Crime and Human Nature

by James Q. Wilson and Richard J. Herrnstein

Book Overview

Book by This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0671628100
• ISBN13: 9780671628109
• Release Date: January 1986
• Publisher: Touchstone Books
• Length: 639 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

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