Behavioral Genetics: The Clash of Culture and Biology

by Ronald A. Carson (Editor), Mark A Rothstein (Editor)

Overview

Scientists conducting human genome research are identifying genetic disorders and traits at an accelerating rate. Genetic factors in human behavior appear particularly complex and slow to emerge, yet are raising their own set of difficult ethical, legal, and social issues. In Behavioral Genetics: The Clash of Culture and Biology, Ronald Carson and Mark Rothstein bring together well-known experts from the fields of genetics, ethics, neuroscience, psychiatry, sociology, and law to address the cultural, legal, and biological underpinnings of behavioral genetics. The authors discuss a broad range of topics, including the ethical questions arising from gene therapy and screening, molecular research in psychiatry, and the legal ramifications and social consequences of behavioral genetic information. Throughout, they focus on two basic concerns: the quality of the science behind behavioral genetic claims and the need to formulate an appropriate, ethically defensible response when the science turns out to be good.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801874925
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	04/27/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	282
File size:	3 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Ronald A. Carson is the Harris L. Kempner Distinguished Professor in the Humanities in Medicine and director of the Institute for the Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Mark A. Rothstein is a professor of bioethics, health, law at the University of Louisville.

Mark A. Rothstein is Herbert F. Boehl Chair of Law and Medicine, and director of the Institute for Bioethics, Health Policy and Law at the University of Louisville School of Medicine.

Table of Contents

Contributors
Foreword, Floyd E. Bloom
Preface
Amazing Grace: Sources of Phenotype Variation in Genetic Boosterism
In the Mainstream: Research in Behavioral Genetics
Identifying the Molecular Genetic Basis of Behavioral Traits
Complexity and Research Strategies in Behavioral Genetics
Behavioral Genetic Determinism: Its Effect on Culture and Law
Predicting and Punishing Antisocial Acts: How the Criminal Justice System Might Use Behavioral Genetics
Behavioral Genetics and Dismantling the Welfare State
The Social Consequences of Genetic Disclosure
The Fate of the Responsible Self in a Genetic Age

What People are Saying About This

Jay Katz

This book on culture and biology, written by a distinguished group of contributors, is the best introduction to behavioral genetics that I have read. The varying viewpoints about an emerging new discipline which will affect all of us are presented with such clarity that Behavioral Genetics: The Clash of Culture and Biology should appeal to the general public and serve as a basic text for college courses.

— Jay Katz, Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor Emeritus of Law, Medicine, and Psychiatry, Harvey L. Karp Professiorial Lecturer in Law and Psychoanalysis, Yale Law School

From the Publisher

This book on culture and biology, written by a distinguished group of contributors, is the best introduction to behavioral genetics that I have read. The varying viewpoints about an emerging new discipline which will affect all of us are presented with such clarity that Behavioral Genetics: The Clash of Culture and Biology should appeal to the general public and serve as a basic text for college courses.
—Jay Katz, Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor Emeritus of Law, Medicine, and Psychiatry, Harvey L. Karp Professiorial Lecturer in Law and Psychoanalysis, Yale Law School

Editorial Reviews

Contributors from the fields of genetics, ethics, neurosciences, psychiatry, sociology, and law address the cultural, legal, and biological underpinnings of behavioral genetics. They focus on the quality of the science behind behavioral genetic claims and the need to formulate an appropriate, ethically defensible response to science. Carson is a professor in the humanities in medicine, and the director of the Institute for the Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Rothstein is a professor of law and director of the Health Law and Policy Institute at the University of Houston Law Center. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

Throughout, the authors focus on two basic concerns: the quality of the science behind behavioral genetic claims and the need to formulate an appropriate, ethically defensible response when science turns out to be good. This book [is] a top priority for any person, lay or academic, working or studying in this complex field.
--Human Reproduction and Genetic Ethics

[T]his volume is the finest currently available as an introduction to the issues that are involved in, and arise because of, the revival in behavioral genetics research.
--Robert A. Crouch, Religious Studies Review

From the Publisher

Throughout, the authors focus on two basic concerns: the quality of the science behind behavioral genetic claims and the need to formulate an appropriate, ethically defensible response when science turns out to be good. This book [is] a top priority for any person, lay or academic, working or studying in this complex field.

Human Reproduction and Genetic Ethics

[T]his volume is the finest currently available as an introduction to the issues that are involved in, and arise because of, the revival in behavioral genetics research.

Religious Studies Review - Robert A. Crouch