From: Timothy Bates (tbates@karri.bhs.mq.edu.au)
Date: Wed May 26 1999 - 02:16:47 MDT
Elizabeth Childs decided to say:
> It's my understanding that no genetic link has ever been found for
> criminal behavior;
Only about 15 times by now. Adrian Raine has an approachable but impeccable
account.
The Psychopathology Of Crime; Criminal Behavior As A Clinical Disorder, by
Raine, Adrian, binding: trade, published: 06/1997, ISBN
David Lykken has useful things to say also
The Antisocial Personalities, by Lykken, David T., binding: trade,
published: 02/1995, ISBN: 0805819746.
> indeed, if there were, Australia wouldn't be one of the
> most law abiding nations in the world.
1. The percentage of "criminal genes" in Australia is minutely different to
that in most UK-derived countries. You are talking about some thousands of
people, many not criminal, over a hundred years ago in a country which has
more non-native citizens than (I understand) any other country.
2. Abidance of Laws has to do with what laws you have, what laws you
enforce, how you enforce them, and how easy it is to live without stealing
(welfare). All of these need to be understood before one can make between-
country comparisons with any meaningfulness.
>(Please correct me if I've missed
> something
You're welcome.
> There is, however, an established correlation between corporal punishment
> of children and later criminal behavior.
Gee- I wonder children with anti-social personality disorder (the single
most valid predictor of latter criminal activity) might actually elicit more
punishment from adults surrounding the mayhem they create? There are also
real data on this question.
best,
tim
____________________
"....If I have a religion, its first precept is that we shall seek truth
faithfully; and I would say this with Emerson: "God offers to every mind its
choice between truth and repose. Take which you please. You can never have
both.""
William McDougall, 1927, Character and the Conduct of Life.
London : Methuen.
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