The catalyst model, as described in Ferguson & Beaver (2009), is a model that “suggests that personality is shaped by a combination of genetics and learning, in which family or care-giving influences are predominant.” As such the model straddles the individual level because of the focus on genetics, as well as the relationship level, which focuses on behaviors that one can learn from people close to the individual. For the purposes of my argument, I am going to focus on the genetic component of the catalyst model. The individual level of the social ecological model focuses on causes of violence that include factors related to yourself and not others, such as genetics. Genetics are personal to every individual, and as such, the genetic component
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The incident report states that Clint had an absent father growing up because his father is in prison for felony assault. That is indicative of a genetic predisposition for committing violence. Even without learning or imitating the behavior from his father, if Clint’s father assaulted someone, he had violent tendencies, which genetically could be a reason why Clint was violent as well. The individual level also encompasses personality, which is a factor of the catalyst model. Clint embodied a violent personality, as the incident report specifically described him as a “moody and explosive teen”, amongst other factors such as being depressed, unstable, and controlling. Additionally, certain people do not have the type of personality where they’d be able to pick a fight with others. Clint, on the other hand, constantly got in fights at school to the point of expulsion. That indicates a care free, violent personality, which is a unique, individual factor and behavior that he committed on his own without any relation to others in his surroundings egging him on. According to Alvarez & Bachman (2014), social learning theory contends that “we learn from the things we experience, the things we see, and the people with whom we associate” as well as “from our surroundings, experiences, acquaintances, friends, and family.” In addition, social learning theory is associated with aggression. The theory suggests that aggression is a learned behavior – a behavior that you observe and then
The incident report states that Clint had an absent father growing up because his father is in prison for felony assault. That is indicative of a genetic predisposition for committing violence. Even without learning or imitating the behavior from his father, if Clint’s father assaulted someone, he had violent tendencies, which genetically could be a reason why Clint was violent as well. The individual level also encompasses personality, which is a factor of the catalyst model. Clint embodied a violent personality, as the incident report specifically described him as a “moody and explosive teen”, amongst other factors such as being depressed, unstable, and controlling. Additionally, certain people do not have the type of personality where they’d be able to pick a fight with others. Clint, on the other hand, constantly got in fights at school to the point of expulsion. That indicates a care free, violent personality, which is a unique, individual factor and behavior that he committed on his own without any relation to others in his surroundings egging him on. According to Alvarez & Bachman (2014), social learning theory contends that “we learn from the things we experience, the things we see, and the people with whom we associate” as well as “from our surroundings, experiences, acquaintances, friends, and family.” In addition, social learning theory is associated with aggression. The theory suggests that aggression is a learned behavior – a behavior that you observe and then