NCJ Number
120865
Date Published
1987
Length
237 pages
Annotation
This book, based on the author's concern about violence in society, focuses on physiological aspects of violence and aggression.
Abstract
Chapter One uses four fictional cases (an irate husband; a contract killer; a young, emotional guardsman; a seemingly pleasant but actually depraved bank teller) to make broad points in reality: 1) There are a number of different kinds of aggression which, if not properly distinguished, result in confusion; 2) Each kind of aggression, except that of the contract killer, corresponds to an identifiable neural mechanism and is based on emotion; 3) The aggression of the contract killer is the result of learning experience; and 4) The specific neural systems that underlie each type of aggression always interact with brain traces laid down during experience. Nine other chapters detail the problem of violence and aggression and present a bio-experimental model for theoretical issues such as internal/external stimulation; concepts such as territoriality; physiological and chemical phenomena such as brain tumors, the menstrual cycle, allergies, drugs, and testosterone; and the potential for neurological and pharmaceutical interventions for inhibiting aggression. Notes, index, glossary, 2 appendixes, 631 references.