Nurture Versus Biosocial Debate in Criminology

The Nurture Versus Biosocial Debate in Criminology: On the Origins of Criminal Behavior and Criminality takes a contemporary approach to address the sociological and the biological positions of human behavior by allowing preeminent scholars in criminology to speak to the effects of each on a range of topics. The text aims to facilitate an open and honest debate between the more traditional criminologists who focus primarily on environmental factors and contemporary biosocial criminologists who examine the interplay between biology/genetics and environmental factors.

Kevin M. Beaver is a professor in the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida State University and a visiting distinguished professor in the Center for Social and Humanities Research at King Abdulaziz University. He is the past recipient of the American Society of Criminology’s Ruth Shonle Cavan Young Scholar Award and the National Institute of Justice’s Graduate Research Fellowship. He has published widely on the development of antisocial behaviors from a biosocial perspective, and his research on the genetic underpinnings to crime has been featured in major media outlets. J.C. Barnes is an assistant professor in the Criminology Program at The University of Texas at Dallas. He is a biosocial criminologist whose research seeks to understand how genetic and environmental factors combine to impact criminological phenomena. Recent works have attempted to reconcile behavioral genetic findings with theoretical developments in criminology. He has published more than seventy papers and book chapters in outlets such as Aggressive Behavior, Behavior Genetics, Criminology, Developmental Psychology, Intelligence, Journal of Marriage and Family, Justice Quarterly, Journal of Theoretical Biology, and PLoS ONE. Brian B. Boutwell is currently an assistant professor in the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University. His research interests span a variety of disciplines and include behavior genetics, developmental psychology, evolutionary psychology, as well as life course and theoretical criminology. His work has appeared in such journals as Developmental Psychology, Behavior Genetics, Theoretical Biology, Criminology, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, and Aggressive Behavior, among others.