Extract

We live in a world of phenomena created by the human mind and experience. Some of these phenomena are conflict, aggression, aggressiveness and violence. They are seen as constructs of the mind, types of behaviour, particular experiences and emotional states, specific social interactions or even historical and political categories regarded as non-standard events (social movements, wars, angry social protests, etc.), Their ambiguity and complexity was not unnoticed by Camilla Pagani (2014, p. 100). Such a broad, imprecise understanding of these notions partly explains their overuse in the analysis and elucidation of social life. The alleged commonness and surface knowledge of the issues stem from the insufficient diversification of these terms, their improper understanding and, consequently, the often inadequate reactions to their symptoms. Despite the existence of the Seville Statements, recognised by UNESCO in 1986 as our heritage, there exist many areas of social life where the knowledge of the conditions and prophylactics of aggression, as well as good practice in this field, are ignored and omitted. These findings have been recently confirmed by the participants of the XXXVII CICA International Conference, Conflict and Aggression: Developmental and Social Conditions, held in Poland on the initiative of CICA, Kazimierz Wielki University and the University of Zielona Góra (June 21–25, 2014). During a debate entitled Aggression as a challenge for researchers, Lidia Cierpiałkowska, Hanna Liberska, Beata Pastwa-Wojciechowska, Zbigniew Izdebski and Marzanna Farnicka pointed out the difficulties in various spheres of science and social practice (education, medicine, administration, social...