The overall goal of this project is to investigate joint influences of genetic propensities and social-control on delinquent behavior. Previous sociological work has demonstrated the critical importance of social structural conditions, family processes, school structure, and peer networks. These serve as informal social controls that bond individuals to social norms and ultimately may reduce delinquency. The project draws data sources from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) to address the question of why some individuals become serious and violent delinquents while others do not, despite growing up in a similar social context and participating in similar social processes. Dr. Guo and his research teams will investigate the role of genetic propensities, especially as they interact with social control factors, in delinquency. Specifically, they will use genotype data focusing on the genes that are known to be involved in aggressive behavior in mice to explore how genetic factors might influence delinquency and how those influences may depend on social control processes measured at the levels of friends, peers, family, school, and neighborhood. This research is based on the premise that genetic effects on delinquency are best understood within a social science theoretical framework, which provides the basis for understanding delinquent behavior as socially produced and socially organized human activity. The newly created molecular genotype data will be merged with the rich social and behavioral longitudinal data in Add Health for other researchers to use. The results of this study would contribute to the understanding of aggression and delinquency across the life course and could inform intervention efforts.
