300451364-Testosterone
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Section 1
Violence is caused by many different situational and biological factors, thus the purpose of this paper is to examine one biological determinant – testosterone. Testosterone is an androgen that has been implicated in the development and maintenance of masculine characteristics in many species (Starzyk & Quinsey, 2001). An androgen is simply a hormone that controls the development of masculine hormones by binding to androgen receptors; the most commonly know androgen is testosterone. Spoken differently, the testosterone androgen stimulates the development of males’ sex organs and puberty. Testosterone as it relates to violence is the mechanism that facilitates aggressive behavior. Testosterone occurs in much higher levels in males than in females, which establishes a link between high crime rates specifically in violence, aggression, and sexual crimes in men. To further clarify how the effects of testosterone induce aggressive behavior, researcher Vom Saal, (1983) introduced the Organization/Activation Model of testosterone. This model explains that when testosterone androgen effects the prenatal period it organizes the neural systems that activate aggressive behavior. In addition, when testosterone is then produced once again in adulthood, aggression is initiated by the neural systems, which are set off by situational cues. The situational cues consist of the perception of another person or thing, given the environment they exist in. For example, two men could be at a bar, and one man bumps into the other man accidently, but the man who was bumped into might perceive the man trying to pick a fight with him. Hence, testosterone-causing aggression in an individual is also person and situational factors, not just situational and biological factors. Plus, testosterone levels correlating with aggression has revealed that testosterone concentration has generally been assessed in the morning, when male hormone levels are high (Dabbs, M., Jr., James et al., 1987). Thus, when the testosterone levels are high in the morning there maybe a greater chance of violence to occur if there is a situational cue to trigger the event.
As testosterone relates to crimes of violence, the personality of the perpetrator and the type of crime committed is associated with high or low levels of testosterone. Past research has founded that violent crimes are more prevalent amongst high-level testosterone inmates rather than low-level testosterone inmates. In a study conducted in September 2001, the experimenters hypothesized that similar perpetrators would commit crimes differently, depending upon the testosterone levels of the perpetrators (Dabbs, M., Jr., James et. al., 2001). In other words, being that testosterone relates to the differences in violence between types of crime, Dabbs et. al. (2001) expects to find that testosterone is related to violence within each type of crime. Later, their findings concluded that testosterone was related to violence in homicide. They discovered that high testosterone inmates killed more often than low testosterone inmates in the evaluation of 692 prisoners. Case in point, testosterone was mostly linked with homicide and the familiarity and intent of committing a violent murder. In addition, the elevated testosterone level maybe possibly linked to the sensation-seeking aspect of psychopathic behavior (Aromaki, S., Anu, et al., 1999). To further explain, testosterone is the influence of thrill seeking and dominance and aggression, and all these characteristics lead up to one thing, violence. Most importantly, what the experimenters noted in this study was that testosterone was highly related to the psychosocial factors of the inmates. Moreover, psychosocial factors of testosterone as it relates to violence are just as important as the biology of it. The unavoidable factors along with biology are that of cognition, emotion, and social context (Ramirez, 2002). The relations of these factors are in competition, aggression, fearlessness, and dominance in one-on-one encounters. For example, perhaps if each inmate had grown up in a different atmosphere in which all these factors could have been altered for the better, not causing violent crimes.
An additional study conducted in 2006, professors at Knox College designed a study measuring the relationship between testosterone and aggression in males. For their study they told their participants that they were taking part in a study that measured their attention to detail on taste sensitivity. The process of measuring the link between testosterone and aggression was by participants giving a saliva sample, and then each participant was placed at a table with an object on it. The objects were a child’s game and a pellet gun with instruction to take apart the objects and put them back together. Essentially how the experimenters measured the connection was by having the participants do another salvia sample and as well drink a small cup of water with a drop of hot sauce in it. The main instruction of this was that the men were told to also pour water and hot sauce mixture for the next participant. Their overall findings were that the men were pouring more hot sauce in the water cups for the following participants. This reaction showed that when men were feeling more aggressive they would pour more hot sauce, which supported the experimenters’ hypothesized effect.
Considerably, given the examples above; researchers have discovered a connection between testosterone, violence, and aggression. Supporting evidence for this not only comes from the observations of males, females, and inmates, but also from animal studies. Furthermore, to answer the question of how violent behavior could be reduced through testosterone, animal studies play a significant role.
In the prevention of this type of behavior experimenters use animal studies showing that aggressive and violent animals become meek and mild when castrated and resume their violent behavior when given shots of testosterone (Alvarez & Bachman, 2008). It is theorized, prevention of violence in humans with high levels of testosterone is possible, however it maybe considered unethical to some. It is considered unethical to some people because the castration of a male is thought as extreme. Perhaps other ways of preventing violence by lowering the levels of testosterone could be through medication or therapy. Also, for further prevention, researchers could possibly alter the predisposed gene of testosterone to hopefully minimize future violent behaviors. What makes prevention of violent behavior so difficult is that humans are more complex than animals. It is easy to manipulate and control the behavior of animals, however in humans this unethical and much too difficult because our motives for violence have to do with self-image, reputation, and perceptions of psychological harm (Ramirez, 2002).
