Public Lecture: The Criminal Brain - Implications for Prevention, Prediction and Punishment

Host: Dr Jane Clarbour

Abstract:

Neuroscience is documenting that brain impairments raise the odds of some children growing up to become psychopaths and violent criminals. Should we change their brains to prevent future crime and chaos? Can we use brain scans to better predict future violence in order to maintain a more orderly society? And if offenders are not responsible for their brain abnormalities, should we punish them as harshly as we do? These are the thorny ethical questions that society can no longer ignore as science increasingly dissects the biological roots of crime.