Base Instincts: What Makes Killers Kill?

Pincus explores the biological, psychological and social influences at work within the minds of contemporary murderers in this collection of case studies. Chairman emeritus of Georgetown University's Department of Neurology, he notes that although he spent years as a "regular" neurologist studying violent criminals, his prejudices (and those of his colleagues) coloured his study of criminal cognition and behaviour. His collaborator, Dr. Dorothy Lewis, helped him develop a new theory: "It is the interaction of childhood abuse with neurologic disturbances and psychiatric illnesses that explains murder." He presents several cases from the approximately 150 murderers he has examined, detailing the subtle interrelations between these three show more elements, which often go unnoticed because of violent individuals' denial of their own past victimisation. Pincus delves into how the disparate group of killers arrived at a similar condition of extreme paranoia and instability. In each case, he depicts upbringings devoid of love and nurturing, which disposed these individuals toward violence. He concludes by discussing options for prevention and treatment, acknowledging that "tough on crime" measures receive support over more complex intervention proposals, like Hawaii's Healthy Start program and similar efforts in other areas, which target at-risk families with the goal of "parenting the parents" and have produced surprising decreases in reported abuse and neglect.

However, the book is limited by it's relentless medical model focus and tends to prioritise neurology and diagnosis over psychology, as might be expected of a physical medical practitioner. This is certainly not the whole story and the author's medical assumptions are certainly open to question and challenge. This book will therefore be dangerous in limited hands (a little knowledge is a dangerous thing) and should be supplemented by other more psychological and psychotherapeutic readings. show less

He has a theory that brain damage plus abuse causes it. Mostly interesting for case histories.

Excellent book supporting the theory of neurosurgeon Jonathan Pincus as to why people kill. He meets with murderers in prisons around the country, and recounts the most horrifying stories of childhood abuse I have ever read - and I've read a lot of them. However, the abuse per se is not the reason people kill. Lots of information on the brain, sections of the brain, and how it works - or doesn't.