Citation

Boutwell BB, Barnes JC, Beaver KM, Haynes RD, Nedelec JL, Gibson CL. Aggress. Violent Behav. 2015; 25: 343-353.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.avb.2015.09.003

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Multiple scientific disciplines have weighed in with different viewpoints regarding the origins of criminal behavior among human beings. What is lacking, however, is a framework capable of uniting the theoretical viewpoints into a single overarching perspective. The current article offers such a framework. Drawing on a variety of influences, we argue that many types of crime can be understood in the evolutionary context of human life history. Along these lines, we present a framework capable of explaining different patterns of criminal offending both at the individual level as well as the macro-level. Although the current article offers only a starting point, the way forward in the study of crime should involve a multi-disciplinary, multilevel explanatory framework. The evolutionary taxonomy we propose represents a step in that direction.

Language: en