ABSTRACT
Neurocriminology seeks to apply principles, methods and insights garnered from the field of neuroscience to the study of what causes crime, as well as how to best predict, prevent and manage criminal behaviour and its consequences. Nineteenth-century Italian psychiatrist Cesare Lombroso has been heralded as the founding father of neurocriminology. This chapter discusses three main areas of neurocriminological study have helped shed light on how certain neurobiological characteristics might increase one's risk of developing criminal or antisocial behaviour. First, neurocriminological findings may help predict future criminal behaviour by augmenting the predictive value of existing methods of risk assessment, such as actuarial instruments. Second, findings in the neurocriminological literature may affect perceptions regarding how to punish criminal behaviour. Third, research in neurocriminology may lead to the development of better methods of treating or intervening in offending and antisocial behaviour, either before or after criminal behaviour has occurred.
