The diathesis-stress model

• How does modern genetic theory explain criminality?

  • Instead of a single gene causing criminality, epigenetics suggests that genes interact with environmental factors (E.g. childhood maltreatment)
• What evidence supports the diathesis- stress model?

  • Caspi et Al (2002) used data from the Dunedin longitudinal study (1,000 participants)

  • found that men with low MAOA activity + childhood maltreatment made up 12% of the sample but were responsible for 44% of violent convictions
• Why is this finding important?

  • It suggests that genes alone do not cause criminality - environmental stressors ‘switch on’ genetic predispositions