THE SUBJECTS WERE FEMALE OFFENDERS INCARCERATED AT THE FRAMINGHAM, MASS., CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTION FOR WOMEN. THE TESTING PROCEDURES INCLUDED GATHERING DETAILED INFORMATION ON THE SUBJECTS' HISTORY OF VIOLENCE, FEELINGS OF DEPRESSION, SUICIDE ATTEMPTS, AND PARENTAL LOSS; EVALUATING THIS DATA USING FIVE DIFFERENT INDICES OF VIOLENCE (SELF-RATING, RATING BY CORRECTIONS OFFICERS, AN ESTIMATE OF THE DEGREE OF VIOLENCE OF THE CRIMES FOR WHICH THE INMATE WAS IMPRISONED, THE LENGTH OF THE SENTENCE, AND THE PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF A CERTAIN MINNESOTA MULTIPHASIC PERSONALITY INVENTORY (MMPI) PROFILE); ANALYSIS OF RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN VIOLENCE AND OTHER VARIABLES USING THE NULL HYPOTHESIS AND BINOMIAL THEOREM, AND MEASURING DEPRESSION BY A SELF-ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE AND A MMPI DEPRESSION SCALE. STUDY RESULTS REVEALED THAT THE LOSS OF THE FATHER BEFORE THE AGE OF 10 YEARS WAS MORE HIGHLY CORRELATED WITH SIGNS OF DEPRESSION IN THE SUBJECTS THAN WAS LOSS OF MOTHER. WOMEN WHO REPORTED AT LEAST ONE SUICIDE ATTEMPT IN THE PAST WERE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE DEPRESSED ON THE SELF-REPORT MEASURE OF DEPRESSION THAN THE OTHER WOMEN, AND THEY WERE ALSO MORE LIKELY TO BE JUDGED VIOLENT ON THE BASIS OF SEVERAL OTHER INDICES. WOMEN JUDGED VIOLENT HAD MORE OFTEN LOST BOTH MOTHER AND FATHER AT EARLIER AGES THAN THOSE WOMEN JUDGED NONVIOLENT. VIEWED WITH THE FINDINGS OF SIMILAR STUDIES SUGGESTING THAT FATHER LOSS HAS A GREATER INFLUENCE ON FEMALE VIOLENCE WHILE MOTHER LOSS HAS A DIFFERENTIAL INFLUENCE, THESE RESULTS COULD BE USED TO PROPOSE THAT EARLY LOSS OF THE SAME-SEX PARENT, BECAUSE IT IS SO DISRUPTIVE OF A RELATIVELY FRAGILE IDENTIFICATION MECHANISM IN THE YOUNG CHILD, LEADS TO INCREASED FEELINGS OF RAGE AND TO DENIAL OF DEPRESSION WHILE LOSS OF THE OPPOSITE-SEX PARENT PRODUCES MORE OVERT SIGNS OF DEPRESSION. REFERENCES AND TABULAR DATA ARE PROVIDED. (DAG)