title: Exploring whether genetic differences between siblings explain sibling differences in criminal justice outcomes.
abstract: Research has revealed that despite many similarities, siblings raised within the same household have also been found to be markedly different from one another. Behavioral differences between siblings have been primarily attributed to differential exposure to a wide variety of environmental influences. The potential role that between-sibling genetic differences play in the development of behavioral differences has been overlooked in the extant literature. The current study examines the association between differences in three dopaminergic polymorphisms (DAT1, DRD2, and DRD4) and differences in arrest, incarceration, and multiple arrests between siblings. Between-sibling difference scores were estimated for each examined polymorphism and each criminal justice outcome measure (along with all controls). Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models were estimated to examine the potential association between genetic differences between siblings and differences in experiences within the criminal justice system. Models were estimated for the full sample and then for the same-sex male and female subsamples separately. The results provide preliminary evidence that between-sibling differences in some of the examined dopaminergic polymorphisms are associated with differences in contact with the criminal justice system. Findings are discussed in more detail and suggestions for future research are also provided.
authors.affiliation: College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1127, USA. Electronic address: jas10t@my.fsu.edu.
authors.forename: Joseph A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: Kevin M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Beaver
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003416:Criminal Law; D057237:Criminals; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D063588:National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2 / Q000235:genetics*; D050638:Receptors, Dopamine D4 / Q000235:genetics*; D035781:Siblings
chemical_list: C581293:DRD2 protein, human; C493599:DRD4 protein, human; D050483:Dopamine Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; D017448:Receptors, Dopamine D2; C493214:SLC6A3 protein, human; D050638:Receptors, Dopamine D4