Offers an alternative picture of the causes of human violence, showing strategies for change through concerted societal action.

Richard Whittington is a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and is based at the Brøset Centre for Research and Education in Forensic Psychiatry, St. Olav's University Hospital, Trondheim, Norway. He is a psychologist with a focus on violence prevention and mental health and is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool.

Foreword. Between chimpanzees and bonobos: the challenge of violence prevention; Part I. Origins: 1. The prospect of human violence: pessimism or realism?; 2. The roots of human violence: in search of the 'hard wired'; 3. The biology of violence: possibilities and limitations; 4. Developmental factors in violence propensity: the learning of violence; 5. Structural violence: social and political factors in understanding violence; Part II. Solutions: 6. Advancing a global public health response to violence; 7. Risk assessment: can violence be predicted?; 8. Pharmaceutical interventions: medication, violence and the public health; 9. Psychosocial interventions: the unlearning of violence; 10. Changing structures: integrated interventions for violence; Conclusion; Appendix. Major UN initiatives to address violence 1986-2018.