Assignment: Report of an Aggressive Act Performed by an Individual or Group

Assignment: Report of an Aggressive Act Performed by an Individual or Group

Assignment  Report of an Aggressive Act Performed by an Individual or Group

 

On 15^th March 2019, during Friday prayers, Benton Tarrant, a 28-old Australian man instigated two consecutive terrorist attacks at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacks and shooting started at the Al Noor Mosque in Riccarton at 1:40 pm followed by another incident at the Linwood Islamic Centre at around 1:55 pm on the same day (Dorsey, 2019). The violence led to deaths of 51 people and maiming of 50 individuals. The incidence was an act of violence considered to be conducted by a white supremacist. The occurrence is linked to the rise of alt-right extremism across the world which began in 2010. The twin mosque attacks are presumed to be acts of aggression learned through alt-right extremism and through radicalization occasioned by white supremacism. In other words, these are violence that is caused by religious difference between Islam and Christianity whereby the former is often associated with terrorism (Keefe, 2019). While the actions of Brenton Tarrant are delusional and dangerous, there is an inner aggressive drive that prompted him to commit such crimes that will later land him in a correctional center. The motive behind such violent behavior can be explained through the general aggression model.

General Aggression Model

Psychology largely attributes any form of aggression especially the chronic criminal violence to familial dysfunction or a pathological condition. Notably, the pathway to aggression is viewed at an individual level and includes aspects of internal characteristics of the perpetrators, type of violence undertaken and their immediate circumstance of the criminals. According to the General Aggression Model (GAM), aggressive behavior follows a structure of perceptual schemata, personal schemata and behavioral script (Cavalcanti & Pimentel, 2016). The perceptual schemata relate to a scenario by which a violent person identifies a phenomenon linked to everyday physical objects or an aspect that is associated with social events. For example, social insult about a given group in the society can attribute to aggression as per the perceptual schemata knowledge structure. According to this case, Brenton Tarrant must have identified the social insults directed to Muslims especially through the extremism perpetuated by the white supremacist (Dorsey, 2019). This inspired him to commit the violence as an avenue to revenge against his perceived dislike to the religious faith. On the other hand, personal schemata are associated with belief systems about an individual or selected groups of people. Often, there is a misguided belief that Muslims are terrorists since a number of violent acts of terrorism are instigated by members of the Islamic Faith. Brenton Tarrant’s aggressive behavior could have been attributed to personal schemata about Muslims which made him retaliate on the worshipers in the two mosques. Such an act of violence is also evident in the countries that profile specific racial groups or members of a given religious outfit (Keefe, 2019). While Brenton Tarrant anticipated no gain in the aggression, his aim was to cause harm to people he thought are enemies to social cohesion.

The behavioral scripts as a cause of aggression indicate that people may exhibit certain forms of behavior under varying

circumstances. For instance, people under the influence of alcohol or substance abuse may be prone to violence as opposed to those not exposed to these substances. Besides, violent or aggressive behavior can be related to mental health issues which affect the cognitive processing of an individual (Cavalcanti & Pimentel, 2016). Guided by this argument, at the time Brenton Tarrant committed the violence, he could be under the influence of alcohol or hard drugs. Besides, it is important to ascertain if Brenton Tarrant was at a stable mental state in order to provide intervention accordingly before facing justice. This knowledge structure of GAM indicates that various elements contribute to aggression among human and therefore there is a need to address these complex behavioral sequences.

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Preventive Measures that could have been employed

Even though the attacks were unprecedented, several approaches could have been undertaken to deter aggressive behavior. This could begin at the worship centers whereby defensive mechanisms are employed to identify potential criminals at the scene. The security personnel in both the mosques ought to have been vigilant to identify and arrest individuals perceived to exhibit suspicious behavior. These could have controlled the possible attack since Brenton Tarrant might have been disarmed and arrested.

However, psychological perspectives from various school of thought affirm that personal behavior depends on the cognitive processing which is often developed from rigorous mental programming. In other words, violent extremism plays crucial roles in influencing behavioral practices of members of a given group (Cavalcanti & Pimentel, 2016). In the case of New Zealand mosque attacks, Brenton Tarrant is presumed to be a member of the alt-right extremism and white supremacism. Involvement with this group could have contributed to the spread of hate information related to Muslims. This influenced his perception about the faith and its followers which prompted him to instigate the violence (Dorsey, 2019). Apparently, the occurrence of aggressive behavior could have been deterred if mechanism were put in place to address radicalization and violent extremism against religious groups. This could have prevented the existence of such movements and as such, Brenton Tarrant might not have developed the hatred towards Muslims.

Choose a recent national or international news report of an aggressive act performed by an individual or group. Research available background details on the individual or group and supporting details. In 750-1,000 words, do the following:
Analyze one of the four theoretical models (biological, drive, social learning, or general aggression model) to explain factors that could have contributed to the aggressive behavior described in the news report.
Discuss preventative measures that could have been employed.
Use two to three scholarly sources to support your thinking, your textbook can be used as one of the resources.
Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide, located in the Student Success Center. An abstract is not required.
This assignment uses a rubric. Please review the rubric prior to beginning the assignment to become familiar with the expectations for successful completion.
You are required to submit this assignment to LopesWrite. Please refer to the directions in the Student Success Center.PSY-530 PSY-530-O501 Aggressive Acts 95.0

Criteria Percentage Unsatisfactory (0.00%) Less than Satisfactory (74.00%)
Content 70.0%
Analyze one of the four theoretical models to explain factors that could have contributed to the aggressive behavior described in the news report 35.0% Analysis of one of the four theoretical models, to explain factors that could have contributed to the aggressive behavior described in the news report is missing. Analysis of one of the four theoretical models, to explain factors that could have contributed to the aggressive behavior described in the news report is vague and inconsistent.

Discuss preventative measures that could have been employed 35.0% Discussion of preventative measures that could have been employed is missing. Discussion of preventative measures that could have been employed is vague and inconsistent.

Organization and Effectiveness 20.0%
Thesis Development and Purpose 7.0% Paper lacks any discernible overall purpose or organizing claim. Thesis is insufficiently developed or vague. Purpose is not clear.

Argument Logic and Construction 8.0% Statement of purpose is not justified by the conclusion. The conclusion does not support the claim made. Argument is incoherent and uses noncredible sources. Sufficient justification of claims is lacking. Argument lacks consistent unity. There are obvious flaws in the logic. Some sources have questionable credibility.

Mechanics of Writing (includes spelling, punctuation, grammar, language use) 5.0% Surface errors are pervasive enough that they impede communication of meaning. Inappropriate word choice or sentence construction is used. Frequent and repetitive mechanical errors distract the reader. Inconsistencies in language choice (register) or word choice are present. Sentence structure is correct but not varied.

Format 10.0%
Paper Format (use of appropriate style for the major and assignment) 5.0% Template is not used appropriately or documentation format is rarely followed correctly. Appropriate template is used, but some elements are missing or mistaken. A lack of control with formatting is apparent.

Documentation of Sources (citations, footnotes, references, bibliography, etc., as appropriate to assignment and style) 5.0% Sources are not documented. Documentation of sources is inconsistent or incorrect, as appropriate to assignment and style, with numerous formatting errors.

Total Weightage 100%

For assignments that need to be submitted to Lopes Write, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.

Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.

Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?

Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.

Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.

If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.

I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.

As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:

Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.

Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• Student paper example
• Citing Sources
• The Writing Center is a great resource