NCJ Number
91821
Editor(s)
S G Shoham
Date Published
1983
Length
274 pages
Annotation
Thirteen papers examine deviance and crime in this volume, which presents human nonnormative behavior in an interdisciplinary context.
Abstract
A study of violence from an integrative viewpoint shows that aggressive behavior is caused by the interactive effects of environmental factors and integrative processes of specific brain regions. The historical evolution and legal definition of dangerousness is discussed, and the social, psychological, and biomedical attributes of sociopathy are reviewed. One paper looks at patterns of role relationships and crime, while another examines a systems view of psychiatric, sociological, and ontological alienation. White-collar crime and crimes committed by persons in positions of power are discussed; gene environment interactions and crime are analyzed; and the phyletic origins of erotosexual dysfunction are examined. Additional papers discuss Marx, Sartre, and the resurrection of choice in theoretical criminology; results of a cross-national study on the deterrent effect of the death penalty; and the psychobiology of human aggression and violence. Great literary works by Sophocles, Dostoevsky, Conrad, Camus, Faulkner, and others are examined in an attempt to understand the meaning of crime and the mind of the criminal. Criminologists are urged to explore the humanities, philosophy, and great literature to better understand their own field. One essay concludes that revealing analogies exist between human and nonhuman or prehuman expressive behavior, while a final paper looks at parental guilt feelings and perceptions of retardation in 44 matched cases. All papers contain references or notes; some figures are included. For individual papers, see NCJ 91822-27.