Genetic explanations

• One or more genes predispose individuals to criminal behaviour
• Adrian Raine ( 1993 ) reviewed research on the criminal behaviour of twins and found a 52 % concordance rate for MZ twin compared with 21 % for DZ twins
• MAOA - Brunner - 28 males in a Dutch family with history of violent criminal behaviour ( rape and attempted murder ). He analysed their DNA and found low levels of MAOA
• CDH 13 - Tiihonen ( 2015 ) - 900 Finnish offenders found to have low MAOA activity, and low CDH 13 activity. Estimated that 5 - 10 % of all violent crime in Finland is due to abnormalities in one of these two genes
• GE AO3. There is research support for the genetic explanation of crime. Crowe found that adopted children with a biological parent with a criminal record had a 50 % greater risk of having a criminal record compared to adopted children whose parents did not have a criminal record only had a 5 % risk. Mednick in a study of 14,000 adoptees found that 15 % of sons adopted by a criminal family became criminals compared to 20 % whose biological parents were criminal, suggesting that inherited genes are a more significant factor in
• GE AO3. Genetic explanations may only explain crime involving violence or psychopathy, and not non violent crime. There is evidence that the personality trait of lack of empathy is inherited. Findley says that crime is not a natural category of behaviour, it is a social construction, meaning it is difficult to argue that such behaviour can simply be explained in terms of genetics
• GE AO3. There are problems with the determinism. Not everyone with the particular genes will be a violent criminal, this explanation displays biological determinism. The law asks whether the cause of behaviour is outside a persons control, and it is harder for some men to avoid criminal violence, due to either their biology or the environment they grew up in, meaning this determinist view cannot be completely ruled out