Violent crime elicits demand for punishment from the public, which can influence policy toward offenders. Paradoxically, harsh punishments such as incarceration often increase offending rather than deter it, which produces a cycle of violent crime and punishment. Violent offenders frequently possess risk factors that influence brain structure and function. These risk factors are genetic predisposition toward violence, adverse childhood experiences, alcohol use, and traumatic brain injury. The alteration in brain structure and function appears primarily in networks involved in threat detection (e.g., biased sensitivity to provocation), self‐regulation (e.g., control over anger and aggressive urges), and social cognition (e.g., thinking about others’ motives). If there is no treatment in people with these risk factors, brain responses to anger provocation will likely increase risk for reactive aggression. As a method to circumvent the cycle of violence and punishment, this review discusses the notion of normalizing brain responses to provocation such that they resemble responses of nonviolent people. A growing body of research suggests that brain normalization can occur by using biomedical instruments such as pharmaceuticals and brain stimulation to enhance moral behavior. Normalizing brain function via moral bioenhancement should inhibit reactive aggression. If such normalization occurs, there is no violent act to punish and hence the cycle of crime and punishment is broken. Policy makers may consider investing in trials of moral bioenhancement that could support existing treatments to reduce violence and recidivism and their associated costs.

中文翻译：

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打破暴力犯罪和惩罚的循环：神经正常化的承诺

暴力犯罪引起了公众对惩罚的需求，这可能会影响对罪犯的政策。自相矛盾的是，诸如监禁之类的严厉惩罚往往会增加犯罪而不是制止犯罪，从而形成暴力犯罪和惩罚的循环。暴力犯罪者经常具有影响大脑结构和功能的危险因素。这些风险因素是遗传倾向，包括暴力，童年不良经历，酗酒和脑外伤。大脑结构和功能的改变主要出现在威胁检测（例如，对挑衅的偏见），自我调节（例如，对愤怒和攻击性冲动的控制）和社交认知（例如，思考他人动机）所涉及的网络中。如果患有这些危险因素的人得不到任何治疗，大脑对愤怒挑衅的反应可能会增加反应性攻击的风险。作为规避暴力和惩罚循环的一种方法，本综述讨论了使大脑对挑衅的反应正常化的概念，以使其类似于非暴力人群的反应。越来越多的研究表明，通过使用生物医学仪器（例如药品和脑部刺激来增强道德行为）可以使大脑正常化。通过道德生物增强使脑功能正常化应抑制反应性攻击。如果发生这种正常化，就不会有暴力行为来惩罚，因此犯罪和惩罚的循环就被打破了。政策制定者可以考虑投资进行道德生物增强试验，以支持现有的减少暴力和累犯的治疗方法及其相关费用。