Nature -vs-Nurture

Vignette 7

Caitlyn Ahlborn, Lexi Gassman, Christiana

Skrabak
BACKGROUND

● 2010 - Joe Schmoe commits violent crime , pleads guilty.

● Lawyer wants him to be tested for genetic predisposition for
aggression before being sent to prison.
○ Joe is found to have polymorphism.
○ What’s next for Joe?
RESEARCH

● MAO-A genetic variation (Reif, et. al, 2007)

○ Deletion and missense mutations
 Transcribes mitochondrial neurotransmitter that breaks down
dopamine, seratonin, and norepinephrin.
 Rare stop mutation of MAOA co-segregated with aggressive behaviors
in affected males
○ In mice a deletion of MAOA created aggressive behaviors
○ Study on 110 healthy males demonstrated an association of
short MAOA alleles with lower levels on a composite measure of
aggression and impulsivity
○ Located on the X-chromosome, also known as the “Warrior Gene” (Garcia-
Arocena, n.d.)
■ Other genes such as DRD2, DAT1, HTR2B play a role in aggressive
behaviors as well (Bevilaccqua, 2010)
NATURE VS. NURTURE

● Mix of genetics and environmental factors play a role in

aggression
○ MAOA study (Garcia-Arocena, n.d.)
● Early intervention (Moosajee, 2003)
● Early identification of a hazardous trait might allow prevention by
genetic, medical or environmental interventions
ETHICAL DILEMMA

● Predicts criminal behavior (Moosajee, 2003)

● Violent behavior and other personality traits would carry risks of
unscrupulous exploitation, public misinterpretation and discrimination
against individuals or groups
● The ability to predict criminally violent behavior could give rise to
strategies implementing crime prevention such as electronic tagging
of predisposed individuals, or even detention before the crimes are
committed
● Testing babies for MAOA and other genes
● Testing those with a bad home life
● Should those incarcerated for violent acts be tested for these genes?
○ If so, should they be moved?
CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING

● Principle of human equality

● Everyone should have a fair chance at things
● By not allowing Joe to go to a psychiatric facility that is not giving him a fair chance
because he has mutations that make him more likely to commit a crime, it’s unfair
to sentence Joe as a criminal when he did not have control over it
● Principle of the common good
● When all people in a community are healthy
● If Joe is sent to prison his condition will not get any better, in fact it could get
worse. If he is able to be in a psych facility where he will have proper care and
medication that he needs he could potentially learn how to control his violent
aggression
● Principle of participation
● Seeking the well-being for all
● Principle of respect for human dignity
● individuals with these genetic mutations that make them more likely to have violent
behavior can be viewed as socially undesirable and are not treated with the respect that
every human deserves
 REFERENCES

Bevilaccqua, L., Doly, S., Kaprio, J., Yuan, Q., Tikkanen, R., & Paunio, T. (2010). A population-specific
HTR2B stop codon predisposes to severe impulsivity. Nature International Journal of Science.
doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e7720.figure2f

Garcia-Arocena, D. (n.d.). The genetics of violent behavior. Retrieved March 22, 2019, from
https://www.jax.org/news-and-insights/jax-blog/2015/december/the-genetics-of-violent-
behaviorr (not credible)

Moosajee, M. (2003, May). Violence--a noxious cocktail of genes and the environment. Retrieved from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC539471/

Reif, A., Rosler, M., Freitag, C.M., Schneider, M., Eujen, A., Kissling, C.,...Retz, W. (2007). Nature and
Nurture Predispose to Violent
Behavior: Serotonergic Genes and Adverse Childhood Environment. Neuropsychopharmacology.
doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e7720.figure2f