Sadism is a morbid phenomenon which remained mysterious until recently, when the experimental work of physiologists like Cannon, Sherrington and others, revealed to us the close connection existing between mental states, muscular tensions and the secretions of ductless glands of the body.
Adler's "individual psychology" also has thrown much light upon many morbid actions which are simply attempts at compensation for a feeling of inferiority. The neurotic, briefly speaking, feels inferior, that is, afraid of some imaginary danger. He casts about for something which can be done quickly, simply, with the least effort, and which will restore his peace and safety by filling him, were it only temporarily, with a sense of actual or imaginary superiority.
=Glandular Drunkenness.= Wulffen suggests an interpretation of sadism which is ingenious but unconvincing. He considers every act of violence as provoked by the faulty functioning of some glands.
He compares the effect of the gonadal hormones (one of the secretions of the sex glands issuing from the interstitial cells) with that of alcohol. Alcohol destroys the inhibitions and allows unconscious cravings of an inacceptable sort to express themselves thru overt acts.
The drunken man loses all shame and all fear, becomes boisterous and, at times, murderous. Likewise, Wulffen says, oversecretion of the gonadal hormones creates a sort of sexual drunkenness in the course of which the individual is forced into violent or cruel behavior.
This would be acceptable if all the sadists were strong healthy specimens of manhood and womanhood. Most of them, on the contrary, show plainly signs of glandular insufficiency.
Wulffen's thesis is not confirmed as some writers assume by a study of the mating habits of many animals. Cocks during the act of mating peck cruelly the back of the hen's head. Tomcats bite the necks of their mates. Toads, at times, choke the female to death in their clinging embrace.
In those acts of animal "cruelty" there is probably another element to be considered. The tomcat, digging his teeth into the female cat's neck, may not so much relieve his sadistic impulses as produce in his mate some welcome sensation of pleasurable pain. We know how willingly the most rebellious cats allow any one to grab them by the backs of their necks, making no effort at freeing themselves and apparently enjoying that partial strangulation. (Remember the aphrodisiac influence of hanging.)