Violence and Psychopathy

This text focuses on one of the world's major problems - violence and psychopathy. It presents some of the key contributions made at the Fourth International Meeting on the Biology and Sociology of Violence held in November 1999. A key premise of this book, and a stance shared by all of its contributors, is the notion that violence and psychopathy simply cannot be understood solely in terms of social and environmental forces and influences. Nor do biological factors offer an exclusive explanation. Instead, it is likely that psychopathy is the result of complex interactions between biological and social factors, interactions which are poorly understood. Contributors to this book tackle the difficult process of isolating the important biological, psychological, and social processes that contribute to violence.