PSYCHOBIOLOGICAL STUDY OF DELINQUENTS

• NCJ Number: 54714
• Author(s): G HILSHEIMER
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 387 pages
• Corporate Author: Humanist Press
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Thesis/Dissertation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY INSTITUTE - DOCTORAL DISSERTATION

Annotation

USING A SAMPLE OF 114 JUVENILE DELINQUENTS, THIS STUDY EXAMINES DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DELINQUENT AND NONDELINQUENTS USING THE HYPOTHESIS THAT DELINQUENCY IS MEDIATED BY HYPOTHALAMIC ADAPTATION RESPONSE.

Abstract

THE AIM OF THE STUDY IS TO DISCOVER IF THERE IS ANY UTILITY TO THE CONCEPT 'DELINQUENT,' OTHER THAN A SOCIAL DEFINITION, IF A STABLE COMPLEX OF DYSFUNCTIONS INTEFERING WITH VERBAL LEARNING MAY CONTRIBUTE TO DELINQUENCY, AND IF A STABLE COMPLEX OF INTERFERENCES WITH EMOTIONAL LEARNING MAY BE A CONTRIBUTER. A MATRIX IS PROPOSED FOR CONSIDERING DELINQUENCY ON STRUCTURES WHICH 'EXPLAIN' DIABETES MELLITUS, CERVICAL CANCER, STRESS LESIONS, OTHER BIOLOGICAL FACTORS, LIFE EVENTS RESEARCH, AND HUMANISTIC INTERVENTIONS WHICH RELIEVE PROFOUND RETARDATION BY REMOVING CHILDREN FROM PATHOGENIC ENVIRONMENTS. THEN THEORIES OF PSYCHOPATHOLOGY CAUSES ARE REVIEWED AND A METHOD OF CONSIDERING THE HYPOTHALAMIC EXECUTIVE IS SUGGESTED. THE SAMPLE OF DELINQUENTS ARE ASSIGNED TO ONE OF NINE CATEGORIES: ADJUSTMENT REACTION, BEHAVIOR DISORDER, HYPERACTIVE LEARNING DISABILITY, PSYCHOPATHIC CRIMINAL RECIDIVISM, CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM DISORDER, TWO ACUTE SCHIZOPHRENIAS, HYPOACTIVE LEARNING DISABLED, AND CHRONIC PATIENTS. MEASUREMENTS WERE MADE ON THE SUBJECTS USING PAPER AND PENCIL INSTRUMENTS, MINOR PHYSICAL ANOMALIES, BLOOD CELLS, LIPIDS, GLUCOSE, BALACTOSE, INSULIN AND THYROID, SKIN REACTIONS TO ALLERGENS, METALS, AND 27 NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL TASKS. RESULTS OF DATA ANALYSIS SUGGEST THAT AGITATED ACTIVE DELINQUENTS ARE OVERSUPPLIED WITH ADRENOCORTICOTROPHIC HORMONE AND ARE INHIBITED IN THE VENTROMEDIAL HYPOTHALAMUS, WHILE INACTIVE ADOLESCENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES ARE UNDERSUPPLIED WITH THE HORMONE AND THE VENTROMEDIAL HYPOTHALAMUS IS ACTIVATED CHRONICALLY. THESE DATA INDICATE THAT THE HYPOTHALAMICALLY ORCHESTRATED NEUROENDOCRINE MESSENGER SYSTEM IS DERANGED IN THE DELINQUENT SUBJECTS AS COMPARED TO A NORMAL CONTROL GROUP. REFERENCES, METHODOLOGY, AND TABULAR DATA ARE APPENDED. (DAG)