4 ms·

Aggressive dogs get their balls cut off and it seems to work. Would there be a reason to assume that it doesn't work in humans in a similar way?

by collyw 6y ago

belorn 6y ago
Yes, because they tried that in the past on violent criminals back in the less ethical days. They also tried cutting out the Amygdala and nearby parts of the brain. The result was not great for either. The more aggressive an individual were the smaller the effect is. Testosterone also get secreted by other areas of the body so you also need to add suppressive drugs for that. Biggest effect was measured by chemically removing testosterone for women as they have the smallest amount to begin with. Going from above average testosterone in men to below average gave no results. Castrating the most violent criminal, usually against their will, has some studies showing minor results while others no results. There is something called the challenge hypothesis. The theory is that testosterone acts as a modulating effect for managing social status. When an individual suddenly gain status the body reacts by secreting testosterone. Testosterone in turn regulate how much energy an individual will spend on behavior to retain that status. For animals that gain and maintain status by exclusively aggression, this then correlate nicely with testosterone. Reducing a male dogs testosterone would reduce the amount of effort they will spend to defend their status against other male dogs, and since dogs are very territorial, there is ample of opportunities where such behavior occurs. However for very aggressive dogs the effect will be much smaller, so its not a solution in those cases and the solution instead tend to be euthanasia. Social status for humans is massively more complex, and the relation to violent crime even more so.

4 ms·

Aggressive dogs get their balls cut off and it seems to work. Would there be a reason to assume that it doesn't work in humans in a similar way?

by collyw 6y ago

Aggressive dogs get their balls cut off and it seems to work. Would there be a reason to assume that it doesn't work in humans in a similar way?

belorn 6y ago
Yes, because they tried that in the past on violent criminals back in the less ethical days. They also tried cutting out the Amygdala and nearby parts of the brain. The result was not great for either. The more aggressive an individual were the smaller the effect is. Testosterone also get secreted by other areas of the body so you also need to add suppressive drugs for that. Biggest effect was measured by chemically removing testosterone for women as they have the smallest amount to begin with. Going from above average testosterone in men to below average gave no results. Castrating the most violent criminal, usually against their will, has some studies showing minor results while others no results. There is something called the challenge hypothesis. The theory is that testosterone acts as a modulating effect for managing social status. When an individual suddenly gain status the body reacts by secreting testosterone. Testosterone in turn regulate how much energy an individual will spend on behavior to retain that status. For animals that gain and maintain status by exclusively aggression, this then correlate nicely with testosterone. Reducing a male dogs testosterone would reduce the amount of effort they will spend to defend their status against other male dogs, and since dogs are very territorial, there is ample of opportunities where such behavior occurs. However for very aggressive dogs the effect will be much smaller, so its not a solution in those cases and the solution instead tend to be euthanasia. Social status for humans is massively more complex, and the relation to violent crime even more so.