Men Who Can’t Stop Hitting People…
Cohn, A., Jakupcak, M., Seibert, L., Hildebrandt, T., & Zeichner, A. (2010). The role of emotion dysregulation in the association between men’s restrictive emotionality and use of physical aggression. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 11 (1), 53-64 DOI: 10.1037/a0018090
This article by Cohn et al. (2010) on men, their emotional (dys)regulation, restrictive emotionality and physical aggression, contains within the lines, at p.60:
If men cannot tolerate or delineate the emotions they are experiencing, then they may be less able to develop appropriate regulation strategies to manage those emotions and may use aggression to terminate their feelings of vulnerability or confusion (Schwartz, Waldo, & Daniel, 2005). Thus, men with high RE (restrictive emotionality), particularly those who lack insight about their emotional experiences and an appropriate outlet to communicate them, may resort to externalizing behavior as their only available expression of negative internal states (Moore & Stuart, 2004).
Those who might see themselves as concerned about men and their aggressive behaviours are at the same time whacking men in the head with an almighty big shovel when they run the line, like above, that men are fundamentally powder kegs waiting to explode. Either the vast majority of us, for the vast majority of time, retain capacity and therefore agency over what we choose to do, or not do, or we are bashers and killers in waiting, thereby necessitating pre-emptive incarceration for our own good and for the good of others. Indeed, Cohn et al. (2010), at p.61, are keen to point out that they are not postulating a cause and effect relationship between restrictive emotionality and emotional (dys)regulation. Others, however, do. The folly of the reductionist amygdala lies before us!
It is my belief that no one truly wants to be violent. People are taught hate, not born with it. Triggers that cause these violent tendencies are found in people, places, and things. Once the triggers are discovered, one can quickly rid themselves of the situations and circumstances that cause violence, by not adhering to them. Many violent crimes are committed because of very strong emotions. Once one can honestly look into themselves and put those feelings into words, the violence will no longer be a problem. I am a 24 year old male, with no professional studies into psychology or human relations. My opinion is my own and is not in any way to be considered professional advice. I, however, do believe my 24 years grant me some insight on the matter. I do not have a computer, I wrote this on my cell phone. Therefore, I could not go into as much detail as I would’ve liked. I am a highschool graduate, who did not attend college, but, in my opinion probably could’ve excelled had I. The e-mail address above is a fake, since I have no internet and was just browsing on my Nokia Music Xpress and wanted to add my two pennies.
There are people out there who argue that men are ‘naturally’ violent. That’s a pretty stuffed view of humanity. I’d like to think that each of us makes choices, in this case, to be violent or not. Do strong men fight? No, strong men go peacably through life, rejecting violence in all its forms. I would agree with you that many violent crimes are committed because of the strong emotions at play. However, people can learn to get a handle on such emotions, such that they don’t ‘lose it’.
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