Biological Influences on Criminal Behavior

Biological Influences on Criminal Behavior
Author: Gail S. Anderson
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2006-11-02
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9781420043310

In reviewing introductory texts available to criminologists, one is left with the impression that biological factors are irrelevant to the formulation of criminal behavior. Where biology is mentioned at all, it receives infinitesimal coverage. This dearth of attention could at one time be blamed on shoddy research and the legitimate fear that evidence gathered along this path would be used to support eugenics extremists. However, in the past 20 years, tremendously valuable work has been accomplished that legitimately correlates biological factors such as genetics, biochemistry, diet, and brain disease to criminal behavior. Biological Influences on Criminal Behavior fundamentally questions the way most criminologists attempt to explain, let alone ameliorate the problem of human criminal behavior. Written by Gail Anderson, a highly respected expert in forensics, who also brings a much-needed biological background to the task, this resource champions contemporary biological theory by introducing criminologists to areas of research they might not otherwise encounter. Dr. Anderson discusses basic biological concepts such as natural selection and evolution in relation to behavior, and considers genetic factors including patterns of inheritance, sex-linked traits, and propensities toward aggression. She explores studies on hormonal effects, as well as brain chemistry, and delves deeply into organic brain dysfunction. She also looks at investigations into fetal conditions and birth-related difficulties, as well as research on nutrition and food allergies. While it is steeped in scientific research, the material is presented in a way that does not require a scientific background. The author does not suggest that biology plays the major role in criminal behavior; however, her carefully researched work does prove that we can gain a far deeper and more useful understanding when we objectively assess all of the factors involved. A professor of forensic entomology in the School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University, Gail S. Anderson has a Ph.D. in medical and veterinary entomology. She serves as a forensics consultant to the RCMP and city police across Canada. Among her many accolades, she was listed in TIME magazine as one of top five innovators worldwide in criminal justice and recently received the Derome Award from the Canadian Society of Forensic Sciences.

The Anatomy of Violence

The Anatomy of Violence
Author: Adrian Raine
Publisher: Pantheon
Total Pages: 501
Release: 2013
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0307378845

Provocative and timely: a pioneering neurocriminologist introduces the latest biological research into the causes of--and potential cures for--criminal behavior. With an 8-page full-color insert, and black-and-white illustrations throughout.

The Nurture Versus Biosocial Debate in Criminology

The Nurture Versus Biosocial Debate in Criminology
Author: Kevin M. Beaver
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 473
Release: 2014-01-31
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1483311767

The Nurture Versus Biosocial Debate in Criminology: On the Origins of Criminal Behavior and Criminality takes a contemporary approach to address the sociological and the biological positions of human behavior by allowing preeminent scholars in criminology to speak to the effects of each on a range of topics. Kevin M. Beaver, J.C. Barnes, and Brian B. Boutwell aim to facilitate an open and honest debate between the more traditional criminologists who focus primarily on environmental factors and contemporary biosocial criminologists who examine the interplay between biology/genetics and environmental factors.

Biology and Crime

Biology and Crime
Author: David C. Rowe
Publisher: Roxbury Publishing Company
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2002
Genre: Criminal anthropology
ISBN: 9781891487804

Written by internationally recognized behavioral geneticist, this book offers instructors and students a contemporary presentation of biological approaches to crime with a minimum of jargon. It profiles biological approaches to understanding why some people are criminals and others not.

Criminal Behavior: Pearson New International Edition

Criminal Behavior: Pearson New International Edition
Author: Curt R. Bartol
Publisher:
Total Pages: 602
Release: 2014
Genre: Criminal behavior
ISBN: 9781292022956

For undergraduate and graduate courses in criminal behavior, criminology, the psychology of crime, crime and delinquency, and forensic psychology. A comprehensive psychological approach to criminal behavior. Accurate, researched-based, contemporary, and comprehensive: Criminal Behavior: A Psychological Approach, Tenth Edition, builds on the excellence established in previous editions. The text offers a detailed look at crime, what may lead to it, and how criminal behavior may be prevented, all from a psychological perspective. Focusing on serious crimes, particularly those involving violence, Criminal Behavior offers a comprehensive look at this complex field with effective and engaging material that has been classroom-tested for over thirty years.

