Apparent motives for aggression in the social context of the bar.

Abstract

Objective Little systematic research has focused on motivations for aggression and most of the existing research is qualitative and atheoretical. This study increases existing knowledge by using the theory of coercive actions to quantify the apparent motives of individuals involved in barroom aggression. Objectives were to examine: gender differences in the use of compliance, grievance, social identity, and excitement motives; how motives change during an aggressive encounter; and the relationship of motives to aggression severity. Method We analyzed 844 narrative descriptions of aggressive incidents observed in large late-night drinking venues as part of the Safer Bars evaluation. Trained coders rated each type of motive for the 1,507 bar patrons who engaged in aggressive acts. Results Women were more likely to be motivated by compliance and grievance, many in relation to unwanted sexual overtures from men; whereas men were more likely to be motivated by social identity concerns and excitement. Aggressive acts that escalated tended to be motivated by identity or grievance, with identity motivation especially associated with more severe aggression. Conclusions A key factor in preventing serious aggression is to develop approaches that focus on addressing identity concerns in the escalation of aggression and defusing incidents involving grievance and identity motives before they escalate. In bars, this might include training staff to recognize and defuse identity motives and eliminating grievance-provoking situations such as crowd bottlenecks and poorly managed queues. Preventive interventions generally need to more directly address the role of identity motives, especially among men.

The broader context of preventing alcohol‐related intimate partner violence

“…In terms of precipitators, alcohol‐related violence generally has been related to learn drinking cues such as male concerns about personal power and asserting social identity in drinking contexts. For example, insults are culturally defined precipitators for aggression by young men in bars .…”

“Blurred Lines?” Sexual Aggression and Barroom Culture

“…Such aggression may be related to the dominating role of masculine identity in public drinking settings (see Graham and Homel, 2008) related to male group bonding (Wells et al, 2011), to men asserting or defending their social identity (Graham et al, 2013) and to male attitudes toward women who drink in bars (Parks and Scheidt, 2000). Moreover, this culture is often reinforced by security staff (i.e., “bouncers”) who may do little to prevent sexual aggression because security staff culture is one of aggression and machismo (Hobbs et al, 2007) and staff may themselves engage in sexual harassment or refuse to help women because of the way that women are dressed or because they are intoxicated (deCrespigny, 2001).…”

Women's health and violence against women by spouses who are alcoholics

“…when one of the partners has been drinking, either she or he will not be fully able to address the possible conflict in a constructive manner since the alcohol had affected the cognitive functioning and judgment, the drinking partner may be more likely to lose the focus on giving an appropriate response to a perceived situation, insult or other wrongdoing by a partner and less likely to perceive the situation, insult or apparent wrongdoing from the partners perspective, or to note the situational or environmental factors that may have had the effect on the given situation, therefore the drinking partner might take a highly provocative and aggressive stance and act accordingly without thinking about consequences of such behavior, for men in particular the possible aggressive behaviours by a partner is perceived as threat to masculinity or social identity in general and thus it requires equal answer. [42,43]. Social and cultural perceptions of alcohol can also be influential where the acceptance and tolerance of alcohol-related misbehavior (aggression included), can impact drinkers' expectations about their behavior when drinking [44].…”