350
hope
that
population
it
is
biology”
never
too
(p.
late
to
learn
the
value
of
a statistical
approach
169).
Donald L. Kramer Department of Biology McGill University Montreal, Canada H3A 1B1
Alcohol and Aggression P.F. Brain (ed) Croom Helm, London, 1985 288pp., UK f : 22,X. It is a widely held belief that the consumption of alcohol may lead to of violent acts. Our Western European newspapers are strong a variety in expressing the conviction that the hooliganism of e.g. soccer fans caused by drinking alcoholic beverages and can be reduced or even is eliminated by forbidding the use of alchohol prior to and during such events. this How well-documented is belief and to what degree can the scientific (medical) community endorse such political measures? This book is an attempt to review studies on the effects of alcohol consumption on agonistic behavioulin a large variety of animals including man. It begins with a chapter on the nature of aggression and ethologists will encounter well-known examples of peck-order in chicks, ritualised submission in canids and the various types of agonistic behaviour seen The working mechanisms of alcohol are further elucidated in rodents. in the chapters on physiology, endocrinology and psychopharmacology. chapters form a foundation on which the remaining chapters These dealing with the behavioural effects of alcohol are based. Due to the varying backgrounds of the authors theI-e are Lew jnteL-actions between this book IICV.YIIL.L.of thcze chaFt!?Ys. Most people :inn.!ld buy their ‘The editor has most likely included interest in the human studies. these basic chapter-s in order- to present the reader with a fuller is said that the book aims at the picture; in the introduction it biologists, medical interested academic/professional, esperially worker-s and social scientists. If anything becomes clear from reading this book it is how difficult establish a clear--cut relationship between alcohol and it is to agonistic behaviour. The chapter on the relationship between alcohol in infra-human animals (why not just animals?) intake and aggression begins with a review on the studies with fish. Here the studies using Siamese fighting fish and Convict cichlid seem to give the answer the at lower dosages potentiates would anticipate: alcohol that one higher dosages it leads to a dec.lease, thus a aggression and at biphasic action. it fails to Although a large body of literature exists on rodents, The table which summarizes these reveal such a clear-cut relationship. results covers four pages, but a straightforward relation does not emerge. Monkey studies clearly point to a difference in the effects of the group animal in the alcohol depending on the social status of
to
hierarchy. The subordinates increase their aggression, whereas the dominant rhesus monkey shows no changes in its agonistic behaviour as a result
of
oral
consumption
of
alcohol.
The chapters on alcohol and violence, rape, OL sexual assault in humans reader with a well-documented and critical present the evaluation of a great number of studies, without completely denying the causal link between alcohol and violence. The authors take a scientific attitude and emphasize the importance of social and situational determinants - “Alcoholism may be regarded as predisposing individuals towards violence. Alternatively, it may be held responsible for changes in the individual’s social and environmental which increase the probability of circumstances, being involved in some violent incident”.
The final chapter, the epilogue, reviews the previous ones. Its main message is the need for multi-disciplinaryefforts and collaboration between behavioural scientists, including biologists. The book is well-written.
The illustration are limited to the first, basic chapters and to the one on animal studies. The chapters on human In conclusion, studies present just one table of summarized results. this book serves the intended purpose of critically reviewing studies on the relationship between alcohol and various forms of agonistic behaviour while at the same time functioning as a ‘caveat’ for expressing the uncritical view that there is a direct causal link between alcohol consumption and acts of violence.
Dr. J.P.C. de Bruin Netherlands Institute Meibergdreef 33 1105 AZ Amsterdam The Netherlands
for
Brain
Research
Hoofbeats and Society. Studies of Human-Horse Interactions. E.A.Lawrence. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1985, 204 pp. + xv, 16 pictures, ISBN O-253-32843-8. This book deals with various aspects of human-horse relationship, essentially in the U.S., seen through the eye of a cultural anthropologist with a background training in veterinary sciences as well. One wonders for which public the book has been written. On the one hand, the many references suggest it is written as a scientific report. On the other hand, the literary style and the absence of any precisions about the methodology of the "field work" carried out by the author indicate that it is rather a vulgarization for a wider public. Maybe the author aimed at a compromise between the two. In any case, the work has been spoiled to some extent by a lengthy style and the constant frustrating repetition of the same topics. It could have been penned down in less than half of the present 198 pages of text by a writer with a concise style. Even the fact I am myself a keen horseman did not help: I often had to repress the desire to skip several pages, hoping to land on a paragraph with some really new information. The subtitle "Studies of Human-Horse Interactions" could mislead ethologically trained readers. Maybe the term "relations" would have been a better choice. The book does not deal with an
hope
that
population
it
is
biology”
never
too
(p.
late
to
learn
the
value
of
a statistical
approach
169).
