Prof Poulton, who is director of the university's Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Research Unit, gave a keynote address on the unit's work during a university division of health sciences research forum, held in the city on Wednesday.
The unit conducts the Dunedin longitudinal study, which is one of the most detailed studies of human health and development undertaken. It has been running for more than 35 years, and tracks about 1000 people born in Dunedin between April 1972 and March 1973.
Prof Poulton said that research showed that a small group of vulnerable young people -about 5% of the population- was at risk of later carrying out many of society's most serious violent crimes, including murder.
"The roots of this extreme behaviour go way, way back."
In later life, members of this group were also at disproportionately high risk of adverse health outcomes themselves, including much-higher-than-average risk of heart disease.
Early intervention to help such people and their families during childhood would cut the risk of future crime and, by improving their overall health and mental wellbeing, greatly reduce the high economic and social costs arising from later bad health.
More needed to be done so that "an enormous amount of suffering" could be avoided.
He was greatly encouraged by a positive attitude from both Government and Labour Opposition politicians, and a genuine interest in taking a more evidence-based approach to countering such social problems.
Politicians were now listening "very carefully" to research arising from the unit's work.
He commented further in an interview that effective early intervention to reduce the likelihood of future problems was more effective than building more "Milton Hilton" prisons, after adult behavioural problems had arisen.
Dr David Craig, an Auckland University sociologist who attended the forum, said the unit's data base was a "gold mine" of information which could help reduce future problems with violent crime.
