Pulling Back the Curtain on Heritability Studies: Biosocial Criminology in the Postgenomic Era

• NCJ Number: 246507
• Journal: Criminology Volume: 52 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2014 Pages: 223-262
• Author(s): Callie H. Burt; Ronald L. Simons
• Date Published: May 2014
• Length: 40 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical); Legislation/Policy Analysis
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

After critiquing the study methods of "heritability" research (examination of genetic/biological influences on criminal behavior), this article calls for an end to heritability studies and the advancement of biosocial research that considers recent advances in the understanding of gene function and developmental fluidity.

Abstract

"Heritability" was defined by Wahlsten (1990)) as "the proportion of variance in a measure of behavior or other phenotype in a breeding population that is attributable to genetic variation" and by Plomin et al. (2012) as "the proportion of phenotypic variance that is accounted for by genetic differences among individuals." Even if the heritability concept is appropriate for use in humans in nonselective breeding programs, the methods used to derive these estimates are problematic in ways that render the estimates from the model ambiguous at best. Because each of these methods has its own set of problems, this article discusses each in turn, focusing on the relevance of the methods' assumptions for conclusions about the heritability of crime. For analysis, heritability studies are grouped as those that use twins reared together, the studies of twins reared apart, and adoption studies. The article notes that aside from their methodological pitfalls, an equally serious problem with heritability studies is the concept that genetic and environmental effects can be partitioned into separate additive influences in the first place. An estimation of heritability requires that one can in fact separate genetic from environmental influences on behavior. The view that the effects of nature and nurture can be partitioned into percentages requires an assumption that genetic and environmental influences are competing and non-interactional, or at least that interaction effects are trivial. This article's main recommendation is that heritability studies in criminology be ended in favor of biosocial research programs that focus on the interactional, bidirectional relationship between social and biological factors. 1 table and approximately 240 references