NCJ Number
153779
Journal
Journal of Offender Rehabilitation Volume: 21 Issue: 3/4 Dated: (1994) Pages: complete issue
Editor(s)
M Hillbrand,
N J Pallone
Date Published
1994
Length
243 pages
Annotation
This compilation of papers, written by researchers in the fields of psychobiology and neuropsychiatry, deals with the psychobiological engines of aggression, the measurement of psychobiogenic aggression, and the psychopharmacological control of aggression.
Abstract
In outlining the evolutionary context of a possible link between testosterone and aggression, the first paper indicates that studies of aggressive and nonaggressive groups show higher testosterone levels in aggressive individuals. The second paper reports that decreased serotonin function is highly correlated with aggression across a number of different experimental paradigms. A review of the acute effects of alcohol on aggression in the third paper concludes that moderate alcohol use does not increase aggression if subjects are unprovoked. Under provocative conditions, however, aggression increases as a function of alcohol intoxication. Studies of the relationship between cerebral lateralization and aggressive behavior reported in the fourth paper demonstrate that individuals with abnormal cerebral lateralization patterns are overrepresented among violent individuals. Other papers show that persons who have suffered traumatic injury to the brain may subsequently display aggressive behavior; that specific biochemical alterations occur among forensic patients manifesting chronically aggressive behavior patterns; and that diet may be associated with or exacerbate such conditions as learning disabilities, poor impulse control, intellectual deficits, violent tendencies, hyperactivity, and drug abuse. One paper explores the link between neuroimaging and aggression and presents two alternative positions: (1) frontal lobe dysfunction may be associated with sexual offending and fronto-temporal dysfunction may be associated with violent sexual offending; and (2) anterior brain dysfunction may represent a general predisposition to offending regardless of dysfunction location. Final papers focus on measuring aggression in children with disruptive behavior disorders; correlates of suicide and violence risk; experiences of chronically aggressive psychiatric patients; and the use of antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, beta- blockers, and lithium in treating aggression in adult psychiatric patients. References, notes, tables, and figures