# Hormones and Crime?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormones-and-crime/396537>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 19, 2007, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormones-and-crime/396537 "2007-03-19T07:35:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormones-and-crime/396537/1 "2007-03-19T07:35:03Z")

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I’ve heard of some theories that there may be a relationship between testosterone (or other hormones) and violent crime. Certainly, the ratio of male-to-female criminals seems a fairly good indicator that something about “maleness” would cause men to be more likely to commit crime.

So, speculatively, if men were moved further from androgynity, would this likely result in an increase in crime? (This idea was proposed in GD, but was slightly tangental to that topic and really looking more for learned speculation than debate.)

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**Author:** ![FRDE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e68b1a/32.png) [@FRDE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FRDE)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormones-and-crime/396537/2 "2007-03-19T12:12:08Z")

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I think you mean further **towards** androgynity

- like feminize males but not make them into Marilyn Monroe (flip away from the mean)  
[Androgenous - definition of androgenous by The Free Dictionary](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/androgenous)

Well there is chemical castration …

Personally I think that females tend to be a bit sneakier than males

- they get a fall guy

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**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormones-and-crime/396537/3 "2007-03-19T12:34:38Z")

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[QUOTE=FRDE]  
I think you mean further **towards** androgynity

- like feminize males but not make them into Marilyn Monroe (flip away from the mean)  
[/QUOTE]

Either from or towards is fine, the question is just which way the likelihood of commiting a crime goes as you advance one way on the scale. (I did mean “from” though. I.e. approaching greater masculinity.)

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**Author:** ![daffyduck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ec9cab/32.png) [@daffyduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/daffyduck)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormones-and-crime/396537/4 "2007-03-19T15:15:32Z")

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Testosterone doesn’t work alone in the body. A man with above average testosterone can have all the symptoms of low testosterone if his estradiol (the main estrogen) levels are also high. The human body isn’t simple and simplistic thinking doesn’t really help us understand it.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, “the extent to which steroid abuse contributes to violence and behavioral disorders is unknown.” Not all anabolic steroids elevate testosterone, but the most effective ones do so I think it is safe to say that the answer to your question is unknown. It’s not an unreasonable idea, it just isn’t really known.

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**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormones-and-crime/396537/5 "2007-03-19T18:57:12Z")

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Paging **casdave**. I believe that he has said, more than once, that criminals are simply more often of lower intelligence.

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**Author:** ![WorkInProgress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@WorkInProgress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WorkInProgress)\
**Post date:** [March 19, 2007, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hormones-and-crime/396537/6 "2007-03-19T19:20:00Z")

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\<begin snide remark\>  
Maybe only _captured_ criminals are of lower intelligence…  
\<end snide remark\>  
🙂