PSYC39H3 Chapter 3: PSYC39 Ch. 3 - Origins of Criminal Behaviour: Biological Factors
Document Summary
Youngsters who follow an early onset of persistent antisocial behaviour often exhibited biological/neurological abnormalities or deficits, while late-onset offending appears to be more influenced by social factors. According to adrian raine (2008), the more challenging questions today are twofold: (1) determining how much of antisocial behaviour is influenced by genes and (2) deciding which specific genes predispose a person to which kinds of antisocial behaviour. Two categories of genetics research have been featured mainly in studies of human behaviour are: behavior genetics and molecular genetics. It has the advantage of distinguishing genetic from environment influences and estimating their relative magnitudes: behaviour genetics uses twin and adoption studies. The magnitude of these genetic and environmental influences is usually obtained from statistical analyses that compare identical twins (who share the same genes) with fraternal twins (are like ordinary siblings who share one-half of their genes). If genes are determinative, identical twins should display highly similar behaviour.
