Genes can predict criminal tendencies: study
Is that a gun in your genes or are you just opportunistic?
A new U.S. study suggests the line between a life of crime and an honest existence could have more to do with your genetic makeup than your environment.
Researchers from University of Texas, Florida State University and Sam Houston State University were looking to determine the role genetic makeup has in someone becoming a “life-course persistent offender” — characterized by antisocial behavior during childhood that can progress to violence or other serious crimes.
They looked at 4,000 subjects with three different behavioural paths: life-long offenders, those who experimented with crime (often substance use and minor property offences) in adolescence and those who stayed on the straight-and-narrow. They found genetic makeup influences life-course offenders by about 20 per cent more than it influences temporary teen troublemakers.
“The overarching conclusions were that genetic influences in life-course persistent offending were larger than environmental influences,” said Dr. J. C. Barnes, criminologist at the University of Texas and co-author of a paper on the study published in a recent issue of Criminology.
Categories: Crime, Genetics, Psychology, Research