THERE HAVE BEEN RELATIVELY FEW CONTROLLED STUDIES OF DRUG EFFECTS IN JUVENILE DELINQUENTS AND PERSONS WITH PERSONALITY DISORDERS. ALTHOUGH SOME TRAITS AND TARGET SYMPTOMS IN PERSONALITY DISORDER AND DELINQUENCY CAN BE TREATED WITH PSYCHOTROPIC DRUGS, NO SINGLE DRUG OR CLASS OF DRUGS SUITABLE FOR TREATING PEOPLE WHOSE BEHAVIORS ARE LABELED DEVIANT OR ANTISOCIAL HAS EMERGED. EVIDENCE IS ACCUMULATING THAT SOCIOPATHS CAN BENEFIT FROM DRUGS IF THEIR PREDOMINANT SYMPTOMS ARE UNCONTROLLABLE AGGRESSION, IMPULSIVENESS, OR LABILITY OF MOOD. SOCIOPATHIC BEHAVIOR NOT MARKED BY THESE SYMPTOMS DOES NOT APPEAR TO RESPOND TO DRUG TREATMENT. THE MOST PROMISING DEVELOPMENT HAS BEEN THE TREATMENT OF PERSONALITY DISORDERS WITH LITHIUM, WHICH HAS A BENEFICIAL EFFECT IN STABILIZING EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED PATIENTS AND IN REDUCING AGGRESSION IN VIOLENT OFFENDERS. THE EFFECTS OF MINOR TRANQUILIZERS ON HOSTILITY SUGGEST A COMPLEX INTERACTION AMONG THE DRUGS, ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, AND HOSTILITY. CONTROLLED STUDIES ARE NEEDED TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTS OF MINOR TRANQUILIZERS ON HOSTILITY IN NEUROTIC AND PERSONALITY-DISORDERED PATIENTS. STUDIES ON THE EFFECTS OF MAJOR TRANQUILIZERS (NEUROLEPTICS) IN CONTROLLING HOSTILITY AND AGGRESSION IN NONPSYCHOTIC PATIENTS ARE INCONCLUSIVE. THERE IS NO EVIDENCE FROM CONTROLLED STUDIES THAT ANTICONVULSANT DRUGS ARE EFFECTIVE IN TREATING DELINQUENTS OR PERSONS WITH ANTISOCIAL PERSONALITIES. STIMULANTS HAVE BEEN SHOWN TO BE EFFECTIVE IN TREATING JUVENILE DELINQUENTS, BUT IT IS NOT KNOWN HOW LONG STIMULANT-INDUCED IMPROVEMENTS ARE SUSTAINED. THERE IS ALSO THE RISK THAT JUVENILES WOULD ABUSE STIMULANT MEDICATION WERE THEY TREATED ON AN OUTPATIENT BASIS. IN THE ONLY CONTROLLED STUDY OF STIMULANTS IN ADULTS, METHYLPHENIDATE WAS EFFECTIVE IN SOME ADULTS WHO WERE HYPERACTIVE IN CHILDHOOD AND WHO MAY HAVE HAD MINIMAL BRAIN DYSFUNCITON. A LIST OF REFERENCES IS INCLUDED. (LKM)