Examining the Causes and Consequences of Criminal Behavior

Criminal behavior presents a significant public health problem that involves heavy economic and social burdens, includingthe costs of criminal justice adjudication, compensation for victims and their families, and collateral impacts on communities.While there have been attempts to address this important topic, there are a number of limitations in other studies.

Within thefield of criminology, sociological perspectives have been the dominant explanation for criminal behavior for while biologicalfactors have been largely ignored.

Additionally, most of the criminological research has been based in the U.S., andcriminological researchers who examine biological factors often need to rely on small, non-representative samples due to thelack of national U.S. databases containing relevant information.

There have been attempts in Europe, mainly by psychiatristsand other medical professionals, to address crime-related questions by using available European registries; however, theseprojects examine familial transmission of genetic risks for psychiatric conditions, focus on specific subtypes of criminaloffending, or utilized techniques that are considered outdated or rudimentary today.

Lastly, much of the research hasfocused on male offenders and on offenders who engage in “street” crime (e.g., violent crime), with little attention paid tofemale offenders or less conventional forms of offending (e.g., white-collar crime).

To overcome these limitations, this projectwill utilize Sweden’s national registries that allow for population-wide analyses and state-of-the-art statistical techniques todeepen the understanding of the role of biological (i.e., genetic) and social (i.e., environmental) influences in thedevelopment of criminal behavior (in general and by subtype), and how gender and socioeconomic status alter thesebiological and social influences.

The proposed study will also examine the consequences of criminal behavior on subsequentlife outcomes.