It is the principal purpose of this book to stimulate thought,
and no attempt will be made here to solve a problem of
this magnitude. It simply is hoped that this chapter may,
in its limited way, indicate areas of solution and direct your
thoughts into channels which should be stimulating and
productive.
To simplify our approach, let's accept the con-
clusion of many leading scientists that: aggression is always
a consequence of frustration. (Frustration and Aggression:
Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn.) And let us
be quick to point out that frustration-caused aggression
is not always overt and recognizable as aggression, but
often is repressed and festers in our subconscious to later
appear in some disguised resentment, hab'ed, antagonistic
feeling or misbehavior. We have been taught to suppress
openly aggressive acts, but this does not mean that the
aggression, itself, actually is eliminated. It merely is re-
pressed into our subconscious and, unless eliminated, can
do incalculable harm.
Let's have a closer look:
An infant is subjected to many frustrating ex-
periences which are all the more acute because the child
is too young to understand the reasons for the drastic
changes required in its behavior. Complete changes in
food, eating habits, personal cleanliness and toilet training
are just a few of the frustrations which accumulate to
provoke the period of "frequent and exaggerated stubborn-
ness" between the ages of two and four years, and which
usually reaches its peak at the age of two and a half.
. And then, as the child grows up, there are the
frustrations of home life, school, and becoming a part of