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PUBLIC RELEASE: 25-JAN-2012

Research shows genes in uence criminal


behavior
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS

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Your genes could be a strong predictor of whether you stray into a life of crime, according to a research paper
co-written by UT Dallas criminologist Dr. J.C. Barnes.

"Examining the Genetic Underpinnings to Mo tt's Developmental Taxonomy: A Behavior Genetic Analysis"
detailed the study's ndings in a recent issue of Criminology. The paper was written with Dr. Kevin M. Beaver
from Florida State University and Dr. Brian B. Boutwell at Sam Houston State University.

The study focused on whether genes are likely to cause a person to become a life-course persistent o ender,
which is characterized by antisocial behavior during childhood that can later progress to violent or serious
criminal acts later in life.

The framework for the research was based on the developmental taxonomy of anti-social behavior, a theory
derived by Dr. Terri Mo tt, who identi ed three groups, or pathways, found in the population: life-course
persistent o enders, adolescent-limited o enders and abstainers. Mo tt suggested that environmental,
biological and, perhaps, genetic factors could cause a person to fall into one of the paths.

"That was the motivation for this paper. No one had actually considered the possibility that genetic factors
could be a strong predictor of which path you end up on," said Barnes, who is an assistant professor of
criminology in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences at UT Dallas. "In her (Mo tt's) theory, she
seems to highlight and suggest that genetic factors will play a larger role for the life-course persistent o ender
pathway as compared to the adolescence-limited pathway."

Adolescent-limited o enders exhibit behaviors such as alcohol and drug use and minor property crime during
adolescence. Abstainers represent a smaller number of people who don't engage in any deviant behavior.

Barnes and his co-researchers relied on data from 4,000 people drawn from the National Longitudinal Study
of Adolescent Health to identify how people fell into each of the three groups. The researchers then compared
the information using what is known as the twin methodology, a study design that analyzed to what extent
genetic and environmental factors in uenced a trait.

"The overarching conclusions were that genetic in uences in life-course persistent o ending were larger than
environmental in uences," he said. "For abstainers, it was roughly an equal split: genetic factors played a large
role and so too did the environment. For adolescent-limited o enders, the environment appeared to be most
important."

The analysis doesn't identify the speci c genes that underlie the di erent pathways, which Barnes said would
be an interesting area for further research.

"If we're showing that genes have an overwhelming in uence on who gets put onto the life-course persistent
pathway, then that would suggest we need to know which genes are involved and at the same time, how
they're interacting with the environment so we can tailor interventions," he said.

Barnes said there is no gene for criminal behavior. He said crime is a learned behavior.

"But there are likely to be hundreds, if not thousands, of genes that will incrementally increase your likelihood
of being involved in a crime even if it only ratchets that probability by 1 percent," he said. "It still is a genetic
e ect. And it's still important."

The link between genes and crime is a divisive issue in the criminology discipline, which has primarily focused
on environmental and social factors that cause or in uence deviant behavior.

"Honestly, I hope people when they read this, take issue and start to debate it and raise criticisms because
that means people are considering it and people are thinking about it," Barnes said.

###

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Media Contact

Marissa Alanis
mxa117530@utdallas.edu
972-883-4463

 @ut_dallas

http://www.utdallas.edu 

More on this News Release

Research shows genes in uence criminal behavior


UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT DALLAS

JOURNAL Criminology

KEYWORDS

VIOLENCE/CRIMINALS

ORIGINAL SOURCE

http://www.utdallas.edu/news/2012/1/24-15201_Criminologists-Research-Shows-Genes-In uence-Crim_article-
wide.html 

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