Customer Reviews (1)

the twin studies tell the story
In this well written book Larry Taylor explains how genetic hard coding of individuals is more consistent with crime statistics than politically correct root-cause theories would suggest.The centerpiece of the book is the chapter on twin studies which have been carried on in Minnesota for over 40 years.As Taylor points out many other locales in the world have engaged in similar studies with substantially identical implications; England and denmark come to mind.

The inescapable fact is that identical twins separated at birth and then reunited 30-40 years later end up showing remarkable similarity with regard to their personalities, there life choices, their habits and patterns, and a whole host of other characteristics too many to cite. It is from this observation that Taylor lends credence to the concept that some of us are in fact born to crime.

It's too bad that a politically correct major media, with its attendant liberal agenda, has failed to include reasoned arguments such as those advanced by Larry Taylor and many others. It has taken the intervening 18 years since this book was published in 1984 for some of the more honest Liberal critics on the Left i.e. Bernard goldberg, to gain sufficient traction to hold their own Liberal media establishment up to the proper scrutiny

Although Taylor never mentions Race he was castigated as a racist by the political Left after writing this book for daring to suggest that genetic makeup could be causitive of criminal behavior.It's well done and shouldn't be so difficult to get.A couple of years ago Taylor came to me to get my copy back as he had none left of his own and couldn't find one in the public domain.Such is too often the fate of books not adhering to avirulent political correctness, a child of totalitarian communism and far right wing religions, which has had such a damaging effect on American society in the last 30 years. ... Read more

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Crime in the United States and especially in one inner-city neighborhood is examined in this book, the result of a year-long project implementing various quantitative and qualitative research methods. The study shows how that one neighborhood is fighting crime through a community education (comprehensive) approach. The narrative describes in detail methods used to address foreground (opportunity) as well as background causes of criminal behavior that involve policing, community problem-solving, and improving quality of life. ... Read more

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Human Development and Criminal Behavior proposes an extensive agenda for crime research. The book is part of a pioneering effort to understand the causes of crime, particularly its developmental course. It defines and sets the conditions necessary to conduct an accelerated longitudinal study of individuals at risk to become engaged in criminal careers. This work offers a blueprint for research to elucidate and possibly prevent crime in our society. ... Read more

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Criminal Behavior explores crime as a developmental process from birth through early adulthood. It further examines the role that legal, political, and criminal justice systems play in the development of criminal behavior. Criminal Behavior:

• takes into account biological, genetic, developmental, familial, social, educational, cultural, political, and economic factors correlated with crime;
• references actual cases and events to serve as examples of the principles introduced;
• critically examines the roles of the criminal and juvenile justice systems and methods of punishment in the development of and response to criminal behavior;
• explores the effects of crime on victims and looks at correlations between crimes and victim characteristics and behaviors;
• examines the role of childhood and adolescent behavioral and mental health disorders in the development of criminal behavior; and
• investigates the differences between criminals and the rest of society, and the differences and similarities between and among criminals.

Chock-full of personal anecdotes, this engaging text is unique in that it combines the experience of Doug Bernstein, a clinical psychologist and a successful textbook author, and Elaine Cassel, a practicing attorney who regularly teaches psychology and law. Organized around five dimensions related to the causes, characteristics, and consequences of crime, the book summarizes the programs that research suggest offer the best hope for doing a better job of dealing with crime in the 21st century. The authors argue that prevention is the key to dealing with crime, and present comprehensive suggestions for crime prevention.

The new edition features the latest criminal statistics available, as well as the most current research on the causes and correlations of crime and violence. Other highlights include: discussion of the latest brain-imaging research in psychopathy - how psychopaths' brains are different from "normal" brains; the latest on gang activities and how their venues have migrated to suburban and rural areas; terrorism and its roots; Internet crimes, especially sexual predator crimes; the latest research on how media violence, especially violent interactive video games, contributes to criminal behavior; the examination of drug and mental health courts as alternatives to punishment; and recent Supreme Court rulings eliminating the death penalty for juveniles and the mentally retarded.

Intended as a textbook for upper-level courses on criminal behavior, psychology and law, and developmental psychopathology taught in departments of psychology, criminology, criminal justice, law, and sociology and/or criminal justice training academies.

