Browse
Health Pages
Categories
Menu

Understanding Aggression And Destructive Behavior In Autism

by — 2020-01-08 in Mental Health
Research shows that autistic people are more likely than others to become aggressive — but why? And is everything that looks aggressive really so?

What do you think of when you hear the word "aggression"? Chances are that you believe you've got a pretty good handle on what this word means, and that you define aggression as behaviors like yelling (including profanities), pushing your shopping cart into the person in front of you, honking repeatedly to convey your anger at another driver, or, of course, straight-up punching someone or even murdering them. You may also include self-harming behaviors, like drinking too much or causing injuries to the self, under the general aggression umbrella.

Research indicates that autistic people are more likely than neurotypical ones to be aggressive — over half are estimated to have been aggressive towards a caregiver, while nearly a third have been aggressive towards other people. This aggression represents yet another challenge autistic people face in society, as data also clearly, and unsurprisingly, shows that aggression in autistic people harms the relationships they have, increases their risk of ending up in residential care, and makes them more likely to be victimized. 

Why do autistic people engage in aggressive and destructive behaviors, though? To be able to answer that question, we really have to go back to basics and take another look at what aggression really means, as well as examining the nature of autism. 

What is aggression?

OK, so this may seem like a stupid question to tackle — but it isn't. Aggression is, you see, defined as behavior committed with the intent of harming someone who did not consent to be harmed in social psychology. Destructive and harmful behaviors that weren't intended to harm aren't considered to constitute aggression. It's all about the motive, in other words. That motive isn't always clear goes without saying. We may interpret something as a deliberate act as aggression when it wasn't, sometimes because it seems like a person couldn't possibly have acted that way accidentally. 

What is autism?

This question is a bit too broad to answer completely here, but we'll say this — challenges in social communication and relationships, and repetitive behaviors are two of the features that lie at its core. Some autistic people are non-verbal, while others are rather eloquent but still struggle to fit into the daunting world of neurotypical social communication. This may mean speaking in a voice considered too loud or even angry, or having body language that doesn't seem to match what the person is verbally communicating.

Autistic people "stim" (short for self-stimulatory behavior) to self-soothe, and this may mean rocking, hand-flapping, repeating phrases, or letting out certain sounds. Autistic people find comfort in strict routines and struggle with change, sometimes to the point of meltdown. Autistic people can easily become overstimulated and overwhelmed by sensory stimuli non-autistic people would barely even notice, like smells, lights, background noise, or textures, sometimes to the point of meltdown. Autistic people often find comfort in engaging with their area of expertise (also called "autistic special interests"), and may melt down when they can't. 

A meltdown, by the way, may look like completely withdrawal — like the person just stops everything and hides away unable to communicate. It may also look like, well, like a tantrum. (Hint: It's not. Tantrums are intentional while meltdowns happen when a person loses control over themselves.)

What does this have to do with understanding aggressive and destructive behaviors in autism?

Destructive behavior and aggressive behavior aren't the same, once we take into account that aggression is defined as intentional. When you encounter an autistic person you interpret as being incredibly aggressive, they may be engaging in destructive behavior without being aggressive — without having made the choice to cause someone else harm. 

Research has found that autistic people often "become aggressive" to "gain access to ritualistic or repetitive behaviors". Once you understand autism a little better, it's not difficult to see why, and this finding essentially means that it isn't unusual to see something that looks a lot like aggression when:

  • An autistic person is being prevented from stimming, something they need to stay centered and functional. 
  • An autistic person has become distressed because of a change, and has a meltdown. 
  • An autistic person is overwhelmed by something in their environment, and loses control. 

Stims themselves may also become harmful and physically dangerous to others in a way that looks like aggression, and failed attempts to communicate can certainly become so frustrating that a meltdown results too. In these scenarios, it would be more accurate to speak of destructive or violent behavior without bring aggression, as an intentional act, into it. 

People on the spectrum can certainly also be aggressive, however! In fact, one study found that autistic people are more likely to practice a reactive kind of aggression than a proactive kind. This means that aggression is often the result of a trigger to which they're reacting. Examples would include punching someone who is trying to draw blood for a medical test, or letting out everything they can think of in response to being bullied. 

Why might an autistic person become aggressive? For some of the same reasons as everyone else, and then some. This is a challenge for autistic people and the neurotypical people around alike, but understanding what helps those on the spectrum function and what causes them difficulties should go a long way towards minimizing behaviors that are or look aggressive. 

Sources & Links

  • Photo courtesy of SteadyHealth

Post a comment