ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights salient scientific findings on the role of biological factors, together with social environmental factors, in the development of offending. Biological processes are relevant to discussions of punishment in light of the empirical evidence that incarceration can worsen neuropsychological deficits, a risk factor for offending. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how knowledge about the biosocial basis of offending can help inform crime prevention and alternatives to traditional punitive practices.
