Chapter 10: Biosocial Approaches

Behavioral genetics

A branch of genetics studying the relative contributions of heredity and environment to behavioral and personality characteristics.

Genotype

A person’s genetic makeup.

Phenotype

Observable and measurable behavioral and personality characteristics of any living thing resulting from genes interacting with the environment.

Heritability

A concept indicating the extent to which variance in a phenotypic trait in a population is due to genetic factors, ranging from 0 to 1.

Shared environment

The environment experienced by children reared in the same family, assumed to make them similar.

Nonshared environment

The unique experiences that make children from the same family different.

Gene-environment interaction

The interaction of a genotype with its environment, where people respond differently to the same environmental influences due to their genes.

Gene-environment correlation

The notion that genotypes and their environments are related because parents provide children with both genetic traits and environments favorable for expressing those traits.

Passive rGE

The positive association between genes and environments due to biological parents providing children with genes linked to certain traits and an environment favorable for their expression.

Evocative rGE

Refers to the way others react to the individual based on their evocative behavior.

Active rGE

Refers to the active seeking of environments compatible with our genetic dispositions.

MAOA gene

A gene that has variants linked to antisocial behavior, especially when interacting with maltreatment.

Neurons

Brain cells consisting of a cell body, an axon, and several dendrites that communicate through neurotransmitters.

Neurotransmitters

Chemicals that carry messages from neuron to neuron across the synaptic gap.

Reinforcement sensitivity theory

A neurological theory proposing that behavior is regulated by two opposing mechanisms: the behavioral activating system (BAS) and the behavioral inhibition system (BIS).

Prefrontal cortex

The part of the brain responsible for integrative and supervisory roles, linked to impulsive criminal behavior.

Evolutionary psychology

A framework that considers human behavior through a Darwinian evolutionary lens, exploring how certain behaviors might have been adaptive.

Adaptive behavior

Behaviors that contribute directly or indirectly to an individual’s survival and reproductive success.

Parenting effort

The proportion of total reproductive effort invested in rearing offspring, associated with prosocial behavior.

Mating effort

The proportion of total reproductive effort allotted to acquiring sexual partners, associated with antisocial behavior.

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

A chronic condition affecting the brain resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure.

Biosocial perspective

An approach in criminology that combines biological and social factors to understand criminal behavior.

Policy implications of biosocial theories

Biosocial theories may inform prevention and treatment programs in criminology, advocating treatment over punishment.

Roper v. Simmons

A U.S. Supreme Court case that outlawed the juvenile death penalty influenced by biosocial science.