A PSYCHOBIOLOGICAL THEORETICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE OFFENDERS

The current literature suggests that anger and violent behavior have m ultiple psychobiological and sociocultural determinants. However; due to methodological or ethical constraints, our ability to accurately pr edict or influence the manifestations of interpersonal violence is ver y limited. Recent reports in the domestic violence literature suggest that there may be specific subtypes of offenders, and the clarificatio n of these subtypes may improve our ability to predict and intervene. Following a brief review of the major psychobiological theories of vio lence, four putative psychopathological types of offenders are describ ed and hypotheses are generated as to the relative contributions of un derlying determinants. These speculative characterizations may provide a clearer heuristic for further investigations. (C) 1997 Elsevier Sci ence Ltd. All rights reserved.