Religion, Crime And Punishment: An Evolutionary Perspective
by Russil Durrant /
2017 / English / PDF
2.8 MB Download
This book provides a critical discussion of the way in which
religion influences: criminal and antisocial behaviour,
punishment and the law, intergroup conflict and peace-making, and
the rehabilitation of offenders. The authors argue that in order
to understand how religion is related to each of these domains it
is essential to recognise the evolutionary origins of religion as
well as how genetic and cultural evolutionary processes have
shaped its essential characteristics. Durrant and Poppelwell
posit that the capacity of religion to bind individuals into
socially cohesive ‘moral communities’ can help us to understand
its complex relationship with cooperation, crime, punishment,
inter-group conflict and forgiveness. An original and innovative
study, this book will be of special interest to criminologists
and other social scientists interested in the role of religion in
crime, punishment, intergroup conflict and law.
This book provides a critical discussion of the way in which
religion influences: criminal and antisocial behaviour,
punishment and the law, intergroup conflict and peace-making, and
the rehabilitation of offenders. The authors argue that in order
to understand how religion is related to each of these domains it
is essential to recognise the evolutionary origins of religion as
well as how genetic and cultural evolutionary processes have
shaped its essential characteristics. Durrant and Poppelwell
posit that the capacity of religion to bind individuals into
socially cohesive ‘moral communities’ can help us to understand
its complex relationship with cooperation, crime, punishment,
inter-group conflict and forgiveness. An original and innovative
study, this book will be of special interest to criminologists
and other social scientists interested in the role of religion in
crime, punishment, intergroup conflict and law.
