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Research on young people in New Zealand and Australia has found a link between a gene, a person's experiences during childhood, and the likelihood of subsequent violent behaviour. Research on young people in New Zealand and Australia has found a link between a gene, a person's experiences during childhood, and the likelihood of subsequent violent behaviour. The study was of a Dunedin-born group of young men who've been followed for many years. It's known that being abused as a child increases the risk of perpetrating violence as an adult. But no-one is sure why only a relatively small proportion of abused children actually go on to do this. What makes the difference? Well, there is an analogy here with smoking. Most people who smoke don't get lung cancer. The theory is that those who do get it have a genetic susceptibility, which is only brought out if you inhale tobacco smoke. So maybe there's a genetic link between child abuse and later violence. And that's what the researchers found when they looked at antisocial behaviour among the young men, particularly those who'd committed violent crime in New Zealand and Australia, where several of them had settled. Those with low levels of a gene that mops up stress hormones in the brain were far more prone to violent behaviour. In fact, they were four times over-represented in the New Zealand and Australian police statistics. The solution is not genetic testing, because this gene is so common. The answer is to prevent child abuse.
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