NCJ Number
125632
Date Published
1989
Length
27 pages
Annotation
The author contends that generalized personality attributes contribute significantly to violence and that, although not sufficient to account for a violent act, concepts of personality deviation or disorder are both defensible and necessary to explain aggressive behavior.
Abstract
A distinction is made between the occurrence of a violent act and the tendency to repeat such an act. In other words, an act of violence does not necessarily imply an aggressive personality. Since personality traits describe average and probable rather than invariant behavior, they cannot provide a fundamental account of behavior. The utility of personality traits, therefore, lies in describing prominent features of a person's behavior repertoire. The personality trait of aggression implies a readiness to react with a range of functionally equivalent responses to particular situations, but whether aggression occurs in these situations depends on more proximal factors such as the antagonist's behavior and status, the anticipation of reward and punishment, the arousal of competing tendencies, or the availability of alternative coping skills and competencies. Personality variables associated with the inhibition or facilitation of aggression are discussed, as well as the link between personality disorders and violence. Methods for assessing and treating personality disorders in violent populations are examined. Issues involved in the treatment of aggressive individuals are illustrated in a case history of a violent sex offender detained at a maximum security hospital. 96 references, 1 figure.