ABSTRACT
This introductory chapter provides a brief history of the development of the psychological construct of empathy, and its theoretical relationship with human behaviour, particularly aggressive and criminal behaviour. The development of the basic empathy scale is described and situated within this historical and theoretical development. A brief outline of the key aims of the subsequent 17 chapters are described, which address important research questions about the nature of the relationship between empathy and offending, aggression, and bullying.
