Cross-Cultural Variations in Aggressive Syndromes

Abstract

Sociocultural systems of behavior can be defined in much the same way as biological systems, although the principles of organization are of course different. On the broadest level, one may speak of the social system, using the generic singular to refer to a given society in its entirety. The biological equivalent would be the species. On a somewhat less general, but still very broad, level of organization, one may speak of certain institutionalized ways of behaving that help maintain a given social order. Examples within our own society would include the judicial system, the banking system, and the legislative system. As social systems and subsystems become more and more narrowly defined, we eventually come to the level of the social role. This is the level of organization that is most relevant to an analysis of emotional syndromes.