view/self-esteem and aggressive behavior. During the first part of the chapter the authors talk about how peoples ideas on low self-esteem correlating to high aggression is not true. They talk about how self-report measures do not support that hypothesis. In the next part of the textbook, they talk about a few studies that look at the effects of high self-esteem and high narcissism and how it relates to high aggression in adults. The authors go on to talk about four different theories of aggression and self-esteem in the rest of the chapter. They talked about research that supports the “u-shaped” theory of aggression and how it relates to aggression, that individuals with high and low self-esteem are likely to have higher aggression than people with moderate self-esteem. The second thing that looked at was the best way to measure aggression. Aggression is not something that you can just pinpoint about a person; many people have aggressive tendencies that people don’t even know about because they don’t ever express their aggression towards others. The third thing that the authors looked at was the type of self-esteem that people have, conscious or unconscious self-esteem and how it relates to aggressive tendencies. The last thing they looked at was the way that aggression is defined, like I was saying before aggression is not a “black and white” kind of emotion/behavior, it comes in many forms which makes it difficult to study and measure. What one person might think is an aggressive behavior may be completely different from what you think is an aggressive behavior, such as swearing or harming an animal. People are socialized to think of some behavior as acceptable and unacceptable.
Choose a theory/cause of violent behavior and discuss how it relates to our understanding of rape.
In relation to this chapter, psychological factors contribute to the understanding of rape. As most psychologist and criminologist know, rape is a violent act in relation to power and dominance, not sex. Most rapists, rape victims for a sense of authority and power of their victims and they express that power through sexually channeled behaviors. So I think that these self-esteem models discussed can help to understand rape. I think the idea of the “U-Shaped” model could be useful to understand rapists. Many rapists come from poor socialization and families so their psychological wellbeing is often times not healthy and distorted by learned behaviors. If they themselves were abused as children so their self-esteems are often low, or as children they abused others so their self-esteems are often high from previous domination. I think the psychological factor of esteem how it relates to aggression can be related to the understanding of rape.
How might the approach to reducing rape in our society differ in you are focusing on prevention as opposed to intervention strategies?
Prevention needs to begin to with the perpetrator, not the victim. I think that’s the most important part of changing the rate of victimization. In society we are so focused on helping the victim, which is obviously important, but we also need to focus on targeting the rapists before they rape.
Are there elements of the chapter that relate to your area of expertise? Yes. If so, what are they and how do they further develop your understanding of your topic? My expert topic is date rape, which is a component of rape. The different theories on aggression and self-esteem can be related to date rape as well as rape. Like I said earlier in my blog, psychological factors in combination with socialization and other factors contribute to the mindset of a rapist, even among adolescents. They are not as developed however, so they are most like to participate in violent offenses, like date rape, because they do not cognitively think through the decisions that they make. Their mind frames of being “17 and invincible” drives their self-esteem higher and can contribute to their thinking about being able to rape someone and get away with it. Also, with higher self-esteem they demand more power and dominance, which may be a factor in their participation in date rape in order to gain that power and control because many of them still live in their parents households and do not have power at home.
Chapter 11 was an interesting one that focused on the relationship between self-esteem, narcissism, and aggression. For many years it has been theorized that people with low self-esteem are the people who are the most aggressive. It seems pretty common sense that this would be true. The theory argues that since low self-esteem causes frustration, self-doubt, and overall negative feelings it leads to and causes aggression. The authors of the chapter make a case that research has shown that this theory is incorrect and unsupported. The research that has been conducted has actually shown that high-self esteem, not low self-esteem, corresponds with the more aggressive individuals. They also theorized that people with narcissistic personalities would be more aggressive than those without narcissistic personalities. Studies conducted with this hypothesis also showed to support it. When looking at the relationship that both self-esteem and narcissism play on aggression, results showed that even if the person was narcissistic, if they had low self-esteem, they were not likely to be aggressive. If they had both narcissism and high self-esteem, they tended to be extremely more aggressive, especially when embarrassed or confronted.
One criticism that researchers were presented with was the fact that their studies were conducted in controlled, structured environments, therefore they were not representative of real-life situations. To fix this, researchers observed real-life classrooms to discover if the same results were present in uncontrolled situations. When peers evaluated each other’s work and gave them negative feedback, those with high self-esteem and narcissism showed more aggression towards those peers than those with low self-esteem and narcissism or no narcissism at all. This supported the results achieved in the laboratory setting.