Section 2
In 2006, professors at Knox College conducted a study measuring the relationship between testosterone and aggression in males. For their study they told their participants that they were taking part in a study that measured their attention to detail on taste sensitivity experiment. Each participant gave a saliva sample, and then was placed at a table with an object on it. The participants were then told to take apart the object and put it back together according to the provided instructions. Half of the participants handled a child’s game, and the other half were working with a pellet gun that mimicked an actual handgun. Fifteen minutes later the men were asked to give another saliva sample, and following the collection of the second sample each participant was asked to ingest a 3-ounce cup of water with a drop of hot sauce in it.
Finally, the men were told that they would be preparing the water and hot sauce mixture for the next participant. Participants were told that they could put as much hot sauce, anonymously, in the water as they liked. In previous studies it had been shown that the more aggressive a man was feeling the more hot sauce they put in the water, and that result held true for this study as well. Furthermore, the men who had handled the handgun had approximately 100 times the level of testosterone as the men who handled the child’s game. Consequently, the men who handled the handgun put approximately three times the amount of hot sauce in the water. These men were also disappointed upon learning that the water they had put hot sauce in was not going to be given to the next participant after all.
Section 3
The link between testosterone and aggression is demonstrated in the study above. The level of aggression increasing in men as demonstrated through the disposing of hot sauce. The men handling the handgun felt more aggressive and they provided to have 100 times the amount of testosterone than the men who handled the child’s game. The same men who handled the handgun put three times the amount of hot sauce in the water for the next participant then they had themselves received. Overall, the level of testosterone in the subject of the study rose because of gun handling and it was confirmed through the process of distributing hot sauce in water. This study not only relates to the issue of testosterone, but also to the issue that the presence of guns raises violent behavior.
Section 4
Application #2: April 20, 1999, marks a day of remembrance for the victims of the high school shooting in Columbine High School. This catastrophic event lead to numerous deaths of young teens and provoked investigators to take a closer look at why school shootings occur, and what is the reasoning behind the acting of the violent teen perpetrators. Although it is stated that both the teen perpetrators in the Columbine massacre were found to have disorders and complex personalities, it should be noted that this may not be the only explanation for why they committed the crimes they did. Testosterone could have possibly triggered the onset of their disorders. Past research notes that elevated testosterone level maybe possibly linked to the sensation-seeking aspect of psychopathic behavior (Aromaki, S., Anu, et al., 1999). To further explain, testosterone is the influence of thrill seeking and dominance and aggression, and all these characteristics lead up to one thing, violence. Case in point, it was revealed that the Columbine boys had played violent video games and therefore could have possibly been seeking similar thrills. Interestingly enough, the Columbine shooting occurred in the morning during school hours. Research on testosterone levels correlating with aggression has revealed that testosterone concentration has generally been assessed in the morning, when boy’s hormone levels are high (Dabbs, M., Jr., James et al., 1987). Thus, when the testosterone levels are high in the morning there maybe a greater chance of violence to occur if there is a situational cue to trigger the event. For example, the two boys who had committed the shootings both were exclaimed to have stored up aggression, depression, hate towards their school and the world because they were labeled as outcasts in their school.
Unfortunately, the Columbine event could not have been prevented only through the regulation of the testosterone levels of the perpetrators, but rather through the heavy surveillance of these young boys. The parents of both boys should have seen what was going on personally with their sons and should have intervened to help them cope with their difficulties. Also, the school’s counseling group should have taken the initiative to observe the perpetrators since each boy had been having problems at school. Given the fact that both suffered from complex personalities and one of the boys was subject to medication, it was clearly obvious that both these boys should have been under serve observation and treatment. In essence, testosterone possibly could have been a potential cause of one of the most deadly violent school shootings in our history.
References
Aromaki, S. A,, Lindman, E. R., Eriksson, P. C. J. (1999). Testosterone, aggressiveness, and antisocial personality. Aggressive Behavior, 25 (2), 113-123.
Alvarez, A. & Bachman, R. (2008). Violence the enduring problem. Explaining Violence (pp. 2, 35). Thousand Oaks, Ca: Sage Publications, Inc.
Dabbs, M. Jr. J., Riad, K. J., Chance, E. S. (2001). Testosterone and ruthless homicide. Personality and Individual Differences, 31 (4), 599-603.
Ramirez, J. M. (2003). Hormones and aggression in childhood and adolescence. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 8 (6), 621-644.
Saal, V. (1983). Models of early hormonal effects on intrasex aggression in mice. Hormones and Aggressive Behavior (pp.192-222). Plenum, New York: Svare, B., Editor.
Starzyk, S. A., Quinsey, B. K., Vernon, L. (2001). The relationship between testosterone and aggression: a meta- analysis. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 6 (6), 579-599.
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