Handedness, criminality, and sexual offending.
A very large database was used to investigate whether men with a history of criminality and/or sexual offending have a higher incidence of nonright-handedness (NRH) relative to a control sample of nonoffender men. The sample (N>8000) comprised interviews by investigators at the Kinsey Institute for Sex and Reproduction in Indiana. The general offender group and a subsample of sex offenders (e.g. pedophiles) had a significantly higher rate of NRH relative to the control (nonoffender) men. In addition, evidence was found that the general criminality/NRH relationship might result from increased educational difficulties that some nonright-handers experience. In contrast, education was unrelated to the handedness/pedophilia relationship, suggesting that there may be a different mechanism underlying the handedness/pedophile relationship than the handedness/(general) criminality relationship. Finally, as a cautionary note, it is stressed that the effects are small and that NRH should not be used as a marker of criminality.
Community Health Sciences, Brock University, L2S 3A1, St. Catharines, Canada. tbogaert@spartan.ac.brocku.ca
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D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003415:Crime / Q000523:psychology*; D004522:Educational Status; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010378:Pedophilia; D012189:Retrospective Studies