NCJ Number
180824
Date Published
1999
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This chapter considers the research evidence that supports biological explanations of men's violence against women.
Abstract
The chapter focuses on current research regarding psychobiological intra-individual determinants of battery, aggression, and violence, specifically, empirical support for O'Neil and Harways (1997) biological, neuroanatomical, and hormonal content-area hypotheses. One of these hypotheses is that testosterone or hormonal levels in men contribute to violence toward women. The second hypothesis is that neuroanatomical differences or other biological factors in men produce men's tendency to be violent toward women. This review considers genetic theories, endocrine theories, neurotransmitter theories, and brain dysfunction theories. The chapter concludes that there is little support for the hypothesis that hormones predispose men to batter, although other endocrine functions may contribute to violence. In contrast, the data are persuasive in showing that in a certain percentage of cases, abnormal brain functioning is the predisposing factor in violent behavior, but not the actual triggering event.