Genetics and Crime: Integrating New Genomic Discoveries Into Psychological Research About Antisocial Behavior

Abstract

Drawing on psychological and sociological theories of crime causation, we tested the hypothesis that genetic risk for low educational attainment (assessed via a genome-wide polygenic score) is associated with criminal offending. We further tested hypotheses of how polygenic risk relates to the development of antisocial behavior from childhood through adulthood. Across the Dunedin and Environmental Risk (E-Risk) birth cohorts of individuals growing up 20 years and 20,000 kilometers apart, education polygenic scores predicted risk of a criminal record with modest effects. Polygenic risk manifested during primary schooling in lower cognitive abilities, lower self-control, academic difficulties, and truancy, and it was associated with a life-course-persistent pattern of antisocial behavior that onsets in childhood and persists into adulthood. Crime is central in the nature-nurture debate, and findings reported here demonstrate how molecular-genetic discoveries can be incorporated into established theories of antisocial behavior. They also suggest that improving school experiences might prevent genetic influences on crime from unfolding.

Associations between an educational attainment polygenic score with educational attainment in an African American sample

“…No sex differences were observed regarding the relationship between the EA PGS and higher education status and achievement. This is consistent with work that has found that participant sex did not influence the relationship between polygenic propensity for education attainment and higher education in samples of predominantly European heritage . However, we found that a higher EA PGS was negatively associated with criminal offending among males, but not females, conflicting with findings reported by Wertz et al who found no sex differences in polygenic propensity for educational attainment and criminal offending.…”

“…This is consistent with work that has found that participant sex did not influence the relationship between polygenic propensity for education attainment and higher education in samples of predominantly European heritage . However, we found that a higher EA PGS was negatively associated with criminal offending among males, but not females, conflicting with findings reported by Wertz et al who found no sex differences in polygenic propensity for educational attainment and criminal offending. The sex differences observed may be largely driven by differences in incarceration rates among males and females, socialization, expectations for males and females, and the effect of contextual factors (eg, peers) among males compared with females .…”

“…The decreased amount of variance observed in our sample regarding the EA PGS-criminal involvement association compared with that of Wertz et al13 may also be because of cross-ancestry differences, as well the fact that the GWAS from which the EA PGS derived was focused on educational attainment. However, as noted previously, the sample included individuals from an urban region that may have expe-However, we found that a higher EA PGS was negatively associated with criminal offending among males, but not females, conflicting with findings reported by Wertz et al21 who found no sex differences in polygenic propensity for educational attainment and criminal offending. The sex differences observed may be largely driven by differences in incarceration rates among males and females, socialization, expectations for males and females, and the effect of contextual factors (eg, peers) among males compared with females.…”

“…This finding is consistent with limited work indicating that higher polygenic propensity for educational attainment was negatively associated with having a criminal justice record with a very small amount of variance accounted for. 21 Individuals with lower cognitive ability may be more likely to engage in criminal behavior, potentially because they may experience executive function deficits, such as a decreased ability to problem solve, engage in self-control and anticipate the consequences The authors found that parents' genetic propensity for educational attainment was positively associated with children's educational attainment when taking into account nontransmitted alleles, highlighting that parents with a higher EA PGS may create an environment that fosters their children's learning potential. 61,62 A next step in our work is to examine causal pathways that might be associated with higher education status.…”

“…To our knowledge, only one study has examined polygenic propensity for educational attainment and criminal justice involvement. In particular, Wertz et al found that lower polygenic propensity for educational attainment was negatively associated with criminal offending among adults of European ancestry, with polygenic propensity for educational attainment accounting for 1.2% of the variance in this outcome. However, it is unclear whether these findings are relevant to a low‐income, African American sample.…”