A combination of combat experience, early abduction, and severe traumatization fuels appetitive aggression and violence among abductees of rebel war in Northern Uganda

peer-reviewed
Erstveröffentlichung
2020-07-08Authors
Zeller, Anja Carina
Conrad, Daniela
Schneider, Anna
Behnke, Alexander
Pfeiffer, Anett
Wissenschaftlicher Artikel
Published in
Aggressive Behavior ; 46 (2020), 6. - S. 465-475. - ISSN 0096-140X. - eISSN 1098-2337
Link to original publication
https://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ab.21914Faculties
Fakultät für Ingenieurwissenschaften, Informatik und PsychologieInstitutions
Institut für Psychologie und PädagogikExternal cooperations
Universität KonstanzVivo International
Document version
published version (publisher's PDF)Abstract
Individuals who perpetrate violence may likely perceive violence as appealing and infliction of violence to derive pleasure is termed as appetitive aggression. Individuals who were abducted as children into an armed group often experience a higher number of traumatic event types, that is traumatic load and are usually socialized in a violence‐endorsing environment. This study aims to investigate the interaction between age at initial abduction with that of traumatic load, and their influence on appetitive aggression along with perpetration of violent acts by former members of an armed rebel group of both sexes. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted among a target group of formerly abducted rebel‐war survivors (including participants with and without combat experience) from Northern Uganda. Participants included 596 women and 570 men with N = 1,166 (Mage = 32.58, SDage = 9.76, range: 18–80 years). We conducted robust linear regression models to investigate the influence of age at initial abduction, traumatic load, combat experience, and biological sex on appetitive aggression as well as their perpetrated violent acts. Our study shows, appetitive aggression and the number of perpetrated violent acts were specifically increased in individuals who were abducted young, experienced several traumatic events in their lifetime, and with previous combat experience. For perpetrated violence men showed increased levels whereas for appetitive aggression the association was independent of biological sex. Therefore, early abducted individuals with a higher traumatic load, who have combat experience, need to be given special intervention to prevent any further violence.
Subject headings
[GND]: Psychisches Trauma | Kind[MeSH]: Adverse childhood experiences | Stress disorders, Traumatic | Psychological trauma | Child abuse | Violence
[Free subject headings]: abduction | appetitive aggression | Lord's Resistance Army | sensitive period | traumatic load | violence | MALTREATMENT | PSYCHOPATHY | CONSEQUENCES | CONFLICT | SYMPTOMS | SOLDIERS | CHILDREN
[DDC subject group]: DDC 150 / Psychology | DDC 570 / Life sciences
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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://dx.doi.org/10.18725/OPARU-38078
Zeller, Anja Carina et al. (2021): A combination of combat experience, early abduction, and severe traumatization fuels appetitive aggression and violence among abductees of rebel war in Northern Uganda. Open Access Repositorium der Universität Ulm und Technischen Hochschule Ulm. http://dx.doi.org/10.18725/OPARU-38078
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