Why They Kill, Richard Rhodes
Why They Kill, Richard Rhodes
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Why They Kill
The Discoveries of a Maverick Criminologist

Author: Richard Rhodes

Narrator: Charles Constant

Unabridged: 13 hr 18 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 07/16/2024

Synopsis

Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb, brings his inimitable vision, exhaustive research, and mesmerizing prose to this timely book that dissects violence and offers new solutions to the age-old problem of why people kill.

Lonnie Athens was raised by a brutally domineering father. Defying all odds, Athens became a groundbreaking criminologist who turned his scholar's eye to the problem of why people become violent. After a decade of interviewing several hundred violent convicts—men and women of varied background and ethnicity, he discovered "violentization," the four-stage process by which almost any human being can evolve into someone who will assault, rape, or murder another human being. Why They Kill is a riveting biography of Athens and a judicious critique of his seminal work, as well as an unflinching investigation into the history of violence.

Contains mature themes.

About Richard Rhodes

Richard Rhodes is the author of many works of history, fiction, and letters. His book The Making of the Atomic Bomb won a Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction, a National Book Award, and a National Book Critics Circle Award. Richard lectures widely on subjects related to his books, which run the gamut from nuclear history to the story of mad cow disease to a study of how people become violent to a biography of the 19th-century artist John James Audubon.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Kim on September 22, 2011

I've just finished reading the book, Why They Kill: The Discoveries of a Maverick Criminologist by Richard Rhodes. It's the most thought-provoking book I've read in a long time, but it's also one of the most frustrating. First of all, to clarify what it is. Richard Rhodes is a professional writer wh......more

Goodreads review by Gary on July 15, 2012

I bought this book originally because, as a wannabe writer trying to make my villains more believable, I thought it would help me understand...well, why they kill. What pushes a person to take another person's life. What I learned is that all the clichés in books, movies, and TV shows are very wrong.......more

Goodreads review by Patrick on June 08, 2010

Richard Rhodes may be my favorite non-fiction writer, due to very interesting books like this one. This book reveals to the reader the work of Lonnie Athens, who came up with, seemingly important theory regarding violent criminals and why people commit violent crimes. What Athens dose is to debunk c......more

Goodreads review by Nancy on March 24, 2018

Timely and relevant book although it was published in 1999. Partly biographical and partly academic, it follows the life, career and research of criminology expert Lonnie Athens, who was himself exposed to continued and profound violence throughout his younger years. He wound up interviewing known v......more

Goodreads review by Fishface on January 24, 2016

A really good read. I would recommend this one to anyone who is trying to understand why some people become violent and dangerous and others do not. Silly moi, I thought the principles in this book were very well-known, but the criminologist -- Lonnie Athens -- who shaped them up into a systematic t......more

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