port for the modeling and imitation theory comes from Patterson (1976) who found that "aggressive behavior is frequently reinforced in the home". (Biechker/Hudson page 415) A young child who finds that anger and aggression are more effective in gaining what they want and which can enable them to control resources such as toys and parental attention, is having his aggression reinforced. Further, "aggressive parents who discipline with physical force act as models for their children and are likely to encourage aggression in their children towards other people" (Hardy/Heyes page 163). Children learn aggression by observing others behave aggressively, and this is supported by a recent national survey by the N.C.H. Action For Children which found that in families where there has been domestic violence, children imitate the aggression they witness between their parents, and "33 per cent of children in homes where the father was violent, became aggressive towards their mothers themselves". (The Guardian Newspaper). To summarize, ethnologists treat aggression as an evolutionary determined instinct, which was necessary for survival. The frustration-aggression model looks beyond the individual, seeing the tension as being triggered by factors in the environment which prevent the individuals attempts to reach a goal. Both the instinctive and the frustration -aggression models suggest that it is something about the individuals psychological make-up which causes aggression, and individual aggressive impulses are triggered by personality dynamics, such as ego, need or frustration, and in which the aggressive drives/impulses build up, and must be dissipated in some way. On the other hand, Social learning theorist view aggressive acts as responses learned through observations and imitation of others and by positive reinforcement for the behavior. Also, mans cultural heritage and his experience of socialization, and the many traits or characteristics po...
