Genetics of Criminal and Antisocial Behaviour - Symposium No. 194

Criminal and antisocial behaviour threaten cooperative social organization, and each culture has developed methods to isolate and punish criminals. However, criminal behaviour has not been eliminated in any culture, and so it is rational to try to use scientific approaches to explain the origins and causes of criminal behaviour, and to suggest ways of preventing crime or rehabilitating offenders. There has been extensive research on environmental causes of criminal behaviour: this book examines the evidence for genetic contributions. Twin and adoption studies suggest that there may be genetic contributions to some criminal behaviours. The data are examined in detail in this book, which includes discussion of the methodological problems of disentangling genetic and environmental sources of variance in behaviour. In animals, aggression is commonly an appropriate response to environmental stimuli: data from the relevant animal studies of the inheritance of aggressiveness are included in the book. There have been reports suggesting neuropharmacological abnormalities in violent offenders. These represent potential underlying mechanisms whereby genetic influences could be mediated. The recent evidence regarding brain and, in particular, neurotransmitter abnormalities is discussed. A heritable tendency to behave in a particular way would have significant implications for criminology, particularly for rehabilitation strategies. Important issues also arise for moral philosophy. Separate chapters examine evolutionary and anthropological aspects of violence and warfare. The book is truly multidisciplinary and contains contributions from behavioural geneticists, population geneticists, evolutionary theorists, neuroscientists, philosophers and criminologists. GENETICS OF CRIMINAL AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOUR......Page 5 Contents......Page 7 Participants......Page 9 lntroduction: concepts of antisocial behaviour, of cause, and of genetic influences......Page 11 Issues in the search for candidate genes in mice as potential animal models of human aggression......Page 31 General discussion I......Page 46 Aggression from a developmental perspective: genes, environments and interactions......Page 55 A twin study of self-reported criminal behaviour ......Page 71 Heterogeneity among juvenile antisocial behaviours: findings from the Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioural Development......Page 86 General discussion II......Page 103 Predisposition to criminality: Swedish adoption studies in retrospect......Page 109 Assessing the role of genetics in crime using adoption cohorts......Page 125 General discussion III......Page 139 Direct analysis of candidate genes in impulsive behaviours......Page 149 MAOA deficiency and abnormal behaviour: perspectives on an assocation......Page 165 Serotonin in alcoholic violent offenders......Page 178 Evolutionary adaptationism: another biological approach to criminal and antisocial be haviour......Page 193 General discussion IV......Page 206 Chronic problems in understanding tribal violence and warfare......Page 212 The implications for responsibility of possible genetic factors in the explanation of violence......Page 247 Legal implications of genetics and crime research......Page 258 Concluding remarks......Page 275 Index of contributors......Page 282 Subject index......Page 284 This book offers a fresh perspective on the controversial topic of criminal and antisocial behavior. It synthesizes findings from behavioral and population genetics, evolutionary biology and criminology and presents the latest findings in twin studies, adoption cohort studies, molecular genetics and animal models for human aggression. Also included is a detailed analysis of the legal implications of genetics and crime research and strategies for rehabilitation.

Predisposition to criminality: Swedish adoption studies in retrospect/evolutionary adaptationism.

This controversial study investigates the evidence for genetic contributions to criminal behaviour. It explores the latest scientific data, including the results of research with molecular genetic techniques. The conclusions reached have significant implications for rehabilitation strategies. Despite a vast theoretical and research literature on crime (see e.g. Rutter & Giller 1983) and on childhood disorders of conduct (see e.g. Robins 1991), surprisingly little is known on the role of genetic factors in their causation.