Analyses of criminal violence often fail to draw the important distinction
between angry and instrumental aggression. The former is directed mainly
toward the injury of the intended target, whereas the latter is instrumental to
attaining another goal such as social approval. Various conceptions, including
the subculture of violence idea, assume that many violent acts are instrumental
aggression, although they may actually be, in large part, angry outbursts in
tended primarily to hurt rather than to gain approval. Interviews with sixty
five white British violent offenders are used to document this thesis. The role
of ego threats is also discussed.
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