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For criminologists, the prevailing wisdom has been (and continues to be) that social factors are the most important predictors of criminal involvement. Biological influences in general, and genetic factors in particular, have been assumed to be irrelevant. Arguments to the contrary have been greeted with hostility and intensely resisted. Despite the resistance, a flood of research has very clearly suggested that virtually no behavior (crime included) escapes some degree of genetic influence. The continued refusal to grapple with this reality within criminology, however, jeopardizes our ability to truly understand what causes individuals to commit crime. To be direct, much of the prevailing wisdom of criminologists may need to be discarded entirely. Convinced that many of the prevailing ideas about why individuals commit crime are wrong, criminologist Brian Boutwell has been working to advance a new type of crime science known as biosocial criminology. His work, and that of his biosocial colleagues, has helped to reveal how the guiding assumption of most criminologists—that crime has its origins in purely environmental forces—has reached the point of intellectual bankruptcy. Biosocial criminology has helped to push the study of crime toward the goal of becoming a truly interdisciplinary field. In particular, a field that leans less heavily on the edicts of sociology, and one which looks to evolutionary psychology, biology, and quantitative genetics for the invaluable insights into human nature that they provide. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
