Murderers run in families?

[AllieBaba]

I was looking at information on sociopaths in relation to the Casey Anthony thread, and ran across this. It's VERY interesting, though not surprising:

"
As a lark intended to enliven family get-togethers, Dr. Fallon decided to analyze the data from the Alzheimer's project to see whether anyone in his family matched the profiles of killers he had studied. His initial subjects included himself, his three brothers, his wife, and the couple's two daughters and son...

"
Three years ago, as part of a personal project to assess his family's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, Dr. Fallon collected brain scans and DNA samples from himself and seven relatives. At a barbecue soon thereafter, Dr. Fallon's mother casually mentioned something he had been unaware of: His late father's lineage was drenched in blood.
An early ancestor, Thomas Cornell, was hanged in 1673 for murdering his mother. That was one of the first recorded acts of matricide in the Colonies. Seven other possible killers later emerged in the family tree. The most notorious was distant cousin Lizzie Borden of Fall River, Mass. In 1892, she was accused and then controversially acquitted of killing her father and stepmother with an ax...

"The idea was to correlate findings from his family's brain scans with a parallel analysis of genes thought to be associated with aggression and violence. Changing activity in certain parts of the brain relates to aggression, emotion and the inhibition of impulsiveness. Dr. Fallon's previous research on murderers had suggested that many killers show distinctive patterns in these brain areas.
"There's gonna be bad news, but I don't know where it will pop up," Dr. Fallon said in September, before he had seen the family data...

"Dr. Fallon and other scientists increasingly believe that violent offenders emerge when three factors are combined: several "violent" genes; damage to certain brain areas; and exposure to extreme trauma and poor parental bonding in childhood. In other words, nature and nurture."

What's on Jim Fallon's Mind? A Family Secret That Has Been Murder to Figure Out - WSJ.com

 

[JBeukema]

You don't even realize it, do you, the argument you're supporting?

 

[Grace]

I was looking at information on sociopaths in relation to the Casey Anthony thread, and ran across this. It's VERY interesting, though not surprising:

"
As a lark intended to enliven family get-togethers, Dr. Fallon decided to analyze the data from the Alzheimer's project to see whether anyone in his family matched the profiles of killers he had studied. His initial subjects included himself, his three brothers, his wife, and the couple's two daughters and son...

"
Three years ago, as part of a personal project to assess his family's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, Dr. Fallon collected brain scans and DNA samples from himself and seven relatives. At a barbecue soon thereafter, Dr. Fallon's mother casually mentioned something he had been unaware of: His late father's lineage was drenched in blood.
An early ancestor, Thomas Cornell, was hanged in 1673 for murdering his mother. That was one of the first recorded acts of matricide in the Colonies. Seven other possible killers later emerged in the family tree. The most notorious was distant cousin Lizzie Borden of Fall River, Mass. In 1892, she was accused and then controversially acquitted of killing her father and stepmother with an ax...

"The idea was to correlate findings from his family's brain scans with a parallel analysis of genes thought to be associated with aggression and violence. Changing activity in certain parts of the brain relates to aggression, emotion and the inhibition of impulsiveness. Dr. Fallon's previous research on murderers had suggested that many killers show distinctive patterns in these brain areas.
"There's gonna be bad news, but I don't know where it will pop up," Dr. Fallon said in September, before he had seen the family data...

"Dr. Fallon and other scientists increasingly believe that violent offenders emerge when three factors are combined: several "violent" genes; damage to certain brain areas; and exposure to extreme trauma and poor parental bonding in childhood. In other words, nature and nurture."

What's on Jim Fallon's Mind? A Family Secret That Has Been Murder to Figure Out - WSJ.com

Remember that creepy movie when we were kids, Allie? Called The Bad Seed? It touched on such a possibility.

 

[JBeukema]

That such things are heritable is a pillar of negative eugenics...

Indeed, it is because of the eugenicists that the nature/nurture debate came into the public sphere

 

[AllieBaba]

First, I'm not supporting any argument. I think it's interesting.

And second, I think genetics are the map God used to create everything.

You will note it's nature AND nurture. I've known about the warrior gene for some time.

 

[zzzz]

The premise that people can inherit genes that make you a murderer is possible I suppose since the mind is very complex and not fully understood. However, there are many factors that can drive people to kill other people that have nothing to do with their genes. The drug culture is one factor, the popularity of video games glamorizing criminal activity, jealousy, and other factors can cause any person to kill another in the right circumstances. And every person is capable, in the right circumstances, of an act of homicide.

But thankfully most people do not act out those thoughts or emotions, just a minuscule part pf the population succumb to acting them out.

 

[Poli_Sigh]

So do actors and musicians!

 

[syrenn]

Truthfully it looks like something some defense attorney will use to try and get his client off with.


come on, if we can use the twinkies defense why not the genetics defense. Think about it.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

It is wishful stupidity, If there were a murder gene then one would not need to go back hundreds of years and find distant relatives to prove it. In the scheme of things 7 distant relatives over 300 years is insignificant.

 

[chanel]

Very interesting Allie but not that surprising to me. Many mental disorders have genetic links.

 

[editec]

I can see how there might be a significant statistical correlation between violence and family.

I can also see how there might be both genetic and social operatives making that happen, too.

If you're genetically predisposed to violent behavior, and your're raised by people who are likewise prone to violence, that's a double whammie of propensity, isn't it?

 

[AllieBaba]

I think genetics influence a lot of personality traits and propensities. I think it's indicative of the complexity of the mind of God and fascinating...I also think we have the ability to work with those genes to create beautiful human beings...or monsters.

 

[JBeukema]

The community has a right to take measures to prevent the increase of tainted stocks.
-Bishop of Birmingham​

 

[JBeukema]

I think genetics influence a lot of personality traits and propensities.

Francis Galton would have agreed

I also think we have the ability to work with those genes to create beautiful human beings

There's a word for that...


See:
Charles Davenport
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
American Society of Human Genetics