NCJ Number
100733
Date Published
1986
Length
4 pages
Annotation
On the average, offenders have a distinctive physical constitution, are more likely to have chromosomal abnormality, and tend to be from biological families having other offenders, whether or not they were raised by their criminal relatives.
Abstract
Genes do not directly produce criminal behavior, but they affect psychological traits which in turn affect the likelihood of lawbreaking. Intelligence and personality are the traits most strongly implicated in this chain. Since crime correlates with IQ and IQ is partly inherited, a heritable susceptibility to criminal behavior follows. Personality has a heritable component, although not to the same degree as IQ, and various aspects of personality have varying degrees of heritability. 12 references.