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This volume is the first to bring together the work oflongitudinal researchers in the field of criminology around the world.It introduces the newest research results from these projects andfocuses on the newest methodological and theoretical developments inlongitudinal criminological research for the study of humandevelopment and criminal behavior. The focus of the book lies on thefollowing areas: (Multi) Problem Behavior, Age of Onset, and Pathsinto Delinquent and Criminal Behavior; The Problem of DeterminingIncidence and Prevalence in Longitudinal Research; Paths of Crime andthe Relevance of Nonintervention versus Intervention; Concepts ofCriminal Careers and Career Criminals; Desistance: in Search of anExplanation: Life Styles, Life Events, Coping and Aging; Theoreticaland Methodological Implications of Longitudinal Research.
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The Causes of Rape: Understanding Individual Differences in Male Propensity for Sexual Aggression examines why some men are prone to rape, offers probable causes for this inclination, and provides a comprehensive review of scientific studies of coercive sex. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Definitive Book
This book is clearly the definitive book on the subject. Extensively researched this book covers every aspect of enforced sex from the literature (going back to Greek times), from history as in the rape of Nanking and the Russian use of rape in Berlin almost as a matter of policy, and even in the animal kingdom.

The authors also attempt to identify the causes rape using mental illnesses or more particularily the personality disorders as a contributing factor. Other aspects such as the relationship of pornography with rape are investigated (and in the case of porn it appears that the almost explosive growth of porn in recent years is lowering rape incidence).

The ending chapters list several areas where treatments have been tried with mixed results, and give several areas where additional research is indicated. This is a splendid work on the subject, and may remain the definitive work unless the directions indicated here point the direction to additional research.
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Product Description
This digital document is an article from Policy Review, published by Hoover Institution Press on July 1, 1997. The length of the article is 4974 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the supplier: Criminologists have learned a great deal since the 1960s regarding the causes of criminal behavior, so society should begin to deal with the root causes. Children of unwed teenage mothers should be targeted and screened, since they often become involved in crime at a young age. Family intervention techniques should be used when behavior problems begin to increase. Chronic offenders have been shown to be disproportionately responsible for the overall crime rate, so they should be incarcerated. Similarly, violent predators should be identified and imprisoned.

Citation Details
Title: Mugged by reality. (sources of criminal behavior)
Author: Eugene J. Methwin
Publication: Policy Review (Refereed)
Date: July 1, 1997
Publisher: Hoover Institution Press
Issue: n84Page: p32(7)

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A comprehensive and up-to-date synthesis of what is currently known about the causes of rape. Professor Ellis summarizes three theories - feminist theory, social learning theory, and evolutionary (or socio-biological theory) - and provides evidence both for and against specific hypotheses resulting from each. Building upon this foundation, the book creates a new theory drawing on the strengths of the three examined. ... Read more

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MALE CRIME AND DEVIANCE seeks to explore in-depth the types of offenses most identified with and committed by males, dynamics of male crime, characteristics of male offenders, how male criminality and delinquency compare with and differ from female delinquent and criminal behavior, explanations for male crime, and efforts at combating crime in this country. Particular attention is given to exploring the relationship between male aggression and masculinity, as well as the role that testosterone and other biological factors play in male crime and violence. The book also focuses on the correlations between male violence and aggressive behavior and firearms, violence involving intimates, male sexual violence, bias crimes, workplace violence, terrorism, male perpetrated sexual offenses, youth gang crime, and school violence. These areas of male criminality and deviance are examined within the context of all male offending, arrest, self- report, and inmate data, along with criminological theoretical approaches to understanding the causes and related factors of male deviant behavior. The book is written primarily for undergraduate and graduate level students for coursework in criminal justice, criminology, male aggression, violent behavior, homicide, youth studies, gang studies, delinquency, law, law enforcement, sociology, social science, psychology, biology, and related areas of study. However, it is appropriate as well for academicians, social scientists, psychologists, law officers, medical workers, and a general readership with a vested interest in antisocial behavior and its implications on the greater society. ... Read more

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This digital document is a journal article from Aggression and Violent Behavior, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Description:
The topic of media violence has been the subject of heated debate in recent decades. There is a vast empirical literature on the effects of television on aggression but no published comprehensive review has ever focused on those studies that use criminal aggression as their outcome. The present paper represents an attempt to fill this void and provide a resource for those who do not wish to delve into four decades of original research in order to assess this line of investigation. Studies are evaluated based on contemporary standards of research in the field of criminology. Although the possibility that television and film violence has an impact on violent criminality remains, it is concluded here that, despite persistent published reviews that state the contrary, the body of published, empirical evidence on this topic does not establish that viewing violent portrayals causes crime. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, published by Northwestern University, School of Law on June 22, 1998. The length of the article is 7865 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the supplier: Criminologists have long interested in desistance or cessation from crime, that is, in why particular career criminals choose to give up committing criminal acts. However, this interest used desistance as a means of elucidating the etiology or causes or crime. However, methodological barriers limit the usefulness of such causal inferences. New analysis suggested that desistance research could have value in its own right to advance policy goals and strategies for intervention.

Citation Details
Title: Asymmetrical causation and criminal desistance.
Author: Christopher Uggen
Publication: Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 1998
Publisher: Northwestern University, School of Law
Volume: 88Issue: 4Page: 1399

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For courses in Criminology, Theories of Crime Causation, and Criminal and Deviant Behavior.This thorough primer fills the void between voluminous expensive texts and unsuitable paperback readers with a text that covers all significant issues and concepts relevant to students of sociology, criminology and criminal justice. The authors define, examine and explain crime and criminal behavior, and present various new theoretical perspectives on crime causation. The text provides students with an examination of society's response to crime, and presents several different justice perspectives. ... Read more

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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. ... Read more

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Presents opposing viewpoints on the subject of crime and how it may be affected by poverty, genetics, drug use, and easy access to guns. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Fearless in pursuit of the truth
At a time when PC activists are seeking to destroy the careers of academics who dare to suggest that not all people are created equal, this book is a reminder of what is at stake."Crime and Human Nature" is a fearless, compelling attempt to get to the heart of a subject that concerns everybody in modern society.The authors present the whole picture, theories, evidence, and controversies, with rigor and clarity.You will not find a better survey of the subject anywhere.The book should also be required reading for anybody who wants to learn how to construct an argument.

Not PC, but the truth often isn't
I read this book for a philosophy class in college.After having done more research, I realized how important this work really is.The prevailing theories and proposed solutions for the crime problem in the U.S. are not represented here.That is mostly likely because the views and statistics found in this book are not politically correct.However, I believe they have much more merit, as they are founded on common sense and realistic strategies.
People reading this book will understand how throwing money at problems is ineffective and wasteful.You will also understand a very basic principle that I believe is greatly misunderstood:

There is no such thing as effective rehabilitation.Rehabilitation is a myth.

That isn't to say that people in prison cannot benefit from time, patience, and education.The simple truth is that there is no known effective method for changing people's behavior.And I think the general population has been duped into believing there is.
In any case, give this book a read, and see if it doesn't challenge the way you view the world and the people in it.

A Very Important Breakthrough in Understanding Crime
When Wilson and Herrnstein's "Crime and Human Nature" first appeared in 1985, it caused a major debate. American sociologists had generally ascribed crime to environmental factors, particularly poverty.Wilson and Herrnstein proposed that constitutional factors, coupled with poor parenting, were really the causes of crime.It was the first major examination of such factors since the early days of criminology. The authors proposed that the following constitutional factors predisposed an individual to crime:
1) Mesomorphic body type: There are three body types and mesomorphs are described as heavily built, either muscular or fat, and shorter than average. The authors don't even attempt to explain why this would predispose an individual to crime. But the statistics they use to back up this claim can't really be denied.Criminals are overwhelmingly mesomorphs with a slight emphasis to endomorphism (roundness) rather than ectomorphism (lean build). Stereotypes of criminals back up this claim: Think of the way famous mafiosos are built: John Gotti, Sammy Gravano, Tony Soprano, etc. Realizing that they can't explain why this affects crime, the authors simply state that it shows that constitutional factors matter; The other biological factors they describe are more straightforward.
2) Age: Criminals are predominantly young. Crime peaks from ages 16-25 and begins to descend downwards from thereon, although violent crime peaks from ages 24-28. Unlike body type, the authors seem to think they know why age causes crime, offering several possibilities. Young people have shorter time horizons, and are more interested in immediate gratification. Young people are less well off financially, have less dependents and so on. Few people would dispute age as a major factor in crime.
3) Sex: Men commit far more crimes than women, although the figures aren't completely clear as to how much more. An estimation of 90 percent seems likely. The question is why? Obviously men are more aggressive than women, but why do women commit crimes? The authors state that women commit crimes for the same reasons as men. As for why, all they can say is that for reasons both nature and nurture, men have different sex roles than women, and these affect crime.
4) Intelligence: Low intelligence, particularly the verbal component, seems to have a major impact on the criminal individual. The reasons are that those with low intelligence discount future events as being too far off to matter. They try and live for the moment. They may also be less able to grasp moral concepts.
5) Personality: Criminals differ on personality in nearly every study done on them. Criminals tend to be more aggressive, unafraid, assertive, impulsive and extroverted than others. They are also poorly socialized, meaning they display little regards for others feelings.
The authors are quick to note that constitutional factors are not only hereditary. They may also be affected by poor pre-natel care. Thus the genes alone don't dictate criminal behavior, but they do predispose an individual to crime. If those traits are reinforced by certain environmental factors, then criminal behavior may result.
By far the most important developmental factor, according to the authors, is parental style. Inconsistent and random discipline prevents a child from knowing when to expect punishment. The rules are not made clear, and the child never internalizes them.Furthermore, a cold parent does not produce the necessary attachment with their child that is important in later development. The child never develops a desire to please the parent or obey the rules. This pattern continues into adulthood. As far as developmental and environmental factors go, this is really the only one the authors point to as having a major impact. Indeed, they spend the next few chapters explaining why other factors don't matter, including schools, neighborhoods, labor markets, and television violence. Delinquents are likely to flock together in the schoolyard: A few rotten boys don't spoil the others. Certain kinds of neighborhoods attract certain kinds of people, and they point to an ecological fallacy: Ascribing the characteristics of an individual to the group where he lives. Labor markets only marginally affect crime, and the reasons are not entire clear yet. One environmental factor they do point to are durgs, specifically alcohol and heroin (the book came out before the crack epidemic broke in 1985, or surely crack would been included). These alter a persons time horizons and lead to impulsive behavior, as well as the need for money to support the habit. It is not clear how constitutional factors affect people in predisposing them to use drugs though. Perhaps they share some of the above constitutional traits.
After setting forth their model of criminal behavior as a choice that people make based on biological factors coupled with inadequate parenting, it seems only logical to expect policy suggestions on how to reduce crime. But they offer few. One reason is that since the book was both controversial and revolutionary, they were first interested in seeing their theory of criminal behavior become accepted. Since being written, it has indeed gained widespread acceptance, although it doesn't explain white-collar crime, and doesn't seem to explain organized crime either. The authors would counter that organized crime results from the same factors that they lay out in their general model. And it seems a valid point in explaining organized crime, who's members share many characteristics with petty criminals.
What is missing from the book is causation. After establishing an elegant an encompassing theory of crime which looks at both biological and environmental factors, the authors need to fill in the blanks. Most notably, why do mesomorphs show more criminal tendencies? And why do some men become criminals, while most don't? And how does one explain why women commit crimes? There is something notably missing here: How does one explain aggression, and the link between muscularity and aggressiveness?
Since 1985 researchers have closed in on the answer. It seems that the male hormone testoserone is responsible for aggression. Men with low testoserone claim to be tired, and unenergetic. After receiving the hormone, they say they feel better. No studies have been, however, to give men with high levels of testoserone more of the hormone for fear of uncontrolled behavior. Nonetheless, the correlation seems clear. It seems that mesomorphs, youths, and men all have higher testoserone than their counterparts. This explains their aggressive behavior. But even those three factors together cannot explain crime. Low intelligence, bad temperament, and poor parenting must also be factored in. A young man with high testoserone and a well adjusted personality will be highly successful. Indeed, society needs energetic young men to fight its wars, fight fires, and police the streets, among other jobs. It is only aggression in tandem with the other factors that is a problem.
Finally, we must address how to reduce crime, based on the model described here. One solution has been eugenics. The neo-Eugenics movement loved this book, using it to claim that crime is genetic, and to reduce crime all we have to do is sterilize criminals. While there is much in this book to support that claim, there will still be individuals born with these genetic traits. And most of all, society finds that solution abhorrent and unethical. I believe there are better ways to deal with criminals. If criminals are aggressive, impulsive, short-sighted young men, one way to deal with them is to slow them down. The tranquilizing effect of drug treatments would slow their impulses, and make them think before they act. No such drug has been introduced, but it seems like one could be not to far in the offing. Treatment programs like those offered by Stanton Samenow which help criminals by making them think about their every action, and what it will lead to in the future, could be done in tandem with drug treatment. By doing these things, along with strict policing, we can reduce crime greatly in our society. ... Read more

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The study of criminal careers is of increasing interest in criminology. It is now generally recognized that it is important to try to understand criminal behavior across the life-course rather than focusing on fragmented incidents which provide only a partial picture. This is an accessible text which clarifies the crucial theoretical and methodological debates surrounding the study of criminal careers. It focuses on some major longitudinal studies discussing the onset, persistence, desistance and the duration of a criminal career. The important topics of prediction, risk and specialization are addressed. The challenging question of 'When do ex-offenders become like non-offenders?' points a way forward. The book concludes by proposing an even more ambitious approach to the topic of criminal careers. ... Read more