The Biology of Violence: How Understanding the Brain, Behavior and Environment Can Break the Vicious Circle of Aggression

by Debra Niehoff

Violent behavior isn't simply a result of poverty, moral decline, or bad parenting; its roots lie in the way our brains work. That is what scientists at the frontiers of neuroscience are discovering as they learn more about the brain.The first book to examine violence from a complete biological perspective, The Biology of Violence does more than settle the nature vs. nurture debate; it supersedes it. Debra Niehoff explains that the biology of behavior is not a genetic program but a process -- a lifelong dialogue between the brain and the environment. Behavior actually changes our brain chemistry. Biology does not mean that we are or are not born bad; it means we are born vulnerable."Get tough" policies are today's solution to the epidemic of violence. But harsh punishment isn't the answer. Niehoff explains that neuroscience, including new drug therapies, offers cheap, effective ways to break the vicious cycles of nature and nurture that threaten our lives. This provocative book challenges us to live up to the opportunities that our scientific understanding of the mind has presented, and to institute policies that work with human nature -- not against it -- to change perpetrators and heal victims.

368 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1999

Reviews

[Jeroen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Acceptabele, albeit narrow, overview of agression in society