The Aggressive Constellation manifests itself as compulsive aggressive behavior.
The manic-aggressive is always in a confrontational and polemic mood with an irresistible urge to argue. Sudden aggressive outbursts, verbal eruptions (yelling, using an insulating language), or fits of anger and rage are usually triggered through setting on a conflict track. The encounter with a track (a particular person, situation, subject) is like pushing a button and, without warning, the person snaps, loses control, lashes out, and becomes destructive or violent. What is the purpose of this behavior? For a human (or animal) that is driven into a dead-end situation from where there is no way out, the aggressive act is the last resort of defense. It is the last chance to defend one’s territory and to secure one’s place.
The manic-aggressive is, therefore, able to develop extraordinary strength and toughness, both physically and mentally. Thus, the Aggressive Constellation also creates the rebel, the subversive, the revolutionary, and the activist who fights for his ideas to the very end (in this context, Dr. Hamer referred to the Aggressive Constellation as to the “Hero Constellation”). People in this constellation excel through their resoluteness, strong willpower, and boldness.
The Aggressive Constellation has a significant influence on a person’s interests. Here we find, for example, the manic lawyer who turns his compulsion to argue into a professional career. People in this constellation often show a passion for combat sport or fighting sports such as boxing, wrestling, karate, or Mixed Martial Arts. They gravitate towards loud and heavy music (hardcore, punk, metal) with aggressive sounds and angry texts that match their emotions (in comparison, a person in a Postmortal Constellation is rather drawn to melancholic music).
Engaging in reckless behavior (reckless driving, speeding) and seeking out risky situations also reveals an Aggressive Constellation. The consumption of alcohol amplifies the manic state!
When children are verbally or physically aggressive, when they are disruptive, disobedient, resentful, act out in class, bully other children, or throw a tantrum, the aggressive behavior is nowadays considered a symptom of “Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder” (see ADHD related to a (Post)Sensory Cortex Constellation) or “Oppositional Defiant Disorder”. With GNM we learn to understand that their aggressive conduct is the result of territorial anger conflicts (anger at home, anger at school) and identity conflicts (not knowing where to belong), which is the typical conflict combination of children in today's society (children of divorced parents, of single mothers, of “patchwork families”). The GNM approach focuses, therefore, on addressing the circumstances of the related conflicts rather than on administering drugs such as Ritalin. The best way for parents to prevent or stop the aggressive behavior is to give their children a secure and stable home so that they “know where they belong”. Disciplining a child only reinforces the constellation.
An Aggressive Constellation, whether in children or grown-ups, could also express itself as passive-aggressive behavior displayed, for example, as offensive “silent treatment”, deliberate procrastination, a planned failure to accomplish requested tasks, or as backhanded compliments. Passive aggressive people tend to be sarcastic and scornful. Their style of communication has a vicious edge, their hostile attitude and insulting remarks are intended to hurt the other person. With a maturity stop, the adult acts child-like (pouts, behaves defiantly) with an unwillingness to resolve any dispute.
An Aggressive Constellation is the underlying cause of domestic violence. The aggressive act is typically provoked by a track that was established when the territorial anger conflict or identity conflict first occurred. The same conflicts lie at the root of violent outbreaks in psychiatric institutions or penitentiaries.
Aggression and Substance Abuse: Because of the changed brain vibration under the influence of alcohol, an intoxicated person acts already constellated with only one conflict that corresponds to the temporal lobes. Depending on the exact conflict, the individual becomes lecherous (Casanova Constellation), libidinous (Nympho Constellation), talks excessively (Mytho Constellation), withdraws socially (Autistic Constellation), or, with an Aggressive Constellation, becomes belligerent.
Whereas the manic-aggressive directs the aggression against others, the depressed-aggressive directs the aggression towards himself. Here we find, for example, the hypochondriac with an obsessive need to suffer as well as the masochist who gets pleasure from physical pain. His counterpart is the manic sadist, who is driven to inflicting pain on others. Sexual sado-masochism is, in GNM terms, an Aggressive Constellation paired with a Casanova Constellation or Nympho Constellation.
Among today's children and adolescents, self-injury is increasing in an alarmingly fast rate. Self-mutilation involves behaviors such as cutting oneself with scissors, razors, or knives, burning or branding one’s skin with hot objects, obsessive skin picking (dermatillomania) to the point of bleeding, compulsive hair-pulling (trichtilomania), or head-banging – linked to anger at home, anger at school (territorial anger conflict) and “not knowing where to belong” or “not fitting in” (identity conflict).
With a concurrent Postmortal Constellation (Suicide Constellation) the depressed-aggressive develops suicidal thoughts. Due to the Aggressive Constellation, the suicidal fantasies are violent and graphic; they might include images of being cruelly murdered. The suicidal act, prompted by a shift into a manic state, is therefore also performed in a brutal manner such as killing oneself with a fire gun, setting oneself on fire (self-immolation), or self-stabbing (compare with non-violent suicide related to a Postmortal Constellation). The suicide is usually motivated by the intention to hurt the one (partner, parent) who is associated with the territorial anger or identity conflict.
Case Study “Suicidal Thoughts and Aggravated Assaults”: The case concerns Juergen B., a 34-year old, left-handed male from Germany. In August 1977, Juergen, then 14, went with other children on a holiday trip to Italy. His father was very ill at the time and asked his son to stay with him. When Juergen returned home, his mother was dressed in black. She told him that his father had passed away while he was gone.
The Aggressive Constellation explains spontaneous crimes such as murder. With acute conflict activity, the manic-aggressive is a walking time bomb ready to kill. The trigger for executing the violent act is, typically, set off by setting on a mania-related track such as a recurring argument or through the encounter with a person or people associated with the conflict. If someone is going through a depression (primary depression) due to a territorial anger or identity conflict and suffers all of a sudden a strong DHS that activates an Aggressive Constellation (see conflict sequence), a good-tempered individual can turn violent from one moment to the next and run amok. Family tragedies such as killing a parent, one’s spouse and children, or murder out of jealousy as well as school shootings are the tragic outcomes.
From the GNM perspective, murder-suicide is caused by an acute manic-depressive state, involving next to the Aggressive Constellation a Postmortal Constellation - a fatal combination of territorial loss conflicts, sexual conflicts, territorial anger conflicts, and identity conflicts.
Aggressive Constellation combined with other constellations
With GNM we have for the first time the research that reveals the biological makeup of a criminal offender. We learn to understand from the perspective of biological conflicts why a person is capable of committing a brutal assault such as homicide. The Aggressive Constellation explains why children who experienced violence at home (territorial anger conflicts and identity conflicts) become violent themselves when they grow up. It has nothing to do with genetic factors, as suggested. If the underlying conflicts are not addressed, the person will be drawn to commit the same crime again after the release from prison or when on parole. What is called in criminology a “chronic criminal offense” is, in GNM terms, a chronically recurring Aggressive Constellation reactivated through tracks or conflict relapses. Dr. Hamer's discoveries offer an entirely new approach for the therapeutic work with inmates!