Understanding and Preventing Violence, Volume 2: Biobehavioral Influences (1994)
Chapter: BODILY RHYTHMS AND VIOLENT BEHAVIOR
Olweus et al., 1988) or the manipulation of hormone levels as in investigations of human sexual behavior (e.g., Sherwin et al., 1985). Archer (1990) also suggests that the current methods of measuring aggression are confused and inadequate, often being based on rating scales that measure traits rather than states. Archer advocates (where appropriate) using direct assessments of aggression. Rating by peers, teachers, and staff may be useful in some cases, but one could also employ direct responses to provocation (e.g., Olweus, 1986), diary accounts of anger (Averill, 1982), anger inventories (Siegel, 1986), or the Conflict Tactics Scale (Straus, 1979), which involves asking the subject to rate how often they use particular strategies to solve conflicts. It is not unreasonable to suggest that a broad approach should be taken before attempting to standardize techniques.
It seems unlikely that androgens have a simple causal effect on human aggression and violence, but the patterns of production of sex steroids do appear to alter several factors (e.g., "aggressive feelings," self-image, and social signaling) that predispose individuals toward carrying out actions that can receive this label. Because environmental and experimental factors can profoundly influence androgen production in a wide range of organisms (including man), the impact of such variables on the incidence of violence should be assessed.
The basic methodological problem with the majority of data claiming to examine the relationship between androgens and violence has been the assumption (even if this is refuted) that there will be a simple causal relationship between these "male hormones" and this "masculine" behavior. Consequently, attempts have been made to correlate relatively crude measures of hormones (often without considering the time course of changes and the possibility of metabolic transformations) with proposed indices of aggression (ranging from actual behavior in animals to court records, peer evaluations, self-evaluations, questionnaire techniques, and responses to staged situations). The numbers of individuals employed and the homogeneity of the categories are also often open to question. There seems to be an urgent need for a much more sophisticated approach.
BODILY RHYTHMS AND VIOLENT BEHAVIOR
At several times in this account, we have touched on the fact that bodily rhythms (circadian, sex-cycle related, or seasonal) can have powerful effects on endocrine functioning and consequently
