Nor is one entirely the product of temptations and opportunities created by the environment in which the whole of one's self is expressed. Nevertheless, we continue to ignore the role of behavior ecology in criminal acts, content to believe that all transgressions are essentially the result of moral lapses and flaws, entirely curable by punishment. Even at the present stage of genetic and behavioral research, we already know enough to conclude that certain individuals are statistically at risk for certain types of behavioral traits strongly correlated with criminal activity. The fact that not all individuals are equally 'wired' to exercise the will necessary to resist temptation or impulse, highlights that human beings are neither totally nor equally free agents. If so, early intervention is essential if they are ever to have any hope of influencing the development and behavioral expression of the disorder.
Most people consider brain disease to be a rare phenomenon.
It is likely, however, that more than 10 million Americans suffer from an obvious brain disease, and the brains of perhaps another five million have been subtly damaged. We do not mean to say that all of these brain-diseased people are violent. What we are saying is that an appreciable percentage of the relatively few individuals guilty of repeated personal violence are to be found in this five to 10 percent of the population whose brains do not function in a perfectly normal way. If these styles exist it is unlikely that they are unitary, or that 'delinquent' is an adequate biological label. If some components of delinquency are biogenetically mediated then it is very probable that distinct biological patterns exist within the overall classifications.