GENETICS OF CRIMINAL AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR
Criminal and antisocial behavior threaten cooperative social organization, and each culture has developed methods to isolate and punish criminals. However, criminal behavior 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 behavior, and to suggest ways of preventing crime or rehabilitating offenders.
There has been extensive research on environmental causes of criminal behavior: this book examines the evidence for genetic contributions. Twin and adoption studies suggest that there may be genetic contributions to some criminal behaviors. 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 behavior. 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 behavioral geneticists, population geneticists, evolutionary theorists, neuroscientists, philosophers and criminologists.
Size :16.4 MB
