Instrumental Aggression Hypothesis

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Introduction Aggression is a complicated concept. It is defined as “any behavior intended to harm another person that the target person wishes to avoid” (K. Wiles, SOC 306 lecture, April 21, 2015). There are two types of aggression: instrumental and hostile. Instrumental aggression is goal directed or looking for a specific outcome such as a robbery or punishment. Hostile aggression is driven by emotion and is more impulsive than instrumental aggression. The intent is to harm or injure. There are many factors that could lead to aggression. Frustration-Aggression hypothesis states that “every frustration leads to some form of aggression and every aggressive act is due to some prior frustration” (K. Wiles, SOC 306 lecture, April 21, 2015). There…show more content…
Here the frustrations are the aggressive acts by the opposing gangs and the gang retaliated with an aggressive act. In the article, U.S. Attorney Stephanie Yonekura is quoted, saying, “We will continue our crackdown on the Mexican Mafia and the Hazard gang as long as they continue to threaten our communities” (“Feds target members of 'Hazard' gang in Los Angeles”, 2014). The “Operation Resident Evil” was done to get the gang members off the streets. If the gang members are no longer on the streets, there is no one to keep the never-ending cycle of retaliation going. This holds true that every frustration leads to an act of aggression, which is the definition of the Frustration-Hypothesis. Also, every crime that they commit the police react by going out and arresting gang members they believe are responsible. This is a textbook example of the Frustration-Aggression…show more content…
Josh, a high school student, had been bullied a majority of his life does not act in accordance to the Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis. According to the hypothesis, the frustration would be the fact that he was bullied to the point that his mom felt the need to transfer him and from this frustration, Josh would act in some aggressive manner. However, he did the complete opposite. There was no mention of him being a troubled kid in school or at home; he simply had social anxiety. Instead of acting out, he chose to seize the opportunity he had when he transferred to a new school. Every day he would stand and open the door to the high school for everyone. We all take something that simple as a common courtesy for the person behind you, but he took it further by doing it for everyone. Josh reflected on this in the article, stating, “It’s amazing how one simple act can change your whole life. I never thought doing something so simple could be so rewarding” (“Bullied teen changes his and fellow peers lives with a small act of kindness”, 2015). This was an exception to the Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis, which means that there need to be something to explain why this

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