APPETITIVE AGGRESSION AS A FORM OF SATISFACTION OF VIOLENT OF AN INDIVIDUAL'S VIOLENT TENDENCIES

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study of a problem relevant to modern legal psychology, psychotherapy and counseling psychology – determining the factors that drive combatants and military personnel to commit aggressive, violent acts and atrocities in the performance of military duty. The article examines aggression and aggressiveness, which have long been studied from different perspectives and approaches, the main ones being the factors relating to the role and influence of biological and social aspects on an individual. It is customary to distinguish between the so-called defensive aggression, which performs a positive function for the survival of the individual and is instinctive, and another type of aggression, which is destructive and violent, which is an aimless passion and is an exclusively human trait. Military personnel who have participated in combat often face emotional stress, increased aggression, intemperance, a tendency to engage in risky behavior, and a disregard for traditional values and compliance with rules. This indicates a possible role for intemperance in aggressive and disinhibited behavior, especially under stress or perceived threat. Combatants often report that committing violent acts can be attractive and even exciting. There are two main forms of aggression: reactive and instrumental. Reactive aggression occurs as a reaction to a certain perceived provocation or threat. Instrumental aggression is a planned and purposeful, or proactive, predatory aggression that is focused on achieving a goal. Such aggression is manifested for the sake of aggression itself, harming another to satisfy one's own needs of this direction, the so-called appetitive aggression. It has been found that this behavior is most often manifested by child soldiers who are members of armed groups and by persons who have voluntarily joined such groups. In the context of hostilities, the dehumanization of the enemy and initiation rituals in armed groups can cause deviations from learned moral norms and increase the level of violence in the community. Among combatants, there is people who consider being part of armed groups as a tool to satisfy their own aggressive tendencies and violent addictions. The same applies to torturers, among whom there is a type that takes pleasure in injuring and abusing others. Future research should examine whether appellate aggression and the commission of other criminal offenses and customs of warfare by combatants that are not related to aggression have an impact.