I agree with most of what you said.
I do think that–probably–the most effective way to address violent crime is to address child abuse.
The EMS company I worked for had a contract with the prison system, and the story I keep hearing over and over again is how all of these criminals were mercilessly beaten and/or neglected when they were kids.
Even if someone is genetically predisposed to violent criminal behavior . . . upbringing can make a world of difference.
There is a famous neuroscientist named James Fallon (not to be confused with the comedian and talk show host Jimmy Fallon) who graduated from Harvard, and has made vital and important progress in the treatment of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and Alzhiemer’s Disease.
Well, he set his sights on sociopathy, and has been using PET and MRI images to examine the brains of violent, murderous sociopaths (including several serial killers), and to compare them against normal brains, he often uses scans of his staff and students.
To his surprise, he examined his own scan without knowing whom it belonged to (as an experimental control), and discovered–accidentally–that his own brain was wired up and functioned like the worst psychopathic murderers that he had examined.
He hired geneologists to research his family tree, and discovered a disproportionate number of murderers in his ancestory.
He also discovered that he is rather closely related–by blood–to Lizzie Borden (the same one who “took an axe and gave her mother 40 whacks”).
Yet he has never been a criminal, his kids aren’t criminals, and he’s not a violent person.
Upbringing makes all the difference.
In my human development class, there was a lot of talk about brain mylenation when a kid is being raised. Basically, it seems to mean that your behavior, personality, and aptitudes can be decided by how you are raised in an early formative period, and Dr. Fallon was brought up by nurturing, caring parents in a loving family.
Maybe–to address the root causes of crime–we need to modify this idea that brutality, beatings, and violence “toughen a young man up” so that he can “face the world” with the strength of character that comes from childhood beatings.