47, XYY Syndrome, Height and Institutionalization of Juvenile Delinquents

Abstract

From a sex-chromatin survey of patients in hospitals for the subnormal, Hunter (1966) concluded that the great height and large build of XYY (and XXYY) males might present such a frightening picture that when such a person was convicted of an offence, judges and psychiatrists would be biased towards directing them to Special Hospitals in the interests of community safety. In a study of 464 defective delinquents we found 97 inmates who were at least 72 inches tall (Welch, Borgaonkar and Herr, 1967). There were two 47, XYY and four 47, XXY males in this group. Nielsen and Tsuboi (1970) have indicated that patients with tall stature have a comparatively pronounced disposition to character disorder and criminality. However, Baker et al. (1970) believe that the role of extraordinary height in generating both antisocial behaviour and selective commitment to maximum security facilities remains undefined. Although all these reports have been concerned with adult offenders, we considered about a possible relationship between 47, XYY karyotype, height and admission to institutions of juvenile delinquents.