Thirteen sex killers were compared to 13 nonsex killers and 13 nonhomicidal sexually aggressive men on sexual history, substance abuse, history of violence, mental illness and personality, brain pathology and endocrine abnormalities.There were more similarities among the three groups than differences. Among the findings, the presence of transvestism and the early appearance of sadism differentiated the sex killers from the other two groups. Sex killers also killed by strangulation more often than nonsex killers and more often victimized a female stranger. The sex killer was more often diagnosed as 'antisocial' personality and 'sadist' than the other two groups. They were more often considered psychotic at the time of their offence and more often considered not guilty by reason of insanity. Directions for future research are noted.

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Violent behavior is a complex phenomenon, influenced by a number of important factors such as brain pathology, mental illness, and substance abuse.

A study of hormonal leveb of violent and nonviolent offenders f a d to establish any signijcant differences among murderers, assaulters, and controk. While the results do not suggest a contributory role for random blood hormone levels in f a d i t d n g aggressive behavior, further study of complex interactions is necessary to rule out endocrinological factors.A fundamental yet unanswered question is whether men who commit murder and other acts of physical violence are biologically different from nonviolent men. In particular, is the endocrine system of violent men programmed to promote violent behavior? These questions are based on the classical association of the male sex hormone, testosterone, with human aggression, an association for which the scientific validation is at best equivocal. If it could be clearly demonstrated that hormonal or other biological factors are unequivocally related to violent acts such as murder or physical assault, it might be possible to predict which men are prone to such behavior or which men are Iiely to repeat such behavior having been apprehended once. In addition, it might also be feasible to establish treatment regimens based on the abnormal biological parameters exhibited by violent men.Testosterone is the major virilizing hormone. At the time of puberty in the male, the hypothalamic pituitary gonadal axis "awakens" as the secretion of gonadotmpin releasing hormone (GnRH) from the hypothalamus increases. GnRH stimulates the release of the gonadotropins, luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), from the pituitary gland. LH stimulates testosterone production and release from the Leydig cells of the testes, and FSH,

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