The Criminal Brain, Second Edition

The Criminal Brain, Second Edition
Author: Nicole Rafter
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 395
Release: 2016-08-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1479894699

A lively, up-to-date overview of the newest research in biosocial criminology What is the relationship between criminality and biology? Nineteenth-century phrenologists insisted that criminality was innate, inherent in the offender’s brain matter. While they were eventually repudiated as pseudo-scientists, today the pendulum has swung back. Both criminologists and biologists have begun to speak of a tantalizing but disturbing possibility: that criminality may be inherited as a set of genetic deficits that place one at risk to commit theft, violence, or acts of sexual deviance. But what do these new theories really assert? Are they as dangerous as their forerunners, which the Nazis and other eugenicists used to sterilize, incarcerate, and even execute thousands of supposed “born” criminals? How can we prepare for a future in which leaders may propose crime-control programs based on biology? In this second edition of The Criminal Brain, Nicole Rafter, Chad Posick, and Michael Rocque describe early biological theories of crime and provide a lively, up-to-date overview of the newest research in biosocial criminology. New chapters introduce the theories of the latter part of the 20th century; apply and critically assess current biosocial and evolutionary theories, the developments in neuro-imaging, and recent progressions in fields such as epigenetics; and finally, provide a vision for the future of criminology and crime policy from a biosocial perspective. The book is a careful, critical examination of each research approach and conclusion. Both compiling and analyzing the body of scholarship devoted to understanding the criminal brain, this volume serves as a condensed, accessible, and contemporary exploration of biological theories of crime and their everyday relevance.

Born to Crime

Born to Crime
Author: Lawrence Taylor
Publisher: Praeger
Total Pages: 200
Release: 1984-05-23
Genre: Law
ISBN:

It is the limited purpose of this book to present emerging scientific evidence that genetics plays a key role in the origins of criminal behavior. The ethical considerations raised by such evidence are considerable, but are not the focus of the study.

Handbook of Crime Correlates

Handbook of Crime Correlates
Author: Lee Ellis
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 405
Release: 2009-05-07
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0080920098

Over the past two centuries, many aspects of criminal behavior have been investigated. Finding this information and making sense of it all is difficult when many studies would appear to offer contradictory findings. The Handbook of Crime Correlates collects in one source the summary analysis of crime research worldwide. It provides over 400 tables that divide crime research into nine broad categories: - Pervasiveness and intra-offending relationships - Demographic factors - Ecological and macroeconomic factors - Family and peer factors - Institutional factors - Behavioral and personality factors - Cognitive factors - Biological factors - Crime victimization and fear of crime Within these broad categories, tables identify regions of the world and how separate variables are or are not positively or negatively associated with criminal behavior. Criminal behavior is broken down into separate offending categories of violent crime, property crime, drug offenses, sex offenses, delinquency, general and adult offenses, and recidivism. Accompanying each table is a description of what each table indicates in terms of the positive or negative association of specific variables with specific types of crime by region. This book should serve as a valuable resource for criminal justice personnel and academics in the social and life sciences interested in criminal behavior.

The Causes of Crime

The Causes of Crime
Author: Sarnoff A. Mednick
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2009-06-11
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780521111898

In this century, social factors have dominated theories of antisocial behaviour to the near-exclusion of other explanatory variables in the study of criminology. Criminologists are now coming to realise that fully understanding the causes of criminality requires consideration of both social and biological variables and that their models must take into account the interaction of the two. Reports of the relevant scientific work have previously been scattered through journals with varying disciplinary and geographical limitations. The book presents state-of-the-art investigation into the biological factors that produce criminal activity from authorities in nine countries who are on the forefront of research in behaviour genetics, neurophysiology, biochemistry, neuropsychology, psychophysiology, psychiatry and sociology. The Causes of Crime: New Biological Approaches offers the first comprehensive overview and integration of this new field of enquiry. It will be an invaluable resource for everyone concerned with the causes of criminal behaviour and interventions to reduce its frequency.