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

Palermo (a professor of psychiatry and neurology at the Medical College of Wisconsin and of criminology and law studies at Marquette U.) believes that most of the factors usually cited for violent behavior are not the primary causes for such behavior. Instead, he suggests, violence is "basically due to the lack of the formative influence of the family unit on its members." Concentrating on individual violent behavior, he first appraises the theories used to explain crime from historical, sociological, psychological, etho-biological, and statistical perspectives. He next presents examinations of different types of personal crime, including serial murder, sexual violence, domestic violence, mass murder, and filicide and parricide. Finally, he presents his own arguments regarding the facilitators of individual crime. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)