Cycle of Violence

Attachment Theory

Attachment theory is based on the assumption that human attachment and relationships are an essential aspect of behavior development. Insecure attachments, or childhood relationships that are unstable, may lead to a breakdown in internal information processing methods. In other words, children who have insecure parental relationships, which are often characterized by abuse, may fail to develop a method to interpret social cues. This failure may further lead a child to respond to ambiguous situations with aggression (Dodge, Bates, and Pettit, 1990). Furthermore, attachment theory relates the development of conscience to early maternal bonding. Poor bonds in early childhood are considered the source of the antisocial personality. Another factor related to the maternal bond's influence on the cycle of violence is domestic violence. Some researchers believe that when a mother is being battered, her ability to be sensitive to the delicate developmental needs of her child are grossly impaired, and attachment becomes difficult.

Social Learning Theory

The basic premise of social learning theory is that “what you see, you learn, and what you learn, you are.” In other words, abused children may learn through experience with their parents that violence is a natural and acceptable way to respond to stress and conflict. This type of learning is achieved through modeling. Social learning theory is much more complex than this, however, and also assumes that behavior is reinforced through positive and negative consequences and rewards. Violence is either rewarded or punished, which further leads to either an increase or decrease in the behavior. Naturally, because violence is not socially acceptable, we would assume it would either be punished or not rewarded and would thus decrease. However, differential reinforcement theory, an offshoot of social learning theory, hypothesizes that the social reinforcement of rewards and punishments become secondary to internal reinforcers. Therefore, the product of violence itself may be the reinforcer.

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