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

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.

A masterful, much-needed primer on how a disruption of the interweaving of biology and environment can lead people to hurt each other. This makes clear that most current rhetoric on the subject is totally out-of-date and must be discarded. Niehoff , who has done research herself in neurobiology, points out that the last 25 years of studies in the neurosciences have given us myriad tools to reduce the level of violence in society; we now need to stop reacting (basically, sending increasing numbers o f people off to prison) and start thinking about solutions from a new perspective. Niehoff begins with an historical overview of our antipathy toward biological explanations of aggression. Many such efforts, she acknowledges, have been racist at their cor e. But the new perspective of ``holistic biology'' is based on greater understanding of the physical processes of the body, and on how they continue to develop for years after birth in response to ones surroundings. ``Behavior is a dynamic process integra ting physiology and experience,'' Niehoff writesin short, biology is not destiny. Another popularly held notion to discard, Niehoff explains, is that violence is a single entity with a single cause, always to be treated in the same way. At the center of t his work is a comprehensive tour of the relevant structure and function of the nervous system, in which Niehoff makes clear the different types of aggressive responses, how they arise physiologically, at what different points and from what causes the syst em can go awry, and at what different junctures critical and effective interventions can be made. Finally, Niehoff pulls together all her evidence into a well-based practical treatment plan for violence in societyone that we have the ability to embark on now. Throughout, Niehoff informs, rather than sensationalizes. This should be required reading for the powers that be, and those who cling to outdated notions about violence and crime. We really can do better. (b&w illustrations) -- Copyright ©1 998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.