Violence Genes

[diana]

Another Violence Gene

Just saw this article. http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/...ws-111762.html

[cappuccina]

....most everything is a mixture of nature and nurture when it comes right down to it...

[joelhall]

Thankfully the truth is printed in the article. This is NOT a violence gene. there is no 'violence' gene, and the gene will not cause people to be more violent. There are quite a few problems with this article.

This gene does not cause people to be violent, in the same way a so-called 'addiction' gene does not cause people to have a sudden urge one day to take up drinking. As for the gene being 'activated' by trauma, this again is not what it seems. Genes are either there or they aren't, and they either encode for a protein or they do not.

One thing seems to be overlooked in the male/female view of this. One has to wonder why this test was only carried out with male volunteers.

After all, in the case of boys, this gene could ONLY be inherited from the mother as it is X-linked.

So imagine if an affected male passed this on to his daughter with a mother who also had the variant gene, the daughter would now have two copies of this gene, i.e. homozygous.

and of course genes do not 'act on' enzymes. They provide the genetic coding for protein production.

This study should really be repeated with all female and mixed volunteers, and should alsoclassify the types of 'crime' which the volunteers are responsible for. This does not necessarily mean that they were violent, and the majority of crimes seem to have been committed by unaffected subjects.

I could go on, but you get the point

[Rubyretro]

I couldn't finish it -the blood was draining away from my feet...(probably good for varicose veins though).
And my sunglasses fell off my head.

[protohistorian]

link to a scan

Here is a link to a scan of page 369 of Abnormal Psychology ,by Kring,Johnson,Davidson, and Neale. It was to large to post on the thread.Dave
http://www.humyo.com/10384938/ripper...?a=M5_MGpttul0

[Marc]

The problem I see with both brain damage and genetic impact is that both may be a contributing factor when it comes to violent behavior, but as we do not know who committed the murders it may be misleading to focus too much on them. We just do not know if they actually played a role.

(emphasis through bold type is mine) Very true.
FWIW, I can't buy into the 'disordered' killer profile for JtR, and from whatever his killing frenzy may have originated from, I'd guess he was able to restrain it
when needed, up to the point of stopping it because of fear to be found.
Obviously, this is just my (wildly unsupported) humble opinion.

[protohistorian]

Well, we decided to give you time to optimize your hiding arrangements.

I want to add that behavioral changes may also be the result of changes of the structure of the brain due to various things like cancer or even benign tumours.

The problem I see with both brain damage and genetic impact is that both may be a contributing factor when it comes to violent behavior, but as we do not know who committed the murders it may be misleading to focus too much on them. We just do not know if they actually played a role.

I agree on the degree of emphasis we can place on these issues. I really appreciate the kindness of more time. Dave

[JSchmidt]

Oh so disapointing. Dave

Well, we decided to give you time to optimize your hiding arrangements.

I want to add that behavioral changes may also be the result of changes of the structure of the brain due to various things like cancer or even benign tumours.

The problem I see with both brain damage and genetic impact is that both may be a contributing factor when it comes to violent behavior, but as we do not know who committed the murders it may be misleading to focus too much on them. We just do not know if they actually played a role.

[DBass]

Phineas Gage

In reference to traumatic brain injury - In 1848, Phineas Gage, a railway construction foreman, was injured in a blast by a tamping iron passing through his left cheek and out the top of his head, damaging the frontal lobe. Gage had been described as "hard-working and responsible" before the accident and afterward as "fitful, irreverent" and "impatient of restraint or advice when it conflicts with his desires". Gage was able to function in society - living 12 years after the accident and working as a stagecoach driver. This case is extreme but a person already disposed to violence, suffering a head injury could easily be tipped into the worst kind of violence.

[protohistorian]

what? no one is going to ask where they are?

Oh so disapointing. Dave

[protohistorian]

You will never find my dead hookers, I have been far to clever!Dave

[Marc]

Thanks Dave,

I do hope you've stopped playing with knives and wearing a since
then

[protohistorian]

Excellent point Marc! I had a stroke in 2004. It was not in the frontal cortex but the mid thalamus. I had tremendous difficulty regaining my self control and some other executive functions. Given what we "know" about the ripper crimes I am of the opinion that brain trauma cannot be ruled out as an exacerbating factor. Dave

[Marc]

Brain damage

My eldest daughter has been recently been exposed to adults with brain damage, in the course of her studies to become an orthophonist.
She has worked specifically with a senior orthophonist who cared for people (mostly young or middle aged men) who had frontal brain damage, often after a traffic accident, and needed treatment for speaking/writting difficulties.

One of frontal brain damage frequent consequence, as it seems, is to lift off much of our social inhibitions.
Depending on individuals, this can result in a mild, harmless, quite childish behaviour or rather in a bold, 'macho-like' attitude, with strong sexual harassing tendencies.

Not to say that JtR received a brain injury at some moment in his life, but only that beside genetics and environment issues, brain injuries can also led to amazing behavioral changes in grown individuals.

Some patients don't recognize very close relatives any longer or do not feel any love/friendship for them anymore, even if they otherwise perfectly know who they are.
The human brain is definitely a complicated machinery

[Mitch Rowe]

Yes, we all probably have an inherent gene for violence, but that gene will need a chemical trigger that is available in our immediate environment.
If it is not there, we will not be violent.

Yes... That chemical is called alcohol. More commonly known as gin.