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.
