Social Information Processed Self-Perceived Aggression in Relation to Brain Abnormalities in a Sample of Incarcerated Sexual Offenders

Abstract

Summary In a sample of incarcerated sexual offenders, violent sexual behavior was found to be associated with a general impulsive and aggressive lifestyle and often times this was a sequel of a criminal socialization with nonsexual violent felonies in the past. Magnetic resonance tomography could detect numerous abnormalities in those offenders who were most violent. Offenders with brain abnormalities could be found to exhibit differences in processing social cue reading and emotions. In offenders without brain abnormalities self-perceived aggression was found to be triggered by social unassertiveness and avoidance, and was found to be negatively associated with interactional anxiety. No such interrelations could be found in the brain abnormality group. A deficient social cue reading processing in offenders exhibiting multisite brain abnormalities is hypothesized.