Violent Behavior and Cerebral Hemisphere Function

Abstract

Experimental support for the hypothesis that violent behavior is associated with left-hemisphere dysfunction is scarce. This study examines the association between crime, violence, and left-hemisphere dysfunction using measures of hand, eye, and foot dominance within a sample of 1,066 males born and raised in Philadelphia between the ages of 10 and 18 years as part of the Biosocial Study conducted at the Center for Studies in Criminology and Criminal Law at the University of Pennsylvania.

Overall there were no significant differences between offenders and non-offenders in measures of hand and foot preferences. However, for eye preference, there were significant between-group differences, particularly for violent offenders. Altogether violent offenders were more apt to show left-eye preference rather than right-eye preference. As the literature discusses, an increased incidence of left-side preference in a given population may be related to left-hemisphere dysfunction. The finding of a partial correspondence (eye preference only) rather than full correspondence among the three indices of lateral preferences (hand, eye, and foot preferences) may be attributed to environmental influences, such as the effects of brain trauma at birth. In addition, possible associations between hemisphere dysfunction and behavior disorders and crime can also be affected by other biological and social factors over the course of an individual’s development.