IT IS SUGGESTED THAT HARSH PUNISHMENTS WILL NOT SERVE TO REDUCE VIOLENCE AND CRIME, BECAUSE THE BASIC CAUSES OF VIOLENCE LIE IN BASIC VALUES AND CHILDREARING PRACTICES. PHYSICAL PUNISHMENT, VIOLENT TELEVISION PROGRAMS, AND FILMS REINFORCE NORMS OF VIOLENCE EVEN IN YOUNG CHILDREN. HOWEVER THESE EARLY EXPERIENCES ARE NOT THE ONLY OR EVEN THE MAIN SOURCE OF VIOLENCE. A LARGE BODY OF RESEARCH NOW SUPPORTS THE VIEW THAT DEPRIVATION OF PHYSICAL PLEASURE AND BODY CONTACT ARE A MAJOR INGREDIENT IN THE EXPRESSION OF PHYSICAL VIOLENCE. INFANT MONKEYS SEPARATED FROM THEIR MOTHERS AT BIRTH SHOWED A LARGE VARIETY OF EMOTIONAL DISORDERS. A THREE-GENERATION STUDY OF CHILD-ABUSIVE FAMILIES INDICATED THAT ABUSIVE PARENTS HAD BEEN DEPRIVED OF AFFECTION AS CHILDREN, DEPRIVED THEIR OWN CHILDREN OF AFFECTION, AND HAD UNSATISFACTORY SEX LIVES. A STUDY OF 49 SOCIETIES SHOWED THAT THOSE SOCIETIES WHICH GIVE THEIR INFANTS THE GREATEST AMOUNT OF PHYSICAL AFFECTION WERE GENERALLY CHARACTERIZED BY LOW THEFT, LOW RELIGIOUS ACTIVITY, AND NEGLIGIBLE KILLING OR TORTURING OF ENEMIES. THERE WERE 13 EXCEPTIONS TO THIS RULE: OF 6 SOCIETIES WITH HIGH INFANT PHYSICAL AFFECTION AND HIGH VIOLENCE, 5 EXHIBIT PREMARITAL SEXUAL REPRESSION; 7 SOCIETIES CHARACTERIZED BY LOW INFANT PHYSICAL AFFECTION AND LOW VIOLENCE ALL WERE CHARACTERIZED BY PERMISSIVE PREMARITAL SEXUAL BEHAVIORS. VIOLENCE MAY STEM FROM SOMATOSENSORY DEPRIVATION IN EITHER INFANCY OR ADOLESCENCE. FURTHER, PUNISHMENT AND PREMARITAL SEXUAL REPRESSION WERE FOUND TO BE RELATED TO SMALL EXTENDED FAMILIES, LARGE COMMUNITY SIZE, CLASS STRATIFICATION, AND PURCHASE OF WIVES. AN ATTITUDINAL SURVEY ADMINISTERED TO 96 COLLEGE STUDENTS SUPPORTS THIS CONNECTION BETWEEN REJECTION OF PHYSICAL PLEASURE AND PHYSICAL VIOLENCE IN MODERN INDUSTRIAL NATIONS AS WELL AS IN PRIMITIVE SOCIETIES. THE ROOTS OF MANY OF OUR VIOLENCE-ORIENTED VALUES CAN BE TRACED TO THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS WHICH PRESENT BODILY PAIN AND DEPRIVATION AS MORAL, AND PHYSICAL PLEASURES AS IMMORAL AND WHICH UNDERVALUE AND REPRESS WOMEN. RAPE IS DISCUSSED AS AN EXPRESSION OF THOSE TRADITIONS. IF ONE ACCEPTS THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN SOMATOSENSORY AND SEXUAL DEPRIVATION AND VIOLENCE, THEN AGGRESSION CAN BE COMBATTED BY PROMOTING PLEASURE AND AFFECTIONATE INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIP. FEMALE SEXUALITY MUST BE ENCOURAGED, MEN AND WOMEN MUST SHARE CHILDREARING, THERE MUST EXIST ALTERNATIVES TO THE NUCLEAR MONOGAMOUS FAMILY, EMPHASIS MUST BE PLACED ON LOVE AND COOPERATION RATHER THAN ON COMPETITIVENESS, THERE MUST BE GREATER OPENNESS AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE HUMAN, FAMILY PLANNING WILL BE REQUIRED SO THE INFANT'S AFFECTIONAL NEEDS CAN BE MET, AND ENRICHED SOMATOSENSORY ENVIRONMENTS MUST BE PROVIDED. WHEN PLEASURE IS HIGH, VIOLENCE WILL BE LOW BOTH IN INDIVIDUALS AND IN NATIONS. (JAP)