Genetic Factors in Aggressive Behaviour
Genetic factors in aggressive behaviour, AO1 and AO2.
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- Created by: Caitriona Doherty
- Created on: 12-04-14 09:36
AO1 - Twin and Adoption Studies
Twin studies
- Most twin studies have focused on criminal behaviour generally
- Coccaro: studying aggressive behaviour in adult twin pairs, found that nearly 50% of the variance could be attributed to genetic factors
Adoption studies
- If a positive correlation is found between aggressive behaviour in adopted children and their biological parents, a genetic effect is implied
- If a positive correlation is found between aggressive behaviour in adopted children and their adoptive parents, an environmental effect is implied
- Hutchings and Mednick: studied over 14,000 adoptions in Denmark
- Found a significant number of adopted boys with criminal convictions had biological parents (particularly fathers) with criminal convictions
- This provides evidence for a genetic effect
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AO1 - The Role of MAOA
- A gene responsible for producing MAOA has been associated with aggressive behaviour
- MAOA regulates the metabolism of serotonin in the brain, and low levels of serotonin are associated with impulsive and aggressive behaviour
- Brunner et al: study of a Dutch family found that many of its male members behaved in a particularly violent and aggressive manner
- A large proportion had been involved in serious violent crimes including **** and arson
- These men were found to have abnormally low levels of MAOA in their bodies, and a defect in this gene was later identified
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AO1 - Gene-Environment Interaction
- Caspi et al: studied 500 male children
- Discovered one variant of the gene associated with high MAOA and one associated with low levels
- Those with low levels of MAOA were significantly more likely to grow up to exhibit antisocial behaviour but only if they were maltreated as children
- Maltreated children with high levels and non-maltreated children with low levels did not display antisocial behaviour
- It is the interaction between genes and environment that determines aggression
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AO1 - Genetics and Violent Crime
- Inherited temperamental/personality traits place some individuals more at risk of committing violent crime
- Adoption studies have shown that the highest rates of criminal violence in adopted children occur when both their birth and adoptive parents have a history of this
- However, other studies have found this link only to exist in cases of property crime, as opposed to violent crime
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AO2 - Difficulties of Determining the Role of Gene
- UNDERMINES
- It is difficult to establish genetic contributions to aggressive behaviour because:
1. More than one gene usually contributes to a given behaviour
2. There are many environmental influences on the manifestation of aggressive behaviour
3. These influences may interact with each other
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AO2 - Problems of Assessing Aggression
- UNDERMINES
- Many studies have relied on parental/self-reports or observational techniques
- Miles and Carey: studies that used parental/self-report techniques were more likely to blame genetic factors, whilst observational studies leant more towards environment
- Plomin et al: in a replication of the Bobo Doll study, twin pairs were encouraged to act aggressively towards it after watching an adult model
- Researchers found no difference in correlations between MZ and DZ twins
- Suggests that individual differences in aggression were more a product of environmental influences than genetic influences
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AO2 - The Inheritance of Criminal Violence
- UNDERMINES
- Studies often fail to distinguish between violent and non-violent crimes, making it difficult to gauge the genetic factors in specifically aggressive violence
- They also fail to distinguish between criminals who are habitually violent and ones for whom their violent crime is a one-off
- Walters: in a meta-analysis, found only a low-moderate correlation between heredity and crime
- Better-designed and more recently published studies provided less support than earlier, more poorly-designed studies
- In a report on youth violence, this statement was made: "the data do not suggest a strong role for heredity in violence"
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IDA - Problems of Sampling
- UNDERMINES
- Many of the studies in this area have focused on individuals convicted of violent crime
- Convictions for violent crime are relatively few compared to the vast number of violent attacks that do not result in a conviction
- They therefore represent just a small minority of those regularly involved in aggressive behaviour
- Offenders designated as 'violent' on the basis of a court conviction may not necessarily be the most persistent, serious offenders
- A convicted murderer might be labelled as violent even if he has a life otherwise free from violent crime
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IDA - Real-World Applications
- UNDERMINES
- There have been suggestions that public policy should be informed by the results
- If people are predisposed towards aggressive or violent crime, then questions about the treatment of such behaviours inevitably arise
- Some advocate genetic engineering; others go as far as 'chemical castration'
- The conclusions that can be reached from this research are extremely tentative and have far-reaching ethical consequences (labelling someone a 'threat to society')
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