Suggesting Indicators of Superficiality and Purity in Verbal Aggressiveness: An Application in Adult Education Class Networks of Prison Inmates

Aim of this research is to suggest indicators, based on social network analysis, that distinguish superficial, idiosyncratic and strategic verbal aggressiveness. Two classes of an adult education school (at secondary level) in a prison have been selected as network samples (A class = 23 and B class = 12 prisoners). Complete network analysis has been applied, using standardized questionnaires. The network variables have further processed through Pearson correlation. Indicators of superficial and pure roles, particularly incremental and proportional behavior, have been applied in two forms of verbal aggressiveness (criticism and threatening). The superficial behavior (SB: outdegree of verbal aggressiveness) seems to be a quite sensitive indicator, as it presents correlations with various other relational forms of familiarity, aggressiveness and appreciation/socialization. The incremental behavior (IB: difference of received from outgoing actions) is also a sensitive indicator, revealing, however, different results. Pure aggressiveness (in terms of difference) seems to be related with quite different causes and/or occasions than the superficial aggressiveness. Incremental behavior is likely to be at first place driven by the idiosyncrasy rather than by exogenous factors and seems to constitute a completely different notion than the SB. The proportional behavior (PB: ration of outgoing to the received actions) of aggression is a quite insensitive indicator, as it depends only on a few behavioral variables. It seems to reveal a rational strategy of adaptability. Thus, it characteristically differs from the indicators of superficiality (expressing reciprocity patterns) and of the incremental aggressiveness (expressing individualism).