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Recent advances in molecular genetics methods have provided new means of determining the genetic bases of human behavioral traits. The impetus for the use of these approaches for specific behaviors depends, in large part, on previous familial studies on inheritance of such traits. In the past, a finding of a genetic basis for a trait was often accompanied with the idea that that trait is unchangeable. We discuss the definition of "genetic trait" and heritability and examine the relationship between these concepts and the malleability of traits for both molecular and nonmolecular approaches to behavioral genetics. We argue that the malleability of traits is as much a social and political question as it is a biological one and that whether or not a trait is genetic has little relevance to questions concerning determinism, free will, and individual responsibility for actions. We conclude by noting that "scientific objectivity" should not be used to conceal the social perspectives that underlie proposals regarding social change.

Introduction : concepts of antisocial behaviour, of cause, and of genetic influences / Michael Rutter -- Issues in the search for candidate genes in mice as potential animal models of human aggression / Stephen C. Maxson -- Aggression from a developmental perspective : genes, environments and interactions / Robert B. Cairns -- A twin study of self-reported criminal behaviour / Michael J. Lyons -- Heterogeneity among juvenile antisocial behaviours : findings from the Virginia Twin Study of Adolescent Behavioural Development / Judy Silberg [and others] -- Predisposition to criminality : Swedish adoption studies in retrospect / Michael Bohman -- Assessing the role of genetics in crime using adoption cohorts / Patricia A. Brennan, Sarnoff A. Mednick and Bjorn Jacobsen -- Direct analysis of candidate genes in impulsive behaviours / D. Goldman, J. Lappalainen and N. Ozaki -- MAOA deficiency and abnormal behaviour : perspectives on an association / Han G. Brunner -- Serotonin in alcoholic violent offenders / Matti Virkkunen, David Goldman and Markku Linnoila -- Evolutionary adaptationism : another biological approach to criminal and antisocial behaviour / Martin Daly -- Chronic problems in understanding tribal violence and warfare / Napoleon A. Chagnon -- The implications for responsibility of possible genetic factors in the explanation of violence / Jonathan Glover -- Legal implications of genetics and crime research / Deborah W. Denno.

In recent years, genetic research has ascended the list of national research priorities. From among the many weighty claims on the fisc, Congress has chosen to provide significant federal support for the Human Genome Initiative, a project aimed at mapping the complete set of genetic instructions that form the structure of inherited attributes. Geneticists anticipate that the project will disclose important new in- formation on human development and disease. Some go further. One influential scientist remarked that this work is "the ultimate answer to the commandment 'Know thyself.' "" The decision to fund this Initiative, the largest biology project in the history of science, at a time of significant budgetary constraints suggests its political currency. Scientists have recently developed genetic tests, familiar from the diagnostic technologies used to identify genetic abnormalities in fetuses and newborn infants, to find the markers indicating predisposition to certain single-gene disorders such as Huntington's disease. This success has bred the hope that more complex conditions, such as cancer, drug dependency, and mental illness, will ultimately be predictable and has enhanced the appeal of theories that explain human behavior in biological terms. Expectant parents now demand chromosomal testing of their babies before they are born and infertile couples often put considerable resources into the creation of genetically-related offspring. Institutions, including employers, insurers, and educators, look to biological tests to guide placement and avoid risk.'