SERUM TESTOSTERONE IN VIOLENT AND NONVIOLENT YOUNG OFFENDERS

Single morning serum testosterone samples from 194 15-17 year old male young offenders were compared between subgroups based on violent (n = 75), nonviolent (n = 102), and sexual (n = 17) offenses. The violent group had the highest level of testosterone and differed significantly from both the nonviolent and sexual offender groups which were statis tically equivalent. The offenders were also classified according to na tive/metis (n = 68) and Caucasian (n = 126) groups, and the native/met is group had significantly higher testosterone than the Caucasian grou p. Higher testosterone in the native/metis group may be because this g roup committed significantly more violent offenses than the Caucasian group. Genetic factors, such as the human leucocyte antigen system, ma y also be associated with higher testosterone in the native/metis grou p. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.