It''s said that bad company corrupts good character. But, a new study has now claimed that turning to crime is in the genes.
The Florida State University study of young men and women, who were all adopted as children, found they were up to four and a half more times to have been in trouble with the police if one of their natural parents had a criminal record.
The fact that their natural parents are having such a huge effect on their behaviour despite having little or no input in their upbringing clearly showed the influence of genetics, said the researchers. The findings, they said, also suggested that while criminals can be bred, they can also be born, the Daily Mail reported.
The intriguing finding comes from a large-scale study of more than 250 young American adoptees who were first surveyed when in High School and then periodically interviewed for the next 13 years.
When they reached their mid-20s and early-30s, they were asked if their natural parents had any sort of criminal record and if they had ever been in trouble with the law themselves.
The youths who had a biological parent who had been arrested at some point were up to 4.5 times more likely to have been arrested themselves than those whose natural parents were law-abiding, the researchers found.
The influence of genetics did not end there. A jailed biological parent also dramatically raised the risk of the child having spent time in prison or in a young offenders institution.
And the more times the biological parent was in trouble with the law, the more problematic the child was likely to be, the researchers reported in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
"Adoptees who have a biological father or a biological mother who have been arrested previously are significantly more likely to be arrested, sentenced to probation, incarcerated and arrested multiple times," said Dr Kevin Beaver, a criminologist at Florida University and lead author of the study.
According to the scientists, genes implicated in violence anti-social behaviour include one called MAO-A which makes an enzyme which breaks down chemicals in the brain linked to aggression.
The Florida State University study of young men and women, who were all adopted as children, found they were up to four and a half more times to have been in trouble with the police if one of their natural parents had a criminal record.
The fact that their natural parents are having such a huge effect on their behaviour despite having little or no input in their upbringing clearly showed the influence of genetics, said the researchers. The findings, they said, also suggested that while criminals can be bred, they can also be born, the Daily Mail reported.
The intriguing finding comes from a large-scale study of more than 250 young American adoptees who were first surveyed when in High School and then periodically interviewed for the next 13 years.
When they reached their mid-20s and early-30s, they were asked if their natural parents had any sort of criminal record and if they had ever been in trouble with the law themselves.
The youths who had a biological parent who had been arrested at some point were up to 4.5 times more likely to have been arrested themselves than those whose natural parents were law-abiding, the researchers found.
The influence of genetics did not end there. A jailed biological parent also dramatically raised the risk of the child having spent time in prison or in a young offenders institution.
And the more times the biological parent was in trouble with the law, the more problematic the child was likely to be, the researchers reported in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
"Adoptees who have a biological father or a biological mother who have been arrested previously are significantly more likely to be arrested, sentenced to probation, incarcerated and arrested multiple times," said Dr Kevin Beaver, a criminologist at Florida University and lead author of the study.
According to the scientists, genes implicated in violence anti-social behaviour include one called MAO-A which makes an enzyme which breaks down chemicals in the brain linked to aggression.
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