Criminal Behavior and Genetics

Criminal Behavior and Genetics Can criminal behavior be blamed on certain genes or genetic make-up? Well some scientists believe so. Up until just recently, no one has had any way or incentive to explore the genetic side of criminal behavior. Now that scientists have the tools and curiosity to conduct experiments and do research on this topic, they found some interesting facts. In the 1960’s scientists thought that almost all men with the XYY chromosome …

…less severe or violent crime. Scientists have observed monkeys that have normal or lower levels of serotonin. The monkeys with the lower level of serotonin were either more violent or antisocial toward the other monkeys. Therefore, the theory that “a low level of serotonin causes criminal behavior” is the cause for a lot of the more violent acts of crime in our society today. Works Cited Elmer-DeWitt, Philip. “Solving the Mysteries of Heredity”. Time. Mar. 20, 1989.