NCJ Number
57523
Date Published
1975
Length
9 pages
Annotation
THIS ARTICLE FROM THE SYMPOSIUM ON NEURAL BASES OF VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION PRESENTS FINDINGS OF AN ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPHIC STUDY OF 333 PRISONERS, SUGGESTING ABNORMALITIES IN THE SUBJECTS' BRAIN STEMS.
Abstract
THE ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAPH (EEG) DOES NOT PRODUCE AN INDEX OF A SUBJECT'S CAPACITY TO THINK REASONABLY, TO EXPERIENCE EMOTION, OR TO ENGAGE IN SOCIABLE RELATIONSHIPS. THE DEVICE, HOWEVER, MAY BE USEFUL IN SUGGESTING THE CAUSES OF DISORDER OF THE HIGHER BRAIN FUNCTIONS. EARLY RESEARCH USING THE EEG REVEALED THE LIMITATIONS OF THE TECHNOLOGY AND CONCLUDED THAT CEREBRAL DYSRHYTHMIA DOES NOT CAUSE CRIME, BUT IS A SIGN OF ORGANIC DISORDER WHICH LOWERS IMPULSE CONTROL. SUBSEQUENT EXAMINATION OF 333 PRISONERS, CHOSEN RANDOMLY FROM 1250 PRISONERS AWAITING TRIAL FOR OR CONVICTED OF VIOLENT CRIMES, INDICATES THAT 65 PERCENT OF THE HABITUALLY AGGRESSIVE INMATES HAVE ABNORMAL EEG TRACES. ONLY 24.4 PERCENT OF THE NON-HABITUALLY VIOLENT PRISONERS HAD SUCH ABNORMALITIES. AN OTHERWISE NORMAL PERPETRATOR OF AN ISOLATED VIOLENT CRIME HAS THE SAME CHANCE OF HAVING AN ABNORMAL EEG AS HAS THE GENERAL POPULATION, BUT OVER HALF OF THE INMATES WITH HABITUAL AGGRESSIVENESS, EXCLUDING EPILEPTICS AND THE RETARDED, HAVE A CHANCE OF EEG ABNORMALITY. SUCH ABNORMALITY IS DIRECTLY RELATED TO DISTURBED BEHAVIOR AND IS ONE OF MANY FACTORS CAUSING DEVIANCE. THE COMPLETE EEG DATA SUGGEST THAT THE CAUSE OF ABNORMALITIES MAY BE IN THE ACTIVATING MECHANISMS OF THE UPPER BRAIN STEM AND LIMBIC SYSTEMS, RATHER THAN IN THE TEMPORAL CORTEX. NEUROSURGICAL REMOVAL OF THE CORTEX, THEREFORE, WOULD NOT MAKE BEHAVIOR LESS AGGRESSIVE. TABULAR DATA AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (TWK)