Genetics and Criminal Behavior

349 Pages·2001·19.48 MB·English

by  David Wasserman, Robert Wachbroit

Genetics and Criminal Behavior
In this volume, a group of distinguished philosophers address basic con-
ceptual, methodological, and ethical issues raised by genetic research on
criminal behavior. Their contributions fill a large gap between popular
accounts of "crime genes" and technical discussions of heritability, link-
age, and genetic variation. They explain the scientific debate about be-
havioral genetics in lucid but precise terms, and place it in the context of
broader issues about causation, moral responsibility, and political justice.
The book will be of great value to philosophers, legal scholars, scientists,
and policy makers interested in the potential of genetic research to pre-
dict, understand, and modify human behavior, and to educated laymen
curious or perplexed about the recent controversies surrounding behav-
ioral genetics.
David Wasserman and Robert Wachbroit are both research scholars at the
Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at the University of Maryland.

Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Public Policy
General editor: Douglas MacLean, University of Maryland,
Baltimore County
Other books in series
Mark Sagoff: The Economy of the Earth
Henry Shue (ed.): Nuclear Deterrence and Moral Restraint
Judith Lichtenberg (ed.): Democracy and Mass Media
William Galston: Liberal Purposes
Elaine Draper: Risky Business
R. G. Frey and Christopher W. Morris: Violence, Terrorism, and Justice
Douglas Husak: Drugs and Rights
Ferdinand Schoeman: Privacy and Social Freedom
Dan Brock: Life and Death
Paul B. Thompson: The Ethics of Aid and Trade
Jeremy Waldron: Liberal Rights
Steven Lee: Morality, Prudence, and Nuclear Weapons
Robert Goodin: Utilitarianism as a Public Policy
Bernard Rollin: The Frankenstein Syndrome
Robert K. Fullinwider (ed.): Public Education in a Multicultural Society
John Kleinig: The Ethics of Policing
Norman Daniels: Justice and Justification
James P. Sterba: Justice for Here and Now
Erik Nord: Cost-Value Analysis in Health Care

Genetics and Criminal Behavior
Edited by
DAVID WASSERMAN
Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, University of Maryland
ROBERT WACHBROIT
Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, University of Maryland
CAMBRIDGE
UNIVERSITY PRESS
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
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© Cambridge University Press 2001
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without the written
permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published 2001
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Wasserman, David, 1953—
Genetics and criminal behavior / David Wasserman, Robert Wachbroit.
p. cm. — (Cambridge studies in philosophy and public policy)
Includes index.
ISBN 0-521-62214-x — ISBN 0-521-62728-1 (pbk.)
1. Mental illness — genetic aspects. 2. Behavior genetics. 3. Criminal behavior —
genetic aspects. 4. Criminal behavior, Prediction of. 1. Wachbroit, Robert Samuel. II.
Title. III. Series.
RC455.4.G4.W38 2000
42-dc21
00-037821
ISBN 978-0-521-62214-1 Hardback
ISBN 978-0-521-62728-3 Paperback
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Contents
List of Contributors page ix
Acknowledgments xi
1 Introduction: Methods, Meanings, and Morals 1
DAVID WASSERMAN AND ROBERT WACHBROIT
PART I
2 Understanding the Genetics-of-Violence Controversy 23
ROBERT WACHBROIT
3 Separating Nature and Nurture 47
ELLIOTT SOBER
4 Genetic Explanations of Behavior: Of Worms, Flies,
and Men 79
KENNETH F. SCHAFFNER
5 On the Explanatory Limits of Behavioral Genetics 117
KENNETH A. TAYLOR
6 Degeneracy, Criminal Behavior, and Looping 141
IAN HACKING
7 Genetic Plans, Genetic Differences, and Violence:
Some Chief Possibilities 169
ALLAN GIBBARD
PART II
8 Crime, Genes, and Responsibility 199
MARCIA BARON
vii
Contents
9 Genes, Statistics, and Desert 225
PETER VAN INWAGEN
10 Genes, Electrotransmitters, and Free Will 243
P. S. GREENSPAN
11 Moral Responsibility without Free Will 259
MICHAEL SLOTE
12 Strong Genetic Influence and the New "Optimism" 273
J. L. A. GARCIA
13 Genetic Predispositions to Violent and Antisocial
Behavior: Responsibility, Character, and Identity 303
DAVID WASSERMAN
Index 329
viii