Genetic influences on the stability of low self-control: Results from a longitudinal sample of twins

Gottfredson and Hirschi's theory contained two propositions that have been the source of an emerging line of empirical scrutiny. First, according to the general theory of crime, levels of self-control are largely determined by parental management techniques and not by biogenic factors. Second, Gottfredson and Hirschi argued that low self-control should remain relatively stable over the life course. Data from twins drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were used to test these two hypotheses. The results of univariate model-fitting techniques revealed that genetic factors accounted for between 52 and 64 percent of the variance in low self-control, with the remaining variance attributable to the nonshared environment. Further, low self-control was stable over a two-year time period (r = .64). Bivariate Cholesky decomposition models indicated that the stability of self-control was determined almost exclusively by genetic factors, and that genetic factors also explained a moderate amount of change in self-control.     

The etiology of criminal onset: The enduring salience of nature and nurture

Based on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), the current study was the first to use measures of genetic polymorphisms (DRD