Evil

Dr. Julia Shaw, a criminal psychologist uses the latest scientific research to offer a more enlightened and nuanced explanation for why people behave so badly and how we can prevent evil acts by understanding more profoundly how such acts come about - and what truly makes us evil.

From our obsession with serial killers to violence in pop culture, we seem drawn to the stories of monstrous acts and the aberrant people who commit them. Shaw argues that evil is relative, rooted in our unique cultures. What one may consider normal, like sex before marriage, eating meat, or being a banker, others find abhorrent. And if evil is only in the eye of the beholder, can it be said to exist at all? Here she breaks down concepts like the neuroscience of evil, the psychology of bloodlust, and workplace misbehavior to explain how we can prevent evil acts by understanding more profoundly how such acts come about. -- adapted from jacket