ABSTRACT
Crime prevention policies can be derived from any explanation of criminality (Lilly, et al., 2006). Logic suggests that the more complete the theory, the more effective the crime prevention informed by the theory will be (Robinson, 2004). Since biosocial criminology meaningfully integrates perspectives and theories from the biological and social sciences, the approach offers much hope in the area of crime prevention. At the very least, biosocial crime prevention should be far more effective than those strategies currently utilized within agencies of criminal justice, such as mass incarceration and capital punishment, that are based largely on ideological beliefs and “common sense” (Reiman, 2006; Robinson, 2005; Shelden, 2007). This chapter outlines potential crime prevention policies derived from a biosocial theory of crime-the “integrated systems theory” of antisocial behavior-as well as recent studies of risk factors consistent with biosocial criminology. The chapter also attempts to prioritize those crime prevention policies that would likely be the most effective.
