The Anatomy of Violence: The Biological Roots of Crime A.

Raine (1st Edition, Printed 2014) Critical Account by Tom

Hepworth
The book that I have read is titled The Anatomy of Violence: The
Biological Roots of Crime by Andrew Raine. It is a scientific
explanation of ideas and theories suggested by criminologists;
scientists who study criminal behavior. I would estimate the target
audience of this book to be educated individuals with an interest in
both crime and biology, or who would just enjoy learning about how
the human brain functions. I will review the preface and
introduction, as well as the chapters called Basic Instincts (page
11) and Seeds of Sin (page 37).
Basic Instincts provide a brief but detailed account of how many of
the most commonly committed crimes and aggressive acts have
their origins in evolutionary forces, this is referenced in the chapter
segment that discusses marital rape. It is suggested the
evolutionary basis for this crime stemmed from an era where
women were seen as resources worth fighting for and were used
to pass on the genetic code of men.
Raine goes on to analyse data from several different studies that
show a correlation between factors such as living conditions,
availability of food, being a stepparent to an infant child and
different levels of parental investment in their children as to
whether a crime is more likely to be committed. However, as with
any data, it should be noted that correlation does not equal
causation, and particularly in popular science it can be easy to jump
to conclusions about data that may not have any scientific link.
In analysing this data, he compares the aforementioned factors of
two societies and examines how they shape different personality
traits, a table contrasting these different factors and traits allows for
easy and concise comparison of how the former affects the latter
with regards to the !Kung Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert and
Mundurucu people of the Amazon Basin.
Each individual point is addressed separately under a different
subheading, although themes and ideas discussed under previous
subheadings, for example The Cheating Game, by which an
individual can increase the chances of genetic reproduction by
eliminating or harming their competition, transcend the boundaries
of the subsections and are referenced throughout the chapter. Raine
concludes by saying that although the seeds of sin are partly
rooted in our evolutionary past, the processes shaping violence
are enormously complex and there are no easy-fit explanations.

Seeds of Sin goes into further depth about the biological basis to
crime, in particular referring to a specific gene that can affect brain
function. The gene, known as MAOA, produces an enzyme of the
same name that when totally lacking or in reduced quantities can
affect some neurotransmitters in the brain that are involved in
impulse control, attention and other cognitive functions. A
mutation in the gene resulting in low levels of the enzyme is
relatively common, occurring in about 30% of us, though this
obviously doesnt make almost one in three of us criminals, the
risky behaviours caused by a low level of the enzyme might also
be found in successful businesspeople and bankers, who take huge
risks in ways other than committing crime. Raine concludes by
saying that low MAOA is to some extent associated with violent or
aggressive behavior.
This chapter also looks in depth at many studies about similarities in
behavior of infant adoptees of biological parents with a history of
crime. The data from these studies is presented in a clear concise
way, by use of a graph, which allows the reader to visualise the
positive correlation between the number of crimes committed by
the biological parent and the percentage of sons committed of
crime. Raine goes into very little detail about the study in itself, not
mentioning the number of participants or how the study was carried
out, the graph shows no standard deviation and so it is impossible to
tell if the results are statistically significant. However, this may be to
keep the data as simplified as possible to keep the non scientist
reader intrigued, one of the shortfalls in this popular science book!
He tells the story of Jeffery Landrigan, an adopted child who never
knew his murderous biological father, yet despite being taken in by
a respectable all-American family, he turned to crime and
murdered in adulthood, eventually being killed himself by the U.S
Justice System. Raine questions whether this occurrence could
indicate innate criminal behavior, and sets the reader into thinking
deeper into potential biological links to crime. Although, it should be
remembered that the one case study does not necessarily represent
the norm, though it could be possible that most murderers have
parents who themselves were murderers, I personally find this
highly unlikely.
I found the ideas presented to me over the course of these two
chapters both interested me and caused me to doubt the way in
which I was brought up. Being a child with two police officer parents,
it was always explained to me that criminals would commit crime
because theyd had a bad upbringing, or hadnt tried hard enough at
school and thus had regressed to a life of crime. As such,
environmental factors were what I had judged to be the basis of
crime and I can honestly say that this book has opened my mind to
a world of criminology whilst not completely discounting potential

environmental factors, although, rightfully so, they take a backseat

in this book.
Overall, I have found this book to be well written and not
overbearing for the everyday reader! It has a perfect blend of hard
science and of more anecdotal case studies that put into context the
theories that are explained, these are useful tools in communicating
popular science, but as previously mentioned, may not truly reflect
the norm and often dont contain a lot of evidence, this can make
them unreliable sources of data, but enjoyable reading nonetheless.
The style in which Raine has written this book is structured well and
laid out in a logical fashion. The language used, although science
based, (as seen in the subchapter about the MAOA gene), is not so
specific that it cuts out readers who are non-scientists, he achieves
this by using an informal writing style, and addresses the reader
directly, for example, if like me youre a parent, this is sobering
news. I would say that this assists the book to do an excellent job
of directing itself towards its target audience and is a guaranteed
good read.