Adolescents' Aggression: A Triangular Perspective Analysis

Aggression is a forceful behaviour, action or attitude that is expressed physically, verbally or symbolically. Aggressive behaviour has become a topic of vital importance and a major concern in most of the societies. Identifying, controlling and managing highly aggressive behaviour and its ill effect of school going adolescents have not yet been a major focus of education system of India. Hence, the present study was undertaken to identify the types and level of aggression of adolescents. The study was conducted in Biswanath district of Assam. A total of 150 adolescents of the age group of 14-16 yrs studying in class IX were selected from two government schools. A standardized questionnaire namely Direct and Indirect Aggression Scales developed was used to collect data from self, peers and teachers to find out the prevalence of aggression among adolescents. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. The findings of the study revealed that three types of aggression viz., physical verbal and social were present among the respondents which were categorized as high, average and low. According to self, physical and social aggression were most frequently showed by the adolescents. Verbal aggression was more prevalent among the respondents and almost similar percentage of them frequently showed physical and social aggression as perceived by teachers. According to peers' report, both physical and verbal aggression was frequently shown by the respondents.