Genetic Factors in Aggressive Behavior

Human aggression is one of the most fundamental phenomena with which we must deal. Maintained within reasonable limits, it underlies constructive competition in virtually all areas of human activity. Externally directed, it is necessary for hunting and for self-defense. Its neural and genetic substrates have evolutionary roots that make the study of animal societies and of our own primitive forebears relevant to the understanding of our species as it exists today. Internally directed, it becomes a destructive impulse for the self and for the species. A basic understanding of the roots of aggression is essential for the biologist, the therapist, and the social scientist alike. In order to discuss the problem of aggression from a conjoint genetic and psychoanalytic point of view, it is necessary to develop the matrix within which such a discussion becomes possible and potentially useful. Psychoanalysis is a science dealing with mental events in a developmental context. It postulates structures, among which there are interrelated feedback mechanisms and energies that are directing and directed. The interplay among these forces and structures over time determines personality and behavior as these are described