General Aggression Model.

[Anderson & Bushman,2002] This thoery suggests that aggression stems from a number of factors or input variables which influence cognition ,arousal,and affectivees of the subsequent behavior.According to the thoerists a chain of events intitated by these variables ultimately lead to aggressive behavior. There are two main factors to be considered, situational factors which are related to the current situation and personal factors relating to the individuals involved. In the first category ,variables such as frustration ,provocation from another individual [e.g an insult and exposoure to aggressive behavior such as media violence ,abusive parents\ adults] or any event which may cause discomfort ,such as high temperatures ,may trigger aggression.In the second category peroonal traits such as high irritability may redispose some individual towards aggression even certain beliefs about violence and specific agression related skills such as the knowledge of weapons and the art of combat . According to this theory the procecces of arousal or excitement can arouse hostile feelings express itself outwardly e.g angry facial expression ,cognition is initiated when the individual begins to think hostile thoughts and may appraise the situation as a threat therefore causing him to react . This theory acknowledges that some external stimuli must be present in order to bring about the affective stage of response.

Frustration Theory- [Dollard et al 1939] "Agression is always a consequence of frustration" [Dollard et al 19to 39 p.1 ] According John Dollard and his colleagues ,people who are frustrated ,thwarted, annoyed, or threatened will behave aggressively ,since aggression is a natural, almost automatic response to frustration

[Criminal Behavior ,A Psychosocial Approach,Bartol &

Bartol 2008 8th ed. ]. This

simplistic explanation or approach towards aggression has drawn much research and criticism . Frustration does not always lead to aggression it is only one of the variables which facilitates aggressive behavior because of the arousal of anger. The failure to achieve anticipated goals or expectations may result in frustration . Even poverty is seen as a means of frustration but according to [Berkowitz 1969 ] Poverty stricken groups who have never dreamed of luxuries only become frustrated when they begin to hope. Berkowitzs explains that individuals adapt other means, which bear striking similarities to Merton's strain theory of adaptation .The revised. frustration theory however suggests that, firstly the individual is prevented from obtaining an expected goal, becomes frustrated which arouses anger predisposes the individual to react ,but this action, depends on the presence of enviromental stimuli, his interpretation of the event , and the individual's method of response to frustration.

Excitation Transfer Theory- [ Zillman 1988 ] This theory proposes an explanation of the effect of heightened arousal, stemming from a recently occurred incident, transferring to a later incident due, to the presence of persisting arousal. For instance , the arousal produced by a disagreement at the workplace may be intensified or resurrected if the individual is stopped by a police officer while driving home , perhaps with the intention of issuing a ticket for some traffic violation. Although the physiological arousal tends to disipate slowly over time,some portion of it persists and as the individual moves from one situation to the other the arousal is transferred .Statements like He just flew off the handle! or Is this a Peter pay for Paul situation? tend to suggest that

,the present situation is not the real cause for the individuals reaction. This transfer of arousal mainly tends to occur, when the individual is unaware of the persisting arousal from a previous incident and even when they become aware, they would tend to blame their reaction on the current situation .This has element by itself has encouraged further research , resulting in the proposed displacement aggression theory. According to Bushman et al [2005 pg.969] ,Aggression is displaced when the target is innocent of any wrong doing but is simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, therefore the arousal has been transferred but in this case the individual was prevented from reacting by his cognition.