This chapter is a good one to be applied to the concept of rape. From a psychological view, rape is not seen as a sexual crime but one of control. If a man, especially one who is narcissistic and has high self-esteem, is confronted and his abilities are challenged, this would result in him getting angry and feeling as if he needed to control his victim. Many times this type of situation could lead to rape, especially if the ability confronted is a sexual one. Along with psychological theory, if the person has a mental disorder, they could be easily set off. Some disorders are seen to be more violent in nature. Personality disorders, such as narcissism, cause the person to have skewed perceptions of reality. If they have a perception about themselves and are proved wrong, this could create a misbalance within them. Control is something that people use to try to reestablish those balances. One type of thinking that might attribute to rape is the “I’ll show you” mentality. If they think they are all that and maybe are embarrassed by the person laughing at them, they will get angry and quite possibly try to “show them” how much they really should be laughing. The psychological theory of violence is a great one to understand the motivations behind rape.
Prevention and intervention are very different things. One occurs before the event happens, and one is targeted after it happens or during the event. Reducing rape as a prevention method is something that we really need to focus on and develop accurate techniques for. I think an important prevention method is discussing the prevalence and problems of rape at an earlier age. It is hard to determine what ages we should discuss this sensitive material, but it is important to start before it may happen. Prevention techniques should contain information about the demographics of rape, the prevalence of rape, warning signs of situations that may result in rape, ways to avoid these situations, and I personally think that there should be role playing situations that help people gain confidence in saying no and learning the best strategies to escape harmful situations. When beginning at UNI, we had to watch the rape program online and take quizzes over it. I think that it was very helpful in teaching us the techniques to say no and how to make sure we have a safe way out. I also think it helped to develop warning signs or “red flags” of individuals that could become aggressive. I do think that it should be mandatory at all colleges and it should be given in high school too. Another important prevention strategy is to make sure that people know the places they can go if they feel they are in relationships that are dangerous or unsafe. I think that many people get into those relationships and situations because they do not feel they can get out or have anyone to talk to.
Intervention strategies are very different. They are also important, but would be wonderful if they were not necessary. Intervention strategies consist of help for victims of rape and sexual abuse. They teach women how to restart their lives and deal with these problems. They provide resources for women, and probably some for men, who may feel that they cannot tell anyone or are alone. There are many centers for women who have been sexually abused. They provide them with care and many times therapy. There are programs that help women become independent and even help if they have kids. I think they pretty much have programs to assist those who are victims in any area they need.
I believe that this chapter does relate to my topic. One of the theories they discussed was the “doughnut” theory. This is where the person may exhibit high self-esteem consciously, but really has low self-esteem, unconsciously. This may lead to the most aggressive personality. My topic is the addiction of lying, or pathological lying. There are many names for my topic. One area I was exploring discussed how individuals create a false self because they live in a family that has high status and they feel they have to live up to it. This also may occur if they have certain friends, bosses, go to certain schools, etc., that they have to act differently than they truly are. The families usually have some underlying problem, such as alcoholism, that they try to cover up. The individuals typically express this false self so much that they believe it themselves. They typically exhibit high self-esteem and even narcissism, while they really are very insecure and have low self-esteem. If you try to confront a person who consistently lies and has this “false self”, it most often leads to aggression. This aggression is because they are confronted that they may truly not be as strong or great as they are. Just think how you would act if someone was telling you that. The problem, however, is that often times it is true. They do this as a coping and defense mechanism. It isn’t something they consciously think about. They feel attacked and attack back. It isn’t always physical; sometimes it can be screaming, swearing, belittling, etc. This directly relates to the “doughnut” theory and thus relates to rape. The addiction to lying and the creation of the false self may even more relate to rape because the person often confronting you is someone you are close or intimate with. They would feel the need to regain control and possibly lead to rape. It is a vicious cycle that can repeat over and over, since intimate abusive relationships usually follow a cycle of abuse and apology.
