Aggressive Behaviour or Bullying?
Aggressive – Adj. 1. “…characterized by or tending toward unprovoked offensives, attacks, invasions, or the like; 2. making an all-out effort to win or succeed; competitive:”
– from Dictionary.com
As I immersed myself in this topic, various angles of consideration became clear in my mind. The primary reason for my blog is not to educate others. Rather it is to develop in my own mind a wider understanding, thus granting me a more productive and fulfilling life.
I am not intending to do a full psychological study and report on the topic of “aggressive behaviour”, neither would I be qualified to do so. I challenge you, as a reader, to use what I have written to open your mind to how aggressive behaviour affects you or those around you.
Let’s now take a look at a modern, although not really so modern, word for a social calamity that is probably interchangeable with aggressive behaviour. “Bullying”, according to Google, (Wikipedia) is “an unwanted, aggressive behavior among school-aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance”.
It goes on to say that bullying contains 3 elements:
- Repeated
- Intentional
- Involves a power imbalance
Florida Dept. of Education separates bullying and harassment as follows:
- “Harassment often takes place in public as a means of peer approval or image building.”
- “Usually bullying takes place in private without witnesses.”
In reviewing the abovementioned excerpts written by professionals in their field, let’s try to break it down from a professional commentary to a day-to-day guide that we can use to effectively improve lives; both our own and in our workplace.
In order to deal better with aggression in ourselves as well as in others, we need a clear understanding that this behaviour is not a “New” predicament pertaining to the 21st century. In the 4th chapter of Genesis, we can read the account of Cain and Abel. The Lord showed preference to the offering Abel brought. This approval caused Cain to be “very wroth, and his countenance fell.” verse 5. Then the Lord chided Cain in verse 7 – “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.”
In plain, easy-to-understand language God explained that although He preferred, or gave credit to, Abel’s offering, in that preference there was no intention for Cain to be considered the lesser of the two brothers. Rather, He stated, “and thou shalt rule over him”.
However, Cain could not tolerate the fact that Abel had risen above him one time. So, Cain murdered his brother.
As so many things are, the Bible in a few short paragraphs tells what we try to write in volumes.
- Sometimes others will get what appears to be “preferential treatment”.
- It may well cause us great anxiety.
- We will receive a warning that our thoughts are not healthy
- Because we are people of choice, we then decide if our thoughts are indeed where we want them. We have a window of time to choose where we will let our emotions take us.
- We make the decision. Together with that decision come the consequences of that decision.
Penitentiaries, penal, medical and psychological facilities would have significantly fewer cases, if the situation had been “nipped in the bud”.
