Reactive Aggression

However, the study did find that there was a strong association between childhood physical abuse and reactive aggression (Kolla et al., 2013). Reactive aggression is when an individual responds to a frustration or perceived threat in a hostile and impulsive manner. This is different that proactive aggression, where an individual responds in an aggressive way without being provoked and is typically aimed at possessing objects or controlling other people. This distinction is important as research has found that individuals with psychopathy are more likely to engage in both forms of aggression, where as individuals with Antisocial Personality Disorder typically only engage in reactive aggression (Frick, 2009).
Other researchers began noticing …show more content…
Graham et al. (2012) found that offenders with a history of childhood sexual abuse scored higher on the PCL-R, as well as, specifically on the interpersonal, lifestyle, and behavioral facets. Sexual abuse included more facets (three) than when they looked at physical and neglectful abuse, indicating that sexual abuse may impact an individual in more areas of their life and personality. Moreover, they found that a history of childhood abuse was associated with higher PCL-R lifestyle scores, indicating such traits as impulsivity, irresponsibility, a proneness to boredom and a need for stimulation (Graham et al., 2012). This association was primarily driven by sexual abuse, which also statistically predicted interpersonal and behavioral facet scores (Graham et al., …show more content…
More specifically, research has linked psychopathy with certain types of sexual violence (Porter et al., 2000) and greater levels of violence during a sexual offense (Gretton et al., 2001). Due to the fact that the category of sexual offenders can mean many different types of crimes, some studies have begun breaking down the large category into smaller categories. For example, differentiating between rapists, child molesters, and sexually motivated murders. Porter et al., (2009) found that when sexual offenders have a specified target type, such as child molesters, they are more likely to recidivate. This may be due to the “combination of their callous nature, vulnerable target type, and long offense history” (Porter et al., 2009, p.116). Sexual offenders who have committed rape are more likely to score higher on antisocial deviance, as well as, recidivate violently, although not necessarily sexually, when compared to child molesters (Prensky, lee, Knight, & Cerce, 1997). Despite child molesters being more likely to be unassertive and socially inept, studies have shown that they are more likely to sexually recidivate (Quinsey,