The News:
Genes, criminal tendencies show link
By McClatchy Newspapers
Article Last Updated: 07/28/2008 12:24:33 AM MDT
RALEIGH, N.C. — Maybe some boys really were born to be wild.
Researchers at UNC Chapel Hill announced this week that they had found three genes that appear to affect the probability of a life of crime.
The study looked at roughly 1,100 boys in middle school and high school, ages 12-18.
In 1996 and again in 2002, the participants were asked to take a 12-question survey to gauge their delinquent tendencies. The participants' delinquency scores were matched against their genetics to look for a correlation.
The results clearly showed a genetic basis for aggressive behavior.
The idea that personality and behavior can be predicted by genetics is not a new one, and has a dark past.
"Bad genes" was the basis for Henry Goddard's theory of eugenics in the early 20th century, and was used as a justification for racial supremacy.
In the current research, scientists emphasized that having the gene doesn't necessarily mean a child is destined to become a hardened criminal. Read on...
The Research:
Read the research behind this story in the American Sociological Review.
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