Evolution and Crime

Human physique and behaviour has been shaped by the pressures of natural selection. This is received wisdom in all scientifically informed circles. Currently, the topic of crime is rarely touched upon in textbooks on evolution and the topic of evolution rarely even mentioned in criminology textbooks. This book for the first time explores how an evolution informed criminology has clear implications for enhancing our understanding of the criminal law, crime and criminal behaviour.

This book is directed more towards students of criminology than students of evolution. It is suggested that there is scope for more collaborative work, with criminologists and crime scientists exposed to Darwinian thought having much to gain. What is suggested is simply that such thinking provides a fresh perspective. If that perspective yields only a fraction of the understanding when applied to crime as it has elsewhere in science, the effort will have been worthwhile.

The authors attempt to provide a modest appraisal of the potential contribution that a more welcoming approach to the evolutionary perspective would make to criminology; both theoretically (by expanding understanding of the complexity of the origins of behaviour labelled criminal) and practically (where the evolutionary approach can be utilised to inform crime control policy and practice). An evolutionary lens is applied to diverse criminological topics such as the origins of criminal law, female crime, violence, and environmental factors involved in crime causation.

Jason Roach is a Chartered Psychologist, a Reader in Crime and Policing, and the Director of the Crime and Policing Group at the University of Huddersfield. He has worked for the UK Home Office, taught at the Crime Reduction College, and worked in various mental health settings. He has published work on various criminological topics including criminal investigative practice, homicide and violent crime, terrorism, and Offender Self-Selection.

Ken Pease is a chartered forensic psychologist and currently Visiting Professor and Fellow of University College London and Visiting Professor at the University Loughbrough.