LITERATURE REGARDING THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF CONVULSIVE EPILEPSY IS SURPRISINGLY SCARCE. A 10-YEAR STUDY (1951-60) OF ARMY RECRUITS IN VENEZUELA, WHO WERE DISQUALIFIED FROM MILITARY SERVICE BECAUSE THEY WERE FOUND TO BE SUFFERING FROM CONVULSIVE EPILEPSY, SHOWED A DEFINITE CORRELATION BETWEEN THE AGGRESSIVE AND EXPLOSIVE NATURE OF EPILEPTIC SEIZURES AND VIOLENT CRIME. AN EPILEPTIC SEIZURE BEGINS AS AN ACT OF AGGRESSION PERPETRATED BY THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AGAINST ITSELF, BUT IT CAN EASILY TURN AGAINST 'THE OUTSIDE'; THE MOST DRAMATIC MANIFESTATION OF THIS SHIFT IS HOMICIDE. THE SUBJECTS OF THIS INVESTIGATION WERE DIVIDED ACCORDING TO THEIR PLACE OF ORIGIN, THE MOUNTAINOUS ZONES OF THE ANDES AND THE PLAINS COVERING THE REST OF VENEZUELA. MOUNTAIN PEOPLE SHOWED THE HIGHEST INCIDENCE OF BOTH CONVULSIVE EPILEPSY AND HOMICIDE. OTHER CONTRIBUTING FACTORS INCLUDED PROXIMITY TO THE EQUATOR, ALTITUDE, TEMPERATURE, HUMIDITY, AND BAROMETRIC PRESSURE. A DETAILED HISTORICAL REVIEW OF CRIMINOLOGICAL STUDIES IN MANY COUNTRIES SHOWS THAT THE CORRELATION BETWEEN EPILEPTIC SEIZURES AND ACTS OF VIOLENCE HAD BEEN OBSERVED BEFORE ELSEWHERE, BUT IT APPEARS TO BE ESPECIALLY RELEVANT TO VENEZUELA, WHOSE POPULATION HAS A HIGHER EPILEPSY INCIDENCE (21 PERCENT) THAN OTHER COUNTRIES. THE IDIOSYNCRASIES OF THE VENEZUELAN CHARACTER MAY EXPLAIN THE TENDENCY, AS IT IS SHAPED BY CENTURIES OF VIOLENT MILITARY STRUGGLES AND CIVIL STRIFE AND BY ITS GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE INTO REPETITIVE BEHAVIORAL PATTERNS THAT FREQUENTLY INVOLVE VIOLENCE AND HOMICIDE. HOWEVER, EPILEPSY IS ONLY ONE AMONG MANY CRIMINOGENIC FACTORS. MOREOVER, THE ARCHAIC, CRUELLY PREJUDICED ATTITUDE OF MOST VENEZUELANS TOWARD EPILEPSY IMPOSES A SOCIAL STIGMA OF CRIMINALITY AND INSANITY UPON INDIVIDUALS WHO, OFTEN BEING HIGHLY INTELLIGENT, COULD CONTRIBUTE MUCH TO A SOCIETY. VIRTUAL SOCIETAL SEGREGATION OF EPILEPTICS HAPPENS AT THE MOST CRUCIAL TIME, BECAUSE THE DISEASE MAINFESTS ITSELF IN EARLY CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. PSYCHOTHERAPY SHOULD PLAY A ROLE IN THE TREATMENT OF CONVULSIVE EPILEPTICS, TOGETHER WITH TOTAL SOCIETAL ACCEPTANCE. NUMEROUS GRAPHS, STATISTICAL TABLES, AND AN INTERNATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE PROVIDED. --IN SPANISH. (LGR)