Criminals in the Making

This text presents biological and genetic research associated with criminality and examines research into specific environmental agents that cause, facilitate or maintain criminal propensity.

Why do individuals exposed to the same environment turn out so differently, with some engaging in crime and others abiding by societal rules and norms? Why are males involved in violent crime more often than females? And why do the precursors of serious pathological behavior typically emerge in childhood? This fascinating text addresses key questions surrounding criminal propensity by discussing studies of the life-course perspective—criminological research that links biological factors associated with criminality with the social and environmental agents thought to cause, facilitate, or otherwise influence a tendency towards criminal activity. The book provides comprehensive, interdisciplinary coverage of the current thinking in the field about criminal behavior over the course of a lifetime. Additionally, it highlights interventions proven effective and illustrates how the life-course perspective has contributed to a greater understanding of the causes of crime.

Chapter 1. Life Course Criminology
Chapter 2. The Stability of Criminal and Analogous Behaviors
Chapter 3. Continuity in Antisocial Potential
Chapter 4. Genetics and Crime
Chapter 5. Introduction to Brain Structure and Basic Functions—Part I: The Hindbrain, Midbrain, and Limbic Structures In the Development of Criminality
Chapter 6. Introduction to Brain Structure and Basic Functions—Part II: Forebrain Formations, Trauma, and Criminal Behavior
Chapter 7. Concepts and Issues in Neuropsychological Functioning
Chapter 8. Sex Differences in Brain Processes and Laterality
Chapter 9. Special Topics in the Life Course: Psychopathy, Early Onset, and Drug Influences on Criminality
Chapter 10. Individuals and Their Social World
Chapter 11. Families and Crime
Chapter 12. Prepubescence: Infancy and Childhood
Chapter 13. Postpubescence: Adolescence and Adulthood
Chapter 14. Policy Recommendations