FORTY-SEVEN, XYY CHROMOSOMAL ABNORMALITY - A CRITICAL APPRAISAL WITH RESPECT TO ANTISOCIAL AND VIOLENT BEHAVIOR (FROM ISSUES IN BRAIN/BEHAVIOR CONTROL, 1967, BY W L SMITH AND A KLINE - SEE NCJ-57467)

• NCJ Number: 57469
• Author(s): S A SHAH
• Date Published: 1976
• Length: 19 pages
• Corporate Author: Spectrum Publications, Inc
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

AVAILABLE EVIDENCE ON XYY CHROMOSOMAL ABNORMALITIES AND THEIR ROLE IN VIOLENT AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR ARE REVIEWED, AND IT IS ARGUED THAT GENE STUDIES HAVE NOT ESTABLISHED THE EXTRA Y'S ASSOCIATION WITH DEVIANCE.

Abstract

STUDIES OF THE PREVALENCE OF XYY'S IN GENERAL AND SPECIAL POPULATIONS (I.E., MENTAL HOSPITALS AND PRISONS) HAVE RESULTED IN VARYING FINDINGS, ALTHOUGH A 1974 STUDY INDICATED A SLIGHTLY LOWER RATE IN THE GENERAL POPULATION THAN DID EARLIER RESEARCH--1 XYY PER 1,500 TO 3,000 MALES. THE RESULTS OF OTHER STUDIES UNDERTAKEN TO DETERMINE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE XYY CHROMOSOMAL COMPLEMENT AND BEHAVIORAL, PERSONALITY, AND PSYCHIATRIC CHARACTERISTICS HAVE BEEN EQUALLY DISPARATE AND INCONCLUSIVE. BEHAVIORAL STUDIES ARE LIMITED BY THE FACT THAT HUMAN BEHAVIOR IS VERY COMPLEX, FLUID, AND SUBJECT TO ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS WHICH MAY LEAD TO THE ARBITRARY LABELING OF AN INDIVIDUAL'S CONDUCT AS AGGRESSIVE. STUDIES FOCUSING ON THE PSYCHIATRIC AND PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS OF XYY'S HAVE USED A BROAD ARRAY OF RESEARCH VARIABLES AND METHODS, BUT THEIR FINDINGS REMAIN CONSISTENTLY INSIGNIFICANT IN THE STATISTICAL SENSE. MOREOVER, STUDIES OF THE BEHAVIOR OF XYY MALES IDENTIFIED WITHIN PRISON POPULATIONS HAVE YIELDED PARADOXICAL RESULTS: XYY MALES APPEAR TO DISPLAY BETTER INSTITUTIONAL BEHAVIOR AND ADJUSTMENT THAN DO NORMAL XY CONTROLS. RESEARCHERS AND POLICYMAKERS SHOULD BE SENSITIVE TO THE FACT THAT NO CLEAR ASSOCIATION HAS BEEN PROVEN BETWEEN THE EXTRA Y CHROMOSOME AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR, AND CAUTION SHOULD BE EXERCISED IN INTERPRETING STUDY RESULTS. REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (DAG)