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Running head: EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY VIEW ON VIOLENCE 1

EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY VIEW ON VIOLENCE 9

Evolutionary Psychology’s View on Violence

LaRoya Mitchell

Saint Leo University

Evolutionary Psychology View on Violence

For centuries the issue of human violence has been a matter of concern and intense debate. Due to technical limitations as well as dominant scientific perspectives, several studies on violence in the 20th century, focused on family and sociocultural determinants of violence. However, recent studies connect violent behaviors with evolutionary, biological as well as genetic factors. According to Ferguson and Beaver the world health organization defines violence as “the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation.” (Ferguson & Beaver, 2009, p287). To a large extent, this clearly defines violence. It is also important to note that some violent acts are positive and as such adaptive. Legally, an individual is allowed to act violently in self-defense or in defense of his or her family and culture. Extreme violence, on the other hand, relates to violent actions in which risks are greater than the potential benefits. The risks involved, whether of personal injury or on an individual’s social esteem outweigh the anticipated positive outcomes. Extreme violence, therefore, amounts to criminal violence (Ferguson & Beaver, 2009).

Biologists contend that natural selection rather than mutation is the predominant force behind gene selection and the genetics of populations. It simply implies that organisms are more likely to pass down genes that provide them with selective advantage for the future generations. Even though natural selection happens at individual levels, for particular species facing similar selective challenges, the outcome is generally based on physical features as well as behavior; however, there are some differences among individuals (Ferguson & Beaver, 2009). Moreover, environmental diversity causes behavioral variations among human beings in what is referred to as culture. Although violence levels may vary across different cultures, it is present among all human species. Archeological studies on pre historical cultural aspect of man reveal application of violence among different cultures (McCall & Shields, 2008).

The evolutionary perspective of psychology is a scientific observation that seeks for a vivid comprehension of human nature, that is, the evolution mechanism of human’s mind. Although it was established for use in psychological sciences and not practical use, its insights have extensively been used to practically solve societal problems. The evolutionary psychology analysis provides a clear picture on the causes of violent behaviors such as sexual assault and war, thereby, enabling policy makers to enact legal measures that can be used to deter future violent actions (Roach & Pease, 2011). This article intends to clarify evolutionary psychological perspective and its applicability in understanding violent behaviors among human beings.

Evolutionary Perspective on Violence

The idea that evolution causes violence can be evidenced from numerous sources such as: behavioral as well as molecular genetics, cross cultural similarities and consistency on violence in sexual differences across different culture and history. If indeed aggression is adaptive, then evolutionary extreme violent actions can be caused by two important mechanisms. The first being normal variation, that is, even though extreme violence is not adaptive, a small number of human beings have gene variations putting them at higher risk of exhibiting extreme violent acts. The other mechanism posits that sometimes an individual may have his or her “adaptive aggression inhibition system” (Ferguson & Beaver, 2009, p. 291) damaged because of genetic various that may reduce his or her efficiency or due to head injury. Adaptive violence behaviors occur where an individual has the ability to refrain from violent behaviors in situations where the potential benefits are greater than the anticipated risk. Any defect in the restraint mechanism can interfere with the process. It means that violent individuals either have strong aggression drives or weak aggression inhibitors.

Darwin’s sexual selection model also plays a significant role in explaining why males engage in violent behaviors more frequently than female across various cultures. Females due to their higher involvement in caring for the young ones are more risk averse and employ a lot of selective measures over males when selecting their mates (McKibbin et al., 2008). In their support Ferguson and Beaver (2009) argue that females look out for male traits that increase the survival of their young ones. Therefore, females will likely choose males who will not only help in rearing children, but also provide resources to the family. Males exhibiting such characteristics are considered a successful father. Ferguson and Beaver further point out that, those lacking such features resort to deception, violent killing of the successful fathers and violent rape of females. Given that these types of males are less desired, they are not frequent in the society. However, they are successful in the sense that they can pass such genes to the next generation (Ferguson & Beaver, 2009).

Ferguson (2008) in his catalyst model indicated how genetic as well as environmental interactions influence an individual to engage in extreme violence. In the model, Ferguson connects the interrelationship between environmental neglect and some gene alleles to the development of extreme violent behaviors (Buss, 2012). People who have not experienced physical abuse in their lifetime or possess gene alleles which lead to normal aggression levels do not participate in extreme violence. Those with a history of violence and aggressive gene alleles are more likely to engage in extreme violence. The catalyst model further posits that human beings have developed self-control mechanisms to inhibit aggression drivers that may lead to violence. Those with low levels of self-control are more likely to commit violent crimes. Self-control is also a product of genetic factors that control 50-90 percent of self-control variance (Wright et al. 2008). Wright et al further indicate that the self-control device found in a human brain helps a person in choosing appropriate response mechanism when faced with environmental stress. Violent individuals are more likely to resort to violence since they have low self-control mechanisms restraining them from aggressive impulses where it is necessary to do so. Naturally, individuals with antisocial personality characteristics and low self-control tend to engage in risky behaviors and violence (Wright et al. 2008).

