YOU DON'T NEED A WEATHERMAN! (FROM COLLOQUIUM ON THE CORRELATES OF CRIME AND THE DETERMINANTS OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR, 1978, BY LAURA OTTEN - SEE NCJ-53455)

• NCJ Number: 53460
• Author(s): S A MEDNICK
• Date Published: 1978
• Length: 19 pages
• Corporate Author: Mitre Corporation
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

THE ASSERTION THAT MOST OF THE VARIANCE IN CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR IS ASCRIBABLE TO GENETIC FACTORS IS DISCUSSED, ALONG WITH AN ILLUSTRATIVE INTERACTION THEORY OF THE BIOSOCIAL BASES OF CRIMINALITY.

Abstract

IT IS ARGUED THAT THERE ARE BIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIVIDUALS WHICH PREDISPOSE THEM TO ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR AND THAT THESE CHARACTERISTICS CAN IMPROVE BOTH THE PREDICTION AND UNDERSTANDING OF ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR IF THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH SOCIOCULTURAL FACTORS ARE CONSIDERED. TWO VALUABLE STRATEGIES FOR STUDYING THE INFLUENCE OF GENETIC FACTORS ON BEHAVIOR ARE THE TWIN AND ADOPTION METHODS. IN THE ADOPTION METHOD, INDIVIDUALS ADOPTED AT BIRTH AND WHO LATER BECOME CRIMINAL OR PSYCHOPATHIC ARE STUDIED BECAUSE ENVIRONMENT AND GENETICS ARE RELATIVELY WELL SEPARATED, ALLOWING FOR THE EVALUATION OF THE RELATIVE INFLUENCE OF THESE TWO FACTORS BY INVESTIGATING THE CRIMINALITY IN THE ADOPTEE'S BIOLOGICAL AND ADOPTIVE FAMILIES. THE TWIN METHOD CAPITALIZES ON THE FACT THAT MONOZYGOTIC TWINS HAVE ESSENTIALLY IDENTICAL GENETIC STRUCTURES WHILE DIZYGOTIC TWINS ARE NO MORE SIMILAR GENETICALLY THAN ARE SIBLINGS. EVIDENCE FROM TWIN AND ADOPTIVE STUDIES LENDS SOME CREDENCE TO A HYPOTHESIS PARTIALLY INVOLVING GENETICALLY INFLUENCED FACTORS IN THE ETIOLOGY OF ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR. ALTHOUGH THERE IS NO SUGGESTION IN THESE FINDINGS THAT SUCH BIOLOGICAL FACTORS PREDESTINE CRIMINALITY IN SOME INEVITABLE MANNER, THEY DO SEEM TO SUGGEST THAT WHERE AN ENVIRONMENTAL PUSH TOWARD ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR IS APPARENTLY MINIMAL, THE PHYSIOLOGICAL VARIABLES MOST CLEARLY EXPRESS THEMSELVES. FOR EXAMPLE, A TWINS STUDY FOUND THAT IN RURAL AREAS (WHERE THE ENVIRONMENTAL PUSH TO ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR IS RELATIVELY SMALL) THE RATE OF MONOZYGOTIC CONCORDANCE (I.E. THE EXPRESSION OF GENETIC EFFECT) WAS GREATER THAN IN URBAN AREAS. IN THE CASE OF SOCIAL CLASS, SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS WERE FOUND TO PLAY A RELATIVELY DOMINANT ETIOLOGICAL ROLE IN THE LOWER CLASSES; PERHAPS IN THE MIDDLE CLASSES, THE SOCIOECONOMIC CRIMINOGENIC FACTORS ARE LESS COMPELLING AND THE GENETIC FACTORS ASSUME GREATER RELATIVE IMPORTANCE. REFERENCES AND TABULAR AND GRAPHIC DATA ARE PROVIDED. (KBL)