The Faces of Violence (American Series in Behavioral Science and Law)

Thoroughly revised and rewritten, this new Second Edition addresses the manifestations of violence with an unusual clarity and down-to-earth objectivity that studies poverty, drugs, access to guns, joblessness, poor education, inadequate housing, and the lack of stability that comes from an integrated family. Doctor Palermo has spent a lifetime observing criminal violence as a psychiatrist for Milwaukee County. He is well known for his plainspoken, unpretentious testimony in the trial of serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer. The author takes the position that there is an absence in the United States of a coherent culture, of its material obsession, the destructiveness of welfare, the disintegration of the family unit and how all these forces have come together to perpetuate and increase violence in our daily lives. Although the book deals with crimes against the physical person, other forms of criminal behavior that have recently appeared on the social scene are explored, such as Internet crimes, white-collar crimes, and identity theft. It is a must read for all those professionals in the psychiatric, criminological, and forensic fields.