Chapter 11 focuses on narcissism, self esteem, and agression. I really want to focus more on the social aspect of why some of these personality traits may lead a person to behave more violently. From reading the text we find that the traditional view that those who have low self esteem are more agressive is false. What this bit of research found was that those who acted out agressively were also those who had higher levels of narcissim and high self esteem. So what makes a person narcissistic? What do we do about the big push for positive self esteem? Should we go for self esteem that is not too high, and not too low? Is there moe to it than just self esteem and narcissism? The research points to narcissism as key because those who have a sense of entitlement and a larger than average ego may become agressive if these beliefs are threatened. I guess it's like the saying, "the higher they are, the farther they fall". If your ego puts you too high above the rest of the world a blow to the ego putting you at par with the rest of the commoners must feel devestating. I think my biggest concern, if the research is correct, is that we are raising a group of children who have been coached to have high self esteem and to feel a sense of entitilement. Are we inadvertantly raising a generation of agressive individuals? School competitions no longer result in a winner, everyone goes home with a ribbon. Athletics have trophys for participation rather than for excellence. School programs in elementary are meant to boost self esteem and make us all feel good to be us. Not to say self esteem is bad, but it makes me wonder if those who have a greater disposition for becoming narcissistic could be given just the boost they need to develop these sorts of personalities. Could narcissism be socialized into a person? In class we discussed many different ways in which we coould be socialized to aggression. This got me thinking about the types of groups and mentalities that go with them which may be prone to aggression. If we consider such groups as cliques in school we can see that many of these groups share a sort of group narcissism in which they believe they are better than and valued more than the other groups. A fairly high level of self esteem boost would come from simply being part of this "in" group. often times there can be found higher levels of aggression towards those not in this group, even in non physical forms such as name calling by labelling others with the undesireable group name.
I found it interesting in the text that there was a distinction between types of agreession that include violence and those that are other forms of antisocial behavior (stealing, lying, cheating). I would find it interesting to see more research on weather or not different self esteem levels corespond with different forms of aggression.
If we want to apply this to the discussion of rape, we may need to change our idea of who a rapist may be. If we visualize a rapist who feels entitled, as if he is better than his victim, we may see a reason for the aggressive act. If we consider the rape as a form of asserting power over another peorson we can still attribute this to a narcissists need to be in control. If we break it down a bit further we may find that some rapes are committed by someone who has had their ego pushed down and feels the need to reassert themselves in a position of control. While I wouldn't be so bold as to assume this would explain a large portion of rapes, i think the logic behind the motivations is sound in this sort of scenario. If we wanted to focus on prevention of rape, and bought into the narcissist/ self esteem causing agression theory, it would be best to structure any program to focus on those people who have high self esteem and narcissistic qualities. We may need to use such tools as personality tests to designate which individuals are most likely to act out in agression if their ego were to be threatened. rather than focusing on treating those who have been raped, the focus would lie in preventing further rapes from taking place. Another aspect of this would be educating those who live with or socialize with these high self esteem/ highly narcissistic people. Because most rapes are not stranger rapes and we are more likely to be raped by a person we know, it may be beneficial to provide people with the tools to be able to descern what may be a dangerous situation. by dong this we not only focus efforts on reducing the likelyhood that somone would rape, but also reducing the likelyhood that someone would put themselves in a situation where they may be raped. This is very similar to making sure young women don't walk home alone in dimly lit areas, taking self defense classes to ensure somone at least has the know-how to fight back, and other such things we may consider to be common sense. It's definately not a perfect plan, but I think knowledge is a great tool and simply being more aware could make a difference in at least some instances. When we get into the topic of rape there are a vast number of variables to consider and there is not one simple fix-it solution to prevent rapes from happening. Those who commit rapes are not one certain type of person that can be sought out and stopped. What we can focus on is preventing rapes one at a time, learning to protect ourselves and hoping to find a way to deter others from commiting these crimes.
Chapter 11 was really interesting, especially with the discussion on narcissism. I have always kind of thought that it makes more sense for aggression to branch from narcissism rather than low self-esteem, and I was glad to discover that there has been research done on this topic. The chapter also discusses research on the differences between self esteem as an adult and as an adolescent, a factor that makes a big difference when speaking about aggression. I also think that self esteem as an adult is a lot different than self esteem as an adolescent, and these two periods of life generate around much different forms of aggression. It would make sense that these two age groups need to be review separately, and that a person changes so much from a child to an adult that the two forms of aggression are separate from each other.
Another topic discussed with narcissism is that it’s really the threat to that person’s ego that is causing the aggressive act. One could argue that narcissism is really a front, meaning that the narcissist really has low self esteem deep down. The authors chose to address this controversy by separating the two theories and analyzing them. They do point out that previous research does not show that low self esteem causes more aggressive acts; so why would a hidden low self esteem cause aggression? I think that this is s a very good point, and exemplifies how there are many ways to think about aggression in relation to self esteem in general. It’s hard to say exactly how these two relate because it is difficult to measure these internal occurrences. The article in the text also discusses that they have used both natural settings as well as laboratory settings in order to achieve the best possible results.
I think that the whole inflated ego/narcissism theory matches up really well with the issues behind rape. The psychological aspect of the act of rape is one that is said to be very powerful in those who are persecuted for rape. Many times it is more of a power and control issue rather than a sexual or physical issue. I would think that it is likely that rapists are more likely to have a large ego rather than self esteem issues, mainly for the reason that they are likely to become aggressive when their ego is threatened. When dealing with relationship encounters, it is very easy to become sensitive to rejection. When you’re putting yourself out on a limb your vulnerable to rejection, something that someone with a large ego would not take well.
I also think that the discussion that we had in class about prevention would also benefit from this information. Regardless of whether narcissism is a sign of hidden low self esteem or if it is an inflated ego, we know that aggression in some form is linked to self esteem and ego. Knowing more about your potential target audience is crucial when trying to tap into their thought process. Being able to slow down aggression and generate more positive thoughts when placed in stressful or tense situations is key when attempting to prevent an aggressive act like rape. Its understanding the thought process of the aggressive population that will enable us to increase the effectiveness of prevention strategies. Knowing this about aggression and ego is a great step to being able to unleash new prevention techniques and possibly reach out to possible perpetrators.
I thought it was interesting how narcissism and self-esteem were tied into violence. Although I had never considered that to be a factor, once it is pointed out, it makes sense that someone violent might view themselves as superior to others. I think of the control factor in a domestic violent relationship, with the (usually male) perpetrator wanting to be dominant and powerful. If he is successful in exhibiting his power over his female counterpart, his self-esteem will then rise and he will feel better about himself. He may swell himself up to feel that much more superior to his partner. However, I should choose my words more carefully and clarify that the book relates narcissism and aggression rather than with violence per se. But I again refer to the power/control factor that either way, the possession of that power over someone may increase their amount of aggression and inflate their self-esteem.
I can see the original thought of low self-esteem = more aggression. In cases such as the Columbine killers, those two boys were very much ridiculed and had many negative feelings about themselves. They were ostracized and excluded, which then built aggressive and violent feelings toward those who caused them pain. In that sense, low self-esteem created violent, fatal consequences. On the flip side, I see serial killer cases like Ted Bundy. He was an attractive man, and knew it. That inflated ego led him to feel invincible in his pursuit of women. He used his looks and charm to lure them in, and then inflict his violence on them. Without his looks, he would not have been as successful and would not have been as encouraged to continue.
I feel one point the book nailed was the 2003 study by Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger & Vohs questioning individual’s self-report on aggression. Who’s to say that people will not lie to appear better? Their study said that high self-esteem people will under report their level of aggression because they feel highly about themselves and want to appear as favorable as possible. They may be expressing their superiority in an aggressive way, but if you ask them about it, they will downplay it in order to appear socially acceptable.
It was also interesting to note the difference between the tie between low self-esteem levels and aggression in children vs. adults. I can most definitely see children reacting in an aggressive way when their self-esteem is threatened. If they feel lonely or picked on, they may act out toward their bullies. They might hit a child on the playground who has teased them verbally, but the victim chooses to act out physically. This shows that they have taken their damaged self-esteem to the violent level.
This idea of self-esteem tied to aggression is somewhat related to my expert topic of the struggles immigrants face crossing the border to the US. I first think of the domestic violence a woman may be facing back in her home country. She wants desperately to escape, and finds her opportunity in a coyote that will take her across to the US. The man in her life has broken down her self-esteem by exhibiting his control and dominance over her. She can show some control by escaping, and yet the coyote is then another man in ‘control’ of her destiny. He is able to keep her quiet and compliant as long as she wants to cross. He can drop her off in a bad neighborhood and let the men repeatedly rape her, and she may just grit her teeth through it in order to reach her final goal.
The gangs she may encounter along the way will be very focused on self-esteem as well. Belonging to a gang increases your self-esteem as you identify with the group. If the gang is pushing their dominance or status over another gang, they will express themselves aggressively to prove who they are. Once she reaches the US, she may unfortunately find herself falling into another aggressive relationship, because she is accustomed to a superior man feeling he is better than her and can control her. All of this supports my view that higher self-esteem leads to aggression in that I think those who view themselves as stronger and more in control will be the ones who act out against others to prove themselves and keep their level of respect.