Research paper

Candice Waters

January 3, 2019

English Composition I

Citation:

EMBO Rep. 2010 Sep; 11(9): 667-669 Phillip Hunter

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2933872/

Summary:

There was thought that certain conditions could be the cause of criminal behavior in people as a

result of genetics but this is no longer the belief of modern research. The idea was that an

individual could have genetically inherite a gene that made them predisposed to act out or

commit criminal acts. Findings like these have made behavioral genetics a controversial issue

even though genetics have been related to other medical conditions. Although the genetic

research on this issue is incomplete, there has been instances where this belief may have caused

longer prison sentences. It has also been responsible for a convicted murderer in Italian court to

receive a reduction of one year off a prison term because it was proven that he had a gene called

MAOA. This gene is believed to cause many disorders including hyper-sexuality to sleep

disorders. MAOA is shown to occur in about 40% of the population. It can be argued that if this

gene effects so many people in the population how can so many others can lead productive non-

criminal lives? In addition, they have done so even while they experienced the known trigger of

mistreatment during childhood. A condition that is considered when talking about behavioral genetics is psychopathy. Psychopathy is in the spectrum of nature and nurture; you do not have the ability to feel empathy which is genetic and sociopathy that can be effected by your environment. Even with this diagnosis, a gene does not take the responsibility for someone committing a crime.

Response:

Within the world of Biology, it is widely known that physical characteristics as well was ones vulnerability to certain illnesses are due to a person’s genetic makeup. Understanding how genetics works and not knowing how its function contributes to physical attributes as well as biological ailments, the question of whether this same functioning applies when it comes to psychological characteristics remains a great debate within psychology. I was surprised to discover a gene that was proven based upon research to cause impulsive behavior, hyper sexuality and mood swings. The fact that nearly half the population lives with this gene yet live without being hostile or criminal proves to me even more that the nature of our conscious mind does not have to overcome the good people we were nurtured to be.