ABSTRACT
This chapter provides evidence for some of the biological differences that have been found between offenders and non-offenders and outlining their putative role in criminal behaviour. In response it could be said that, while genes do seem to be an influence on offending, biopsychology has done much to reveal how genes interact with other influences like neurotoxins and childhood adversity. Biologically oriented explanations of offending rest on the idea that offenders, as a group, are different from non-offenders in their biological structure and/or functioning. Rather, an offender's nervous system interacts with social and other environmental influences to give rise to tendencies to behave in particular ways that become criminal acts when they violate the law. Low heart rate can predict aggression and conduct problems in children and violence in adults independently of other variables such as personality and family history.
