NCJ Number
56373
Date Published
1978
Length
28 pages
Annotation
BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE RAPIST AND ORGANIC METHODS OF TREATMENT OF AGGRESSIVE SEXUAL DISORDERS ARE PRESENTED.
Abstract
GENETIC FACTORS HAVE BEEN IMPLICATED IN A VARIETY OF PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS INCLUDING SCHIZOPHRENIA, AND EVIDENCE SUGGESTS THAT CONSTITUTIONAL AND INHERITED FACTORS MAY PREDISPOSE A PERSON TO SOCIOPATHY AND CRIMINALITY. CERTAIN PATTERNS OF PERSONALITIES, INCLUDING ANTISOCIAL AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN PATIENTS WITH KLINEFELTER'S SYNDROME. BRAIN PATHOLOGY CAN LEAD TO PERSONALITY CHANGES, BUT IT IS NOT CLEAR TO WHAT EXTENT CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM DYSFUNCTION CAN PRODUCE SEXUAL DEVIATION OR ABNORMAL AGGRESSION. THERE IS DATA, HOWEVER, TO SUPPORT THE CLAIM THAT THERE IS A CLOSE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN EPILEPSY AND ABNORMAL SEXUAL BEHAVIOR IN SOME PATIENTS. OF ALL THE EPILEPSIES, TEMPORAL LOBE EPILEPSY IS MOST CLEARLY ASSOCIATED WITH CHANGES OR ABNORMALITIES IN SEXUAL AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR. IN ADDITION TO EPILEPSY AND GENERALIZED BRAIN DYSFUNCTION, THERE ARE REPORTS OF SPECIFIC NEUROLOGICAL CONDITIONS, USUALLY LESIONS AND TUMORS, ASSOCIATED WITH SPECIFIC SEXUAL DISORDERS AND DEVIATIONS. STUDIES OF TESTOSTERONE AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN A LARGE NUMBER OF SPECIES. IN GENERAL, THESE STUDIES INDICATE THE IMPORTANCE OF ANDROGENS IN ESTABLISHING A BIOLOGICAL READINESS TO AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR. HOWEVER, THEY ALSO INDICATE THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL FACTORS AND LEARNING ON THE ACTUAL EXPRESSION OF AGGRESSION IN ADULTHOOD. FEW STUDIES HAVE BEEN DONE, HOWEVER, ON THE ASSOCIATION OF PLASMA TESTOSTERONE LEVEL WITH AGGRESSION OR VIOLENCE IN HUMANS, ALTHOUGH SOME STUDIES INDICATE THAT TESTOSTERONE MAY CORRELATE MORE WITH THE STATE OF HOSTILITY RATHER THAN THE TRAIT. HISTORICALLY, THE METHOD FOR TREATMENT OF SEXUAL DEVIANCE WAS CASTRATION, BUT PSYCHOSURGERY HAS ALSO BEEN USED TO TREAT A VARIETY OF MENTAL DISORDERS. A NUMBER OF INVESTIGATORS HAVE REPORTED THE USE OF VARIOUS DRUGS IN THE TREATMENT OF SEXUAL DEVIATION; ONE OF THE FIRST STUDIES ON THE USE OF A HORMONE IN TREATMENT WAS REPORTED BY RUBENSTEIN AND KURLAND. VARIOUS PHENOTHIAZINES HAVE BEEN RECOMMENDED IN THE TREATMENT OF SEX OFFENDERS. A WIDE VARIETY OF DRUGS HAVE BEEN STUDIED INCLUDING THE MAJOR TRANQUILIZERS AND CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM DEPRESSANTS. AT PRESENT THERE IS NO SPECIFIC DRUG THAT IS THE TREATMENT OF CHOICE FOR VIOLENT OFFENDERS, SINCE THE EXACT MECHANISM OF ACTION OF AGGRESSIVE SEXUAL BEHAVIOR IS UNKNOWN. REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (STB)