Sports And Aggressive Behavior Term paper
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Sport and aggressive behavior, Do sports create aggressive behavior, or
simply attract people who are already aggressive? Aggression and sport have
gone together as long as sports have been around, be it the players
themselves, to the parents, coaches, or spectators, they just seem to be an
inseparable part of each other. The term violence is defined as physical
assault based on total disregard for the well being of self and others, or the
intent to injure another person ( 2. Coakley). Intimidation usually does not
cause physical harm, but often is designed to produce psychological
consequences, enabling one person to physically over power or dominate
another. These statements as defined by the author, Jay J. Coakley, is what
people today have made a must part on sport. Pleasure and participation
sports absolutely cannot be grouped with power and performance sports
when in relation to aggression.Pleasure sports are simply played for pleasure.
Score is usually not kept. The athletes participating are usually on occasion
doing it for fun and exercise. A majority of athletes who have been playing
sports since they were little, have probably been pounded into their heads
that to be successful in sport, you need to be aggressive, and at some times,
unnecessary. Also that to get what you want, you have to go at it with all
force. Not that this is wrong but, this attitude in today's society has been a
major problem factor to the athletes when they get older, to get into trouble
with the law. Those long-term effects of so called discipline, patterns
develops these destructive behaviors. (9. Montague) Although some people
are still in belief that aggressive behaviors in all forms, are grounded into
instincts, but they also relate these actions to sports. Their parents played,
who were known for their aggressive behavior, so the child feels that they
have to live up to that expectation.( 6. Storr) Athletes do have to be
aggressive to a point, so that the team can form a strategy to win. There is
also a limit to aggression when it turns into violence. People might say that it's
not aggression or violence, it's just adrenaline pumping. Adrenaline isn't even
similar to violence. Aggression, maybe, but nothing that would be harmful to
anyone else. This might be a factor to why contact sports are so popular. For
example, football, hockey, rugby, wrestling, and boxing. Contrary to
predictions of instinct theory, several studies show that contact sports exist
and thrive in the same societies that have high rates of aggression and
violence. Unfortunately, another belief is that contact sports teach discipline,
self-respect, and self-defense. (8. May ) Contact sports aren't a positive way
to teach these things. Being physically tough helps, but it also needs to be left
on the field when the game is over. This can also lead to the abuse of family,
girlfriends, boyfriends, friends, and any other person who gets in their "way",
because athletes use these sports as a way to get their aggression and angers
out. ( 10. Hauser, Powers, Noam ) Other's might argue that it's skill, and not
in the least way violent. Although we really can't give a straight and to the
point answer to the question "Is aggression an Instinct?" We can say that in
man, as in other animals, there exists a physiological mechanism, when
stimulated, it rises both subjective feelings of anger and to physical changes,
which relate to fighting. This is easily set off, and like other emotional
responses, it is very stereotyped, and instinctive. Just like one person is like a
very angry person; they resemble one another at the psychological level. The
way in which humans adapt to and control their feelings of rage. ( 5. Toch)
The mechanisms in which these body changes, the functions that come about
is still completely misunderstood. ( 5. Toch) Experiments from animal's show
that it appears that there is a small area from the base of the brain in which
the feeling of anger starts. This, from which is sent to the nervous impulses
that cause the blood pressure to rise. This area is called the hypothalamus. Its
function is to coordinate responses like anger. ( 3 Diamond) The relationship
between anger, rage, and violence, and psychopathology that is abnormal, or
unnatural in human behavior and experience. People demonstrate their anger
reactions in different ways. Similar to most human behavior, violence has a
meaning that it only seems "senseless" or "meaningless" to the extent that we
are unable to understand it. Most violence starts the fiery human emotions of
anger and rage. Not all violent behavior has its origins in anger and rage;
some of it is learned, as mentioned before. Some violence is driven primarily
by as Friedrich Nietzsche referred as "the will to power". In other words,
rage. ( 3. Diamond) Rage is an instinctual and defensive reaction to severe
stress, or physical threat. This is an automatic reflex that people share with
animals. This response to serious threat is referred to by Walter Cannon as
the "fight or flight" response. It's the first defense for the survival of the
species. Any other threat to the continued physical existence, a person would
have the instinct to try to leave, or if they can't, then physically defend them
by attacking the source of the threat. ( 7 . Hawkins, Fredman ) Relating to
the fact that men are more aggressive than women are, studies shown in
several cases those testosterone levels in young men especially are. The high
levels of endogenous testosterone seem to encourage behavior apparently
intended to dominate, to enhance one's status over other people. ( 9.
Montague) Sometimes aggressive behavior is aggressive, it's apparent intent
being to inflict harm on another person, but often dominance is expressed
nonaggressively. Measurement of testosterone at a single point in time
presumably indicator of a man's basal testosterone level, predicts many of
these dominant behaviors. Numerous animal experiments, this one particular
to rodents, show that raising testosterone increases aggressiveness. This is in
relation to the dominance and antisocial behavior related to the individuals.
An individual can be said to act dominantly if it's apparent intent is to achieve
or maintain high status, to obtain power influence, or valued prerogatives.
Rodents do typically dominate aggressively, but it isn't true of humans. Much
of interpersonal behavior is overtly or subtly concerned with managing
dominance and subordination without causing physical harm. It is harder to
identify instances of aggression of a dominating motives, things related to
religious sacrifices. It is understood that motivations are different from
different situations for dominance and aggression. ( 1. Felson, Tedeschi)
Clinical science assumes that all men are capable of bloody destructiveness.
It maintains that image with most people who do away with their hatreds and,
and although There are some instances where this effort fails. Some people
are so shy about their aggressiveness that when they are provoked in the least
little way, they become so violent that they are unbearable. Even a slight
review of violent conduct suggests that violence isn't blind, and random.
Members of fighting gangs are frequently nonviolent when separated from
their members. Many extremely dangerous people seem to specialize in
certain areas of victims. This is in relation to taking the aggressiveness off the
field. There is sometimes a relationship between being violent and being
socially improper. Violence usually takes place in certain circles, certain
settings, and on certain occasions. If violence is really blind and random, it's
hard to understand why we should find so much in specific situations. Does a
man assault his wife rather than the athlete who messed up simply because
she's available? Violence can't be associated with angry explosions. There is
shape and form to violence. Patterns of destructiveness show consistently,
and they relay from person to person. As for each of us, violence seems to
...
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