In a nutshell, the catalyst model indicates that an individual’s personality is a function of genetic as well as learning, whereby family influences are dominant. Stressed individuals look out for solutions to solve their stresses. Violent people will resort to violent behaviors in search for solutions. Individuals with high self-control will resort to low risk mechanisms instead of violent actions where appropriate in search for solutions (Ferguson, 2008). As such, extreme violence stems from high levels of aggression, lower self-control mechanisms or both.

Application of Evolutionary Psychology in Deterring Violence and Crime

Proponents of evolutionary psychology look out for functional understanding of behavior for example, the reason for evolvement of some human behaviors and not the causal understanding of some behaviors. They focus on the environmental impact on particular behavior and the ancestral impact on behavior. This is a complete departure from environmental criminologists as well as behavioral psychologists who focus on the immediate environment. According to Roach and Pease (2011) in as much as law enforcement agencies and other relevant officers depend on criminology to handle violent cases, it is significant to note that criminology consists of baseless stories based on sociology, to an extent that criminology discipline is so much fragmented and on its terminal decline. It is, thus, important for relevant personnel understand the essence of evolutionary psychology in reducing violent crimes in the society. Roach and Pease (2011) suggest that the understanding of human violence should not be entirely explained from criminological perspective. The notion that male violence and age group related violence are the main cause of criminal activities across all cultures is not entirely true. In his support Buss points out that in Taiwan during the period of economic, the age related criminal activities peaked higher for property rather than violent activities which he describes as the common culture among the Chinese (Buss, 2012).

Without any doubt, many people consider violence against children as a heinous act of all crimes. Understandably, child violence elicits anger from the public, and as a criminal issue, it influences people’s confidence in the enforcement of law. Evolutionary perspective identifies the role of kinship in reducing as well as preventing child violence, and those performing parental responsibility without kinship connection are more likely to violate a child (Buss, 2012). This is particularly true in the case of foster fathers, because spending a lot of effort in raising another person’s child distract a man’s attention from reproducing. On the other hand, criminology does not show why children are more vulnerable under the care of their step parents than their biological parents (Roach & Pease, 2011). Studies also show that biological fathers rather than step fathers tend to kill their older children. A common example is where fathers try to kill their children because of marriage break ups. Mothers, on the other hand act violently against their children out of love rather than revenge (Lew, Morrow & Rice, 2006). It is, therefore, clear that social workers, health practitioners as well as law enforcement agencies should understand evolutionary perspective to mitigate violence against children.

Domestic violence is a common phenomenon that requires keen focus on causes of intimate partner violence to prevent it. The question then is how can evolutionary psychology help in mitigating domestic violence? To clearly understand this it is important to know the reason men go for battles. This is to increase copulations because men gain in case engaging in war leads to their substantial access to women for reproduction. The mass sexual violence of female during warfare is an example. However, this is certainly not the main contributing factor for into battle, but gaining access to women is part of the reward promise (Buss, 2012). Males will do all they can to have access to their female counterparts despite the imminent risks. Male due to sexual jealousy engage in domestic violence. They act violently against women to tame their sexual behavior (Roach & Pease, 2011).

Roach and Pease also indicate that evolutionary view can help in preventing domestic violence if women facing the unfortunate event to immediately report such behaviors. They must also seek for immediate help in order to safeguard their lives and that of their children ((Roach & Pease, 2011). In as much as it may not be easy to predict when domestic violence may happen, evolutionary perspective highlights when it is likely to happen and the potential perpetrator. This knowledge should be used to prevent domestic violence. For example, women should be educated on the need to separate from their violent spouses as it is common knowledge that men physically abuse their spouses when they realize that they are planning to walk out of the relationship.

References

Brown, G. R., & Richerson, P. J. (2014). Applying evolutionary theory to human behaviour: past differences and current debates. Journal of Bioeconomics, 16(2), 105-128.

Buss, D. M. (2012). The evolutionary psychology of crime. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Criminology, 1(1), 90-98.

Ferguson, C. J. (2008). An evolutionary approach to understanding violent antisocial behavior: Diagnostic implications for duel-process etiology. Journal of Forensic Psychology Practice, 8(4), 321−343

Ferguson, C. J., & Beaver, K. M. (2009). Natural born killers: The genetic origins of extreme violence. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 14(5), 286-294.

Lew, T. A., Morrow, E. H., & Rice, W. R. (2006). Standing genetic variance for female resistance to harm from males and its relation-ship to intralocus sexual conflict. Evolution, 60, 97-105.

McCall, G., & Shields, N. (2008). Examining the evidence from small-scale societies and early prehistory and implications for modern theories of aggression and violence. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 13(1), 1−9.

McKibbin, W. F., Shackelford, T. K., Goetz, A. T., & Starratt, V. G. (2008). Why do men rape? An evolutionary psychological perspective. Review of General Psychology, 12(1), 86-96.

Roach, J., & Pease, K. (2011). Evolution and the prevention of violent crime. Psychology, 2(04), 393-404.

Wright, J. P., Beaver, K. M., DeLisi, M., & Vaughn, M. G. (2008). Evidence of negligible parenting influences on self-control, delinquent peers, and delinquency in a sample of twins. Justice Quarterly, 25(3), 544−569.