Aggressive play, like wrestling, can lead to aggressive behavior as children get older. (Nick Kelsh/Corbis)
hypothesis also holds that watching an aggressive be-
havior on television serves a valuable function in
draining off aggressive energy.
It has been argued that it might be possible to re-
duce aggression by presenting the child with the sight
of aggressive models who come to bad ends. The im-
plicit theory is that individuals who are exposed to
this sight will in effect be vicariously punished for
their own aggression and accordingly will become less
aggressive.
Other methods of reducing aggression that have
been proposed include defusing anger through apol-
ogy and providing training in communication and
problem-solving skills.
Using punishment to reduce aggressive behavior
is tricky. It can be effective if it is not too severe and
if it follows closely on the heels of the aggressive act.
Anger Management Programs
In 1997 Albert Ellis and Raymond Chip Tafrate
presented an approach to the problem of dealing
with anger called rational emotive behavior therapy
(REBT). This approach was designed to help people
deal effectively with emotional problems and to sys-
tematically understand the roots and nature of anger.
REBT deals with the problem of anger realistically.
The core of REBT is unconditional acceptance of self
and then continually maintaining this feeling of self-
acceptance.The Role That Peers Play
Children generally establish strong, stable, mutu-
al affiliations with peers similar to themselves in ag-
gression, but aggressive children have more difficulty
establishing such affiliations. The interaction of peer
pairs containing at least one aggressive child was
characterized by more frequent, lengthy, and intense
conflict regardless of the affiliate relationship charac-
terizing the pair. Researchers found that the amount
of time children spent interacting with aggressive
peers predicted changes in observed and teacher-
rated aggression three months later.20 AGGRESSION