Book excerpt: This bold work proposes a completely new discipline, `the psychology of malefaction', the frank study of evil human behavior that does not explain an act of murder, for example, as simply a symptom of the murderer's psychosis. Rieber re-examines such phenomena as family violence, serial killers, modern war, and media violence in the light of regarding them as wicked, not merely insane. The author re-thinks the nagging problem of evil as it manifests itself in our society, questioning to what degree persons ought to be responsible for - and held accountable for - their actions.