Donald L. Kramer Department of Biology McGill University Montreal, Canada H3A 1B1
Alcohol and Aggression P.F. Brain (ed) Croom Helm, London, 1985 288pp., UK f : 22,X. It is a widely held belief that the consumption of alcohol may lead to of violent acts. Our Western European newspapers are strong a variety in expressing the conviction that the hooliganism of e.g. soccer fans caused by drinking alcoholic beverages and can be reduced or even is eliminated by forbidding the use of alchohol prior to and during such events. this How well-documented is belief and to what degree can the scientific (medical) community endorse such political measures? This book is an attempt to review studies on the effects of alcohol consumption on agonistic behavioulin a large variety of animals including man. It begins with a chapter on the nature of aggression and ethologists will encounter well-known examples of peck-order in chicks, ritualised submission in canids and the various types of agonistic behaviour seen The working mechanisms of alcohol are further elucidated in rodents. in the chapters on physiology, endocrinology and psychopharmacology. chapters form a foundation on which the remaining chapters These dealing with the behavioural effects of alcohol are based. Due to the varying backgrounds of the authors theI-e are Lew jnteL-actions between this book IICV.YIIL.L.of thcze chaFt!?Ys. Most people :inn.!ld buy their ‘The editor has most likely included interest in the human studies. these basic chapter-s in order- to present the reader with a fuller is said that the book aims at the picture; in the introduction it biologists, medical interested academic/professional, esperially worker-s and social scientists. If anything becomes clear from reading this book it is how difficult establish a clear--cut relationship between alcohol and it is to agonistic behaviour. The chapter on the relationship between alcohol in infra-human animals (why not just animals?) intake and aggression begins with a review on the studies with fish. Here the studies using Siamese fighting fish and Convict cichlid seem to give the answer the at lower dosages potentiates would anticipate: alcohol that one higher dosages it leads to a dec.lease, thus a aggression and at biphasic action. it fails to Although a large body of literature exists on rodents, The table which summarizes these reveal such a clear-cut relationship. results covers four pages, but a straightforward relation does not emerge. Monkey studies clearly point to a difference in the effects of the group animal in the alcohol depending on the social status of
to
hierarchy. The subordinates increase their aggression, whereas the dominant rhesus monkey shows no changes in its agonistic behaviour as a result
of
oral
consumption
of
alcohol.
The chapters on alcohol and violence, rape, OL sexual assault in humans reader with a well-documented and critical present the evaluation of a great number of studies, without completely denying the causal link between alcohol and violence. The authors take a scientific attitude and emphasize the importance of social and situational determinants - “Alcoholism may be regarded as predisposing individuals towards violence. Alternatively, it may be held responsible for changes in the individual’s social and environmental which increase the probability of circumstances, being involved in some violent incident”.
The final chapter, the epilogue, reviews the previous ones. Its main message is the need for multi-disciplinaryefforts and collaboration between behavioural scientists, including biologists. The book is well-written.
The illustration are limited to the first, basic chapters and to the one on animal studies. The chapters on human In conclusion, studies present just one table of summarized results. this book serves the intended purpose of critically reviewing studies on the relationship between alcohol and various forms of agonistic behaviour while at the same time functioning as a ‘caveat’ for expressing the uncritical view that there is a direct causal link between alcohol consumption and acts of violence.
Dr. J.P.C. de Bruin Netherlands Institute Meibergdreef 33 1105 AZ Amsterdam The Netherlands
for
Brain
Research
Hoofbeats and Society. Studies of Human-Horse Interactions. E.A.Lawrence. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1985, 204 pp. + xv, 16 pictures, ISBN O-253-32843-8. This book deals with various aspects of human-horse relationship, essentially in the U.S., seen through the eye of a cultural anthropologist with a background training in veterinary sciences as well. One wonders for which public the book has been written. On the one hand, the many references suggest it is written as a scientific report. On the other hand, the literary style and the absence of any precisions about the methodology of the "field work" carried out by the author indicate that it is rather a vulgarization for a wider public. Maybe the author aimed at a compromise between the two. In any case, the work has been spoiled to some extent by a lengthy style and the constant frustrating repetition of the same topics. It could have been penned down in less than half of the present 198 pages of text by a writer with a concise style. Even the fact I am myself a keen horseman did not help: I often had to repress the desire to skip several pages, hoping to land on a paragraph with some really new information. The subtitle "Studies of Human-Horse Interactions" could mislead ethologically trained readers. Maybe the term "relations" would have been a better choice. The book does not deal with an
