| dc.description.abstract | Criminal behavior is analyzed using a multilevel interdisciplinary approach. Aggression
is the basis of criminal behavior (CB). In .some situations, aggression leads to
non adaptative relations with the environment. Specifical/y, aggressive behavior in
man is a complex biosocial phenomenon with a potential or actual devastating effect
in modern cities. Even when social and environmental factors are important, this
importance has been general/y ignored. G/early, a change of attitude in this respect
appears necessary (for example, changing current liabilities in our legal system).
Actions in preventive, legislative and social attitudes can lead to the implementation
of preventive and rehabilitation systems, with a solid scientific basis. In fact, a new
ethiological paradigm and model are urgently needed.
We propose that since clear-cut biological factors are necessary for CB to occur,
they must be identified and incorporated into the legal system and action programs.
Specifical/y, gender is a crucial factor. Men commit 10 times more crime in relation
to women. Testosterone level and its effects on the nervous system is a variable partly
explaining this epidemiological data. Also, the kind of crime committed by men is
different from that by women. Aggressive behavior in women has a more verbal
character. Biosocial factors, such as low scholarship, low income, low IQ and low
verbal control are analyzed. Next, basic neurochemical variables associated with
aggressive behavior are analyzed. Dopamine, acting on limbic structures facilitates
aggressive behavior in animals. Cocaine, amphetamine, apomorphine and catecholamines
with dopaminergic action cause more aggression and muricide behavior in rats.
This is facilitated by ethanol and benzodiazepines, which appear to impair control of
frontal structures, possibly through serotonin effect impairing. Serotonin, acting on
5-HT1 receptors, inhibits aggressive predatory behavior. Dopamine antagonists have
a protective effect on predation, whereas serotonin antagonists have a facilitatory
effect. Noradrenaline agonists acting on alpha receptors also increase affective aggression.
Other systems are also analyzed. Of special importance are the protective
effects exerted by progesterone and the facilitatory one of testosterone. They could
further act on the mesolimbic dopaminergic system and also on sigma receptors. The
neurallevels of steroids, which are affected by stress, produce permanent effects on
neural systems if they act in critical periods (perinatal). The morphological correlates
of some neurochemical factors are discussed. Final/y, the social and cultural interactions
and the biochemical substrate are integrated into a general model, which involves
endocrine, biochemical, biosocial and sociocultural variables. The critical role of
language in the modulation of criminal behavior is emphasized. | |
