Abstract
Among men 6 feet or more tall confined to maximum security hospitals, 10 XYY males were identified by chromosome analysis of cultured lymphocytes. Summaries of their case histories, obtained from hospital records, are presented. Three XYY patients are diagnosed as mentally retarded, 3 as sociopathic, and 3 as schizophrenic. The remaining patient is difficult to classify because of suggestive evidence of progressive organic disease of the central nervous system. The incidence of homosexual behavior in these patients was significantly higher than in controls from the same population. No particular proclivity for other types of crime was found in the XYY patients. Five of them came from environments considered to be detrimental to the normal development of personality and character. The mean age at first arrest is lower than that for controls, but the difference is not significant. In several respects, the findings reported here differ from those of previous studies of the XYY condition. To determine yet more precisely what ill effects an extra Y chromosome may have, further studies of the XYY condition are needed.
Published Version
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