The Implications of Pleiotropy for Antisocial Behavior: Theory and Treatment

• In Event: Biosocial Pathways in Criminology: From Behavioral Traits to Biological Aging

Abstract

The past century of quantitative genetic research has repeatedly demonstrated that complex phenotypes vary for both genetic and environmental reasons. What has become equally clear is that the genetic architectures of quantitative traits frequently overlap, with similar suites of genes influencing similar traits. The existence of pleiotropic effects often represents a source of spuriousness that scholars seek to avoid, and thus partly motivate a reliance on twin and family data in developmental and life-course research. This discussion of pleiotropy, however, explores how pleiotropic effects might help to guide the development of better theory about anti-social behavior, as well as how it might offer clues about increasingly efficacious interventions that can better limit the onset and progression of behavioral problems. In particular, we examine the different forms of pleiotropic effects in order to better understand instances when intervening on one trait might also provide beneficial effects on other traits that share genetic underpinnings.

Authors

• Brian Boutwell, University of Mississippi

• Ana Carolina Stoffel, University of Mississippi