Behavioral Genetics, Mens Rea and Teaching Students Why People Commit Crime

• In Event: Discussion and Implications of Biosocial and Psychological Research

Abstract

All criminology starts with the question why and how people decide to commit crime. What behavioral genetics brings to the question is a challenge to the assumption that crime occurs due to mental decision-making. Is crime genetically influenced or caused? This presentation will review what challenges behavioral genetics brings to the science of criminology and the practice of criminal justice in American courts.

Author

• Arthur H. Garrison, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania