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US researchers claim most acts of violence come from the desire to do the right thing

The reasons behind violence are varied, but a common belief is that criminals act from a breakdown of morals.

But now, researchers in California claim most acts of violence come from a very different impulse - the desire to do the right thing.

Their study argues that many violent attacks are committed as a form of retribution, with the aggressor feeling as though they must commit the crime. 

'When someone does something to hurt themselves or other people, or to kill somebody, they usually do so because they think they have to,' Professor Alan Fiske of the University of California said.

'They think they should do it, that it's the right thing to do, that they ought to do it and that it's morally necessary.'

Co-author, professor Tage Rai, of Northwestern University, added: 'Killings and physical attacks are often committed in retribution for wrongs - real or perceived.

'[They can be] an effort to teach lessons and instill obedience or, amazingly, an attempt to rectify a relationship that in the perpetrator's mind has gone awry.'

'When we say that violence is morally motivated, we mean that it is so in the mind of the perpetrator. We don't mean that we think violence is good.'

After emphasising they don't condone violence, the researchers admit there are exceptions to their theory, typically psychopaths.

Professor Fiske said: 'Except for a few psychopaths, hardly anybody harming anybody else is doing something that they intend to be evil. 

The researchers have written a book, Virtuous Violence, which outlines their controversial beliefs. 

They say they arrived at their conclusion after analysing a wide array of previous research on violence, including thousands of interviews with violent offenders.

Professor Alan Fiske at the University of California said: 'Except for a few psychopaths, hardly anybody harming anybody else is doing something that they intend to be evil'

One example in the book is physical child abuse, with quotes from parents expressing fear of short-changing a child's moral development on occasions when they withheld punishment.

In domestic abuse, the researchers claim the aggressor is convinced they are in the right, with many abusers feeling entitled to use violence to redress wrongs that they perceive themselves to have suffered.

Professor Fiske said: 'When we started we thought: "We'll never figure out what really motivates perpetrators of violent acts", but actually it turned out not to be that hard.

'Social workers and newspaper readers don't think gang members should be killing each other, but within the gang they do.'

He added: 'All you have to do is convince the people who are violent that what they're doing is wrong.' 

NEUROLOGIST DISCOVERS 'DARK PATCH' INSIDE KILLLERS' BRAINS 

German neurologist Dr Gergard Roth claims to have found the 'evil patch' in the brain's central lobe (ringed) that lurks in violent criminals

Last year, a German neurologist claimed to have found the area of the brain where 'evil' lurks in killers, rapists and robbers.

Bremen scientist Dr Gerhard Roth said the 'evil patch' lies in the brain's central lobe and shows up as a dark mass on X-rays.

He discovered it when investigating violent convicted offenders over the years for German government studies.

'We showed these people short films and measured their brain waves,' he said.

'Whenever there were brutal and squalid scenes the subjects showed no emotions. In the areas of the brain where we create compassion and sorrow, nothing happened.'

The dark mass at the front of the brain, he says, appears in all scans of people with records for criminal violence.

His research has led him to believe that some criminals have a 'genetic predisposition' to violence.

He added: 'When you look at the brain scans of hardened criminals, there are almost always severe shortcomings in the lower forehead part of the brain.

'There are cases where someone becomes criminal as a result of a tumour or an injury in that area, and after an operation to remove the tumour, that person was completely normal again.

'Or there are physiological deficits, because certain substances such as serotonin in the forebrain are not working effectively.

'But this is definitely the region of the brain where evil is formed and where it lurks.'