- Paperback: 416 pages
- Publisher: Signet Books; New edition edition (27 Mar 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0451196295
- ISBN-13: 978-0451196293
- Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 12.7 x 3.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 478,642 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
Product Description
Product Description
Most violence is committed by men - but while boys may always be boys, only a tiny minority of antisocial teenagers become hardened criminals. Researchers can point to telltale sings - genetic inheritance, abnormal brain structures and chemical imbalances - which can put individuals at risk. Violence linked to PMS, epilepsy or excess testosterone can often be successfully treated with drugs. Such biological influences on criminality do not exclude social and economic factors, but they do call into question many of our moral and legal assumptions. In this text, the authors of "Brainsex" assess the evidence and offer suggestions for policy-makers.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The writers put forward a case for physiological links to crime. This is no claim to physical determinism, no suggestion that there are criminal types who can be recognised by the bumps on their heads or the height of their brow ridge. Rather they look at arguments associating some forms of brain damage with dramatic behavioural and personality change, and conclude that there are clear links between brain injury, even relatively minor damage, and subsequent violent behaviour.
Moir and Jessel tackle a complex subject with clarity and intelligence: they communicate ideas about the working of the brain without talking down to the reader and without making the subject obscure or boring. They also handle much of the physiological evidence with conviction.
However, there are problems in their arguments. While there is an excellent contribution to the analysis of violent crime here - and there is strong evidence of a physiological cause in the specific area of psychopathy - their analysis is weak in areas like domestic violence, where much of the pathological behaviour could well have been learned.
If violent crime is related to brain damage, it makes change, reform, or rehabilitation doubly problematic (and I speak as a Probation Officer). What are the treatment options? What are the moral issues - if someone commits a crime because they have been brain damaged, can they be held to be responsible? Can they be found guilty?
A curate's egg of a book - very good in parts, but not entirely convincing, and with one or two major gaps which need filling or explaining. Nevertheless, a stimulating read for anyone interested in or involved in the field of crime.
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
