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Biological Influences on Criminal Behavior
Biological Influences on Criminal Behavior, Second Edition is fully updated to include recent research, studies, and publications examining the integration of the biological view with mainstream social, psychological, and environmental views in influences in criminality and criminal behavior.
The first edition of the book was written with the belief, grounded in research, that something vital can be discovered when we assess all the factors related to the causes of crime, including biology. Since the first edition published, it has become broadly accepted that biology is certainly a factor in criminal behavior, albeit a singular piece to the puzzle.
Increased collaborations between scientists and criminologists has led to a much stronger understanding of the intricacies of biology's role in behavior. As well, more criminologists have biological backgrounds. As the science involved became more complex, so too did this text.
This second edition considers the more recent and integrated research that is being conducted today to show the interaction between the environment and a person's biology that lead to our behavior. It has even been shown that the environment acts on, and actually changes the functions, of some genes. The book begins with basic scientific principles and advances to introduce the reader to the more in-depth discussions of various biological influencers.
Biological Influences on Criminal Behavior, Second Edition is written primarily for social science and law students who wish to understand this exciting area. The book offers a greater understanding of this rapidly growing field so that its lessons can help to inform policy, treatments, rehabilitation and the law.
The first edition of the book was written with the belief, grounded in research, that something vital can be discovered when we assess all the factors related to the causes of crime, including biology. Since the first edition published, it has become broadly accepted that biology is certainly a factor in criminal behavior, albeit a singular piece to the puzzle.
Increased collaborations between scientists and criminologists has led to a much stronger understanding of the intricacies of biology's role in behavior. As well, more criminologists have biological backgrounds. As the science involved became more complex, so too did this text.
This second edition considers the more recent and integrated research that is being conducted today to show the interaction between the environment and a person's biology that lead to our behavior. It has even been shown that the environment acts on, and actually changes the functions, of some genes. The book begins with basic scientific principles and advances to introduce the reader to the more in-depth discussions of various biological influencers.
Biological Influences on Criminal Behavior, Second Edition is written primarily for social science and law students who wish to understand this exciting area. The book offers a greater understanding of this rapidly growing field so that its lessons can help to inform policy, treatments, rehabilitation and the law.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 1, 2023
This book was amazing. I read it for my Biological Explanations of Crime course at SFU. One of the best textbooks I read during my undergrad; the examples and explanations provided alongside the evidence assist the reader in drawing clear conclusions from the research conducted within the field.
The discussions within this book brings biology from the shadows by defining what science is and isn’t. This text also does well as it cautions that biological predispositions do not mean the individual is destined to behave in the expected manner.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot from it. I would recommend this to people who are interested in learning about biological explanations of crime from a critical and unbiased standpoint. Dr. Anderson is a fantastic individual to learn from, and this textbook demonstrates this clearly.
The discussions within this book brings biology from the shadows by defining what science is and isn’t. This text also does well as it cautions that biological predispositions do not mean the individual is destined to behave in the expected manner.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot from it. I would recommend this to people who are interested in learning about biological explanations of crime from a critical and unbiased standpoint. Dr. Anderson is a fantastic individual to learn from, and this textbook demonstrates this clearly.
February 5, 2026
This book was an interesting read. I came across this one by chance, and it analyzes factors that contribute to criminal behavior through the lenses of biology, genetics, physiology, psychology and neuroscience. This book came out in 2006/7, but a lot of topics are relevant today such as the relationship between concussions and criminal behavior. There was also a section about how poor blood sugar control can be a risk factor for criminal behavior. This was discussed in Robert Sapolsky's book "Determined" which came out in 2023 or so, but it's interesting to see that the research existed but it wasn't yet mainstream knowledge.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews