More Research on Violent Behavior Needed, Study Says : Crime: National Academy of Sciences says prison time has proven ineffective and suggests increased funding in analysis of causes.

WASHINGTON —  With imprisonment proving to be a costly, ineffective deterrent to violent crimes, the federal government should spend far more to research the underlying causes of violence, says a study released Thursday by the National Academy of Sciences.

Federal spending on research of violent behavior that leads to homicide is 20 to 30 times less than that accorded to research of other threats to life, Dr. Klaus Miczek, a scientist at the Department of Psychology at Tufts University who contributed to the study, said in an interview.

“Ignorance is very expensive,” he said. “We’ve tried to lock away people . . . to deter them without very much success.”

The study, titled “Understanding and Preventing Violence,” found that while the “average prison time served per violent crime nearly tripled in the United States between 1975 and 1989, the violence rate did not decline.”

The study said that violent behavior is caused by a mixture of psychological, social and biological factors but more research is needed to determine how those elements are related.

For example, adults who display aggressiveness almost always have shown similar behavior during childhood, including such characteristics as hyperactivity, impulsiveness, a short attention span and low intelligence, the study said.

But many children who display such behavior do not grow up to become violent adults, suggesting other factors about the children’s backgrounds, such as socioeconomic status, are also important. The study found that rates of both physical and sexual abuse are six times higher for children in families with income under $15,000 than for other children.

People living in communities with wide income differences between the rich and poor, high housing density, high residential mobility and high percentages of single-parent families also are more prone to violent behavior, the study said.

But because many people experiencing such conditions do not become violent, biological and other cultural factors must play a role, the study said.

“Searching for biological markers (of violence) is a very sensitive matter,” Miczek said, referring to controversial research conducted by Scandinavian scientists that points to genetic influences on types of antisocial behavior that include violent behavior.

Miczek said that recent studies show brain chemistry is an important element in determining those who are more likely to commit violence. He cautioned, however, that tests on laboratory animals that found certain chemical substances in the brain are related to increased violent behavior are not conclusive because they were not conducted on humans.

Unlike many life-taking diseases, which are associated with old age, violent behavior leading to homicide affects younger people disproportionately. “How much are we as a society willing to spend in dealing with the productive years lost due to violent crime?” Miczek said.

Albert Reiss, a sociology professor at Yale University and chairman of the study panel, said that the federal government spends about $20 million a year on research into violence.

The study recommended increased federal funding in a number of areas, including expanding computer data bases that detail information about violent events, researching new pharmaceuticals that reduce violent behavior and measuring how certain social conditions and police activities affect such behavior.