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Testosterone: Splash It All Over...

  
 
Hattie's Kitchen
16:04 / 11.03.03
I've done a search on this already and couldn't find anything so here goes...(Mods, please move this elsewhere if it doesn't fit the Lab criteria.)

I've been reading various articles on gender theory and biology and the like, and I was not surprised to read that men have about ten times more testosterone in their bodies than women. (Will post up the links later, bit pushed for time at the moment.) Now, we know that testosterone is largely, but not solely, a factor in determining aggressiveness, energy levels, sex drive, muscle build etc. And according to other studies, men who have been imprisoned for violent crimes have higher levels of testosterone in their bodies than men imprisoned for non-violent crimes. (Again, I will post up the links to these articles when I get the time, so please don't assume I'm generalising or stating this as indisputable fact.) So this leaves me wondering about whether testosterone levels have been used as mitigating factors for committing violent crimes - I am specifically comparing this to those few cases where women who have killed/harmed spouses have been cleared/released after claiming that extreme PMS disturbed their hormone levels, which subsequently disturbed the balance of their minds at the time. Could it not be reasonable to assume violent male criminals could also use the same defence? That their testosterone levels were so off the chart that they had no control over their actions?

Also, testosterone is being more widely used to combat depression, and in the restoration of sex drives in both men and women, sort of a unisex HRT program...is the increased use of testosterone in this way something to be encouraged, or is it tampering with biology in an unacceptable way? Testosterone levels naturally decrease dramatically in men during middle age - is it harmful to keep topping it up?

I apologise because this has been rushed, but you get the gist, right? I will be back...
 
 
Brigade du jour
21:04 / 11.03.03
Whoa Hattie, makes me think we're all actually evolving into one gender that doesn't need to reproduce. I mean, men will become pretty redundant in biological terms soon enough, so I suppose it'll be women, perhaps with a bit more testosterone than they had before. Hmm, very interesting subject.
 
 
Bill Posters
22:00 / 11.03.03
All I can add is that I have been told by FTM tranzgender people that when they get the test shots, they do get more aggro. (Though actually that could still be placebo.)
 
 
Ganesh
22:41 / 11.03.03
I'm not sure testosterone levels have been used in that particular way, as relatively few male criminals have the presence of mind to have blood samples taken immediately before and after carrying out violent crimes - and one assumes the circulating androgens at the time are the relevant factor. Testosterone is linked to aggressive behaviour, sure, but it's a little harder to prove a straightforward causal association - particularly as other neurotransmitters (dopamine, serotonin, adrenaline, oestrogens) are also likely to exert an effect.

Transmen do experience an increased sex drive, muscle bulk and irritability (similar to born-male adolescents).

It's interesting to consider the possible implications if one did legally accept a certain level of testosterone (or any other hormone/neurotransmitter) as 'mitigating circumstances' in violent crimes. Would we then go on to routinely test male children for potential signs of later 'criminality'? Incarcerate those with circulating T levels above a certain figure?
 
 
Jack Fear
14:42 / 12.03.03
For those with RealAudio and an hour to kill: there's a lovely episode of This American Life that looks at testosterone form a variety of angles, including an interview with a man whose body has stopped producing teststerone due to a medical treatment, who has achieved, through chemical means, a Buddhist state of desirelessness: and a FTM transsexual describing the personality changes that arose when he started taking massive doses of the stuff.
 
  
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