Aggression, Relative

Deprivation and Revolt

 Theories on Aggression

 Aggression as a basic Human Instinct

 Support /Justification
 Darwinism
 Ethology
 Sociobiology
 Aggressive behavior and genetics
 Aggression and the Brain
 Endocrine system
 Social Learning Theory (External Factors)
 Conditioning
 Operant conditioning
 Observational learning
 Psychoanalytic theory
 Relative Deprivation Equation
 Intensity of relative deprivation
 + potential for collective violence
(social discontent/unrest)
 + potential for political violence
(political discontent)
 = magnitude of political violence
(revolutions)
 Ted Robert Gurr. Why Men Rebel, Princeton, 1970
 Aggressive Catharsis
 Frustration - Aggression hypothesis
Unpleasant experience

Negative feelings

Object/events w/
aggressive meaning Angry thoughts and
associations

Fight
Student Unrest in Nigeria
Angry Youth
How could you make right look wrong?
And wrong look right?

When your rights are gone

Your rights are gone
Your rights are gone
Your rights are gone
Your rights

What you gonna do when your backs against the wall?

Are you gonna lay down on the ground? Or be a man and stand up tall?
Seeking for a reason; always searching for the truth

You gotta fight, fight, fight! Cause we are the angry youth.
I'm broke with no money trying to make some ends
Thinking about the situation how I'm gonna win
Be at the top of my game and have a little bit of cash

Angry youth pissed off at the government

It feels like punishment, They run from it
Dipping, tripping trying to stay high
Laughing, joking just to get by

What you think the youth is just gonna back off?

With your blatant lies, and your crooked views.
Hate to be the bearer of bad news
Time change, game over that's it your through
Moving in like a bulldozer I'm plowing
It's what we want, not what you're allowing
We're all grown up now, the rules have changed
It's time to interrupt this whole world game
What you gonna do when your backs against the wall?

What you gonna do when your backs against the wall?

Are you gonna lay down on the ground? Or be a man and stand up

Kottonmouth Kings
 Backgound of Student Unrest
 Student unrest is a recurring socio-political
theme in Nigerian history
 National Union of Nigerian Students (NUNS)
banned by General Olusegun Obasanjo in April
1978, due to a student uprising over a proposed
fee increase, feeding, and boarding conditions.
 NUNS reformed as National Association of
Nigerian Students (NANS) in 1979, and was
banned by President Babangida in 1986.
 1999, 2004, saw increased mobilization and
student unrest on a national scale in Nigeria
 Social Learning
 Conditioning:
 Because the university system in Nigeria began during the
period of the nationalist anticolonial struggle, most
university students are taught to be anticolonial
nationalists. From here, they developed the tradition of not
only activism but of a radical, progressive political culture
which has been sustained over the years
 Observational Learning:
 Students may result to protest after observing frustrated
civic (political groups) use protest to engage Nigeria’s
authoritarian government, and the social change that have
resulted from these protests
 Causes of Student Revolts
 Relative Deprivation
 Rising Expectations
 Nigerian students enjoy an elite status (increased social
status, welfare) in society, only a small fraction of high school
students can afford college, and Nigerian universities are
located in the most exclusive parts of the county, this creates
 Diminishing returns
 Due to the instability of the political structure (schools are
closed during every conflict/protest that arises in the country),
corruption, and other economic and social factors, students
must contend with poor funding, inadequate facilities,
examination malpractice (abandonment of academic
standards), frequent strikes, etc
 Frustration-Aggression

 Mass discontent ensues due to gap between

expectations and reality, as disillusionment
and frustration occurs after attempts at
peaceful resolutions are successfully
blocked. This often leads students to violently
protest, and revolt against the establishment
in order to gain power ( i.e. the ability to
participate in decision making processes at
their University).
 Discussion Questions
 Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis and Rational Choice
 In the example of the Nigerian Student Revolt, can the decision

to revolt be explained by the Rational Choice Theory? If so how?

 Face and Relative Deprivation
 What part does face (or the potential lost of face) play in the

creation of relative deprivation in the Nigerian Student example?

 Aggressive Catharsis and Structural Violence
 On a broader scale, can an argument be made that structural

violence is in affect what is occurring in Nigeria, due to the

elitist/classis stature that the educated enjoy in society? Can
aggressive catharsis resulting from this type of violence explain
the constant eruption of conflict in the country?