This volume is one outcome of a two-year study conducted by the
Behavioral Studies Research Group of The Hastings 1 Center. It is
divided into three parts to reflect the several facets of the
interdisciplinary project from which it stems. In the opening chapter
Willard Gaylin and Ruth Macklin, who di- rected the study, describe its
basic conception and structure, which centered around three programs to
conduct research into aspects of violence and aggressive behavior,
programs aborted in the early 1970s because they were politically and
IThis project was supported by the EVIST Program of the National Science
Foundation under Grant No. 05577-17072, and by a joint award by the
National Endowment for the Humanities. Any opinions, findings, conclu-
sions, or recommendations expressed herein are those of the authors and
do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation
or the National Endowment for the Humanities. Other published outcomes
are the edited transcripts of two of the case-study workshops conducted
under this project: "Researching Violence: Science, Politics, and Public
Contro- versy," Special Supplement, The Hastings Center Report 9 (April
1979); and "The XYY Controversy: Researching Violence and Genetics,"
Special Sup- plement, The Hastings Center Report 10 (August 1980).
Copies of these tran- scripts are available for purchase from The
Hastings Center, 360 Broadway, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706. ix PREFACE
x socially controversial.