Citation

Dabbs JM, Hargrove MF. Psychosom. Med. 1997; 59(5): 477-480.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Georgia State University, Atlanta 30303, USA. jdabbs@gsu.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, American Psychosomatic Society, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9316179

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to determine how testosterone levels, both alone and interacting with age, were associated with criminal behavior and institutional behavior among female prison inmates. METHOD: Subjects were 87 female inmates in a maximum security state prison. Criminal behavior was scored from court records. Institutional behavior was scored from prison records and interviews with staff members. Testoster-one levels were scored from radioimmunoassay of saliva samples. RESULTS: Product-moment correlations revealed first-order relationships among age, testosterone, criminal behavior, and institutional behavior. Structural equation analysis suggested a causal model in which age leads to lower testosterone, which in turn leads to less violent crime and less aggressive dominance in prison. CONCLUSION: Testosterone is related to criminal violence and aggressive dominance in prison among women, as has been reported among men. Changes in these behaviors with age are in part explained by a decline in testosterone levels.

Language: en