Biology and Crime

By David C. Rowe

Book Overview

Biology and Crime profiles biological approaches to understanding why some people are criminals and others not. Written by internationally recognized behavioral geneticist David C. Rowe, the book offers instructors and students a brief, contemporary presentation of biological approaches to crime with a minimum of jargon. (A background in the biological sciences is not required.)

Boxes highlight special topics and examples drawn from newspaper stories to spark student interest.

Chapters cover:
* Behavioral genetics
* Evolutionary approaches to crime
* Biological tests for criminal disposition
* The human genome and crime
* The environment and crime
* Ethical and policy implications

This book will enrich students' appreciation of the nexus of biology and crime--without negating non-biological theories of crime.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195330099
• ISBN13: 9780195330090
• Release Date: October 2001
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, Incorporated
• Length: 162 Pages
• Weight: 0.52 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Most readable book on biology of crime

This is a must have book for anyone interested in the subject of biology, genetics and crime. Dr. Rowe has published some of the most erudite papers on behavioral genetics in peer-reviewed publications, and I was looking for a book that I could recommend to people who attend my workshops on the subject for greater detail than can be covered in a day on all the aspects of violence, crime, and antisocial behavior. This book fills the bill. It is exceedlingly well written-crisp, and not too technical. The book will give you a good understanding of the subject without running to a medical dictionary every sentence, yet it is grounded in solid science. It is a good book even for someone who is very familiar with the literature, because it creates a good organizing structure for theory and research. Dr. Rowe has left a legacy in this book.