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Chapter 19 - What the Evolutionary and Cognitive Sciences Offer the Sciences of Crime and Justice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 September 2022

By
Brian B. Boutwell ,
Megan Suprenant  and
Todd K. Shackelford
Edited by
Riadh Abed  and
Paul St John-Smith
Riadh Abed
Affiliation:
Mental Health Tribunals, Ministry of Justice, UK
Paul St John-Smith
Affiliation:
Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, UK
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Summary

Science has become increasingly interdisciplinary, marked by the rapid expansion of social science fields melding with ‘natural’ sciences previously considered less relevant for the study of humans. Psychology in particular now depends heavily on insights from medicine, biology, sociology, genetics and cognitive science and has done so for years. By grounding itself in evolutionary theory, moreover, psychology has moved towards a more mature science of human mind and behaviour. The crime sciences – criminology and criminal justice – are poised to make similar progress. While already interdisciplinary fields, we make the case that the evolutionary and cognitive sciences can unify existing knowledge about crime and justice, can help to pose new and interesting questions to study and can push the fields forward in ways that will benefit not only the scientific world, but society in general as well.

Keywords

cognitive scienceconsiliencecriminologyevolutionary psychology
Type
Chapter
Information
Evolutionary Psychiatry
Current Perspectives on Evolution and Mental Health
 , pp. 295 - 304
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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