The Relationship Between Genetics and Criminal Behaviour: Many Prisoners Share a Gene Linked to Personality Disorder

This article questions if criminals have the power and knowledge to make better choices when committing a crime or are poor decisions made because of their genes. Our genes may play bigger factors than we originally thought according to recent studies.

This source is based on a study done by Finnish, American, British, and Swedish researchers. It was discovered that out of the 794 Finnish prisoners, 568 had Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD). The researchers accessed this data from the Finnish Crime sample, a database containing psychological tests and genetic material from those prisoners. They compared genes from the prisoners and a large group of the public and found that ASPD was a common factor in prisoners and the public’s genes. 80% of the prisoners had matched the criteria for this disorder but the diagnosis had been labeled as controversial because of the disorder’s broad and ill-defined nature. Some symptoms of ASPD are deceitfulness, aggressiveness, disregard for safety of self and others, and the irresponsibility, so these symptoms can strongly overlap with psychopathy.

The same study also states that 50% of the total liabilities for developing ASPD comes from genetic factors. Many prosecutors use this as evidence to defend their clients in court. T he source is recent; it was published on 13 September 2016. No recent articles contradict this source in anyway. There is no bias in the article, the tone, language is of a high nature, and is all written with facts. The findings are consistent with similar topics, there is a reference list and no research had been omitted. This can therefore be deemed as reliable.

The author is a journalist who has written many scientific articles and has always said, by a number of professors, to do her research thoroughly; also, this is based on professional researchers that conducted the study. The research has come from scientists in universities across the world. The research has been done in Finland but it should not affect the results because ASPD can be found in South Africans as well. This can therefore be deemed as valid.

This did help to narrow down my research and increase my knowledge because it told me that ASPD, something I never heard of, was something that could be in the genes that affect people. I could structure a questionnaire for prisoners to see if they got ASPD. This does relate to similar context in my research. This can therefore be deemed as useful.

The research was conducted in Finland but ASPD occurs in people across the world, it is not country specific. It is backed up by other sources and no sources have been found to object to the findings. This is not outdated, it was written only about a year ago.