"Violence: Reflections on Our Deadliest Epidemic" by James Gilligan

James Gilligan sets himself the ambitious task of explaining the fundamental causes of all forms violence in terms of one theory. The book centres primarily on those individuals who have ended up serving long prison sentences for acts of sometimes extreme interpersonal violence. As a former prison psychiatrist with over twenty years of experience, Gilligan brings considerable knowledge and experience to bear on two fundamental questions: why are these people violent; and what can be done to make them less so?