John Gottman’s work on aggression

I was pleased to find a link to John Gottman’s 1995 study on domestic violence that did not require access from a university electronic library. Please click on the link below to take a look.

The Relationship Between Heart Rate Reactivity, Emotionally Aggressive Behavior, and General Violence in Batterers

The study is very interesting, for numerous reasons, particularly because the research team found two types of men when exploring domestic violence. Low and behold, one type is the psychopath, and the other type is the reactively aggressive individual. The study explores the physiology of both types of men, and finds a number of differences – such as low resting heart rate in the psychopathic, and that the psychopathic levels of aggression always seem to exceed the reactively aggressive.

One of the most chilling points the research team found was that when they followed up about a year later to look at how many of the couples had broken up, NONE of the couples with the psychopath had split up. This just goes to show how good these people can become at keeping others under their heel.

Well worth a look.

UFC Rogues Gallery

From some casual research it did not take long to run into some incredibly disturbing individuals who have all fought in the octagon. I’m not against professional fighting, and I will admit that I have not watched as much UFC as I would have liked to. My interest in fighters comes from enjoying a good fight, but also trying to figure out the kind of guys that get involved in this career. Unfortunately, a handful of these fighters really stand out.

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson

This guy, who fairly recently played B.A. in the new “A-Team” movie, has a fairly interesting past. As reported in the New York Times, he sold crack at the age of 8, was charged for assaulting a member of his wrestling team at a community college in North California, and in 2008 was arrested at gunpoint after a hit and run where he hit three other vehicles and narrowly missed numerous pedestrians. His reason for the latter was because he was depressed, sleep-deprived, and had consumed nothing but energy drinks.

Jackson, who first came to my attention on Gals guide to MMA, went on camera while in Japan getting numerous Japanese people, whose English was not great, to repeat really reprehensible phrases, apparently for fun. The video is really quite despicable, especially since the Japanese on camera are clearly excited to see an American celebrity.

Forrest Griffin & Miguel Torres

Forrest Griffin, on the left, and Miguel Torres on the right, have both joked about rape.

Forrest Griffin tweeted, “Rape is the new missionary,” and when a female fan protested, his reply was, “Keep it to yourself nobody cares.”

Miguel Torres, also used Twitter to say, “If a rape van was called a surprise van, more women wouldn’t mind going for rides in them. Everyone likes surprises.” – Torres, unlike Griffin, was actually removed from the UFC.

Jarrod Wyatt

Jarrod Wyatt cut out the eyes, tongue, and heart of his sparring partner, Taylor Powell, and perhaps other body parts, too. He had attempted to cook the heart.

Apparently under the influence of mushrooms, Jarrod was convinced of the imminent arrival of a tidal wave and that Taylor had Satan in him; because of this “end times” scenario, the acts were justified to Jarrod. Jarrod made no attempt at masking/disguising the crime, in fact, he told the arresting officer that Taylor had Satan in him.

This case is still on-going. A new D.A. in California, Jon Alexander, has recently had the initial charges dismissed and re-filed to include a capital offense

Fernando Rodrigues

Fernando Rodrigues has been arrested for assault and road rage. He has also been charged with assault with a firearm, burglary, and using a deadly weapon (which in this case is his hands and feet – he is a Brazilian Jujitsu master).

Rodrigues has served two tours of duty in Iraq, although I have not seen any mention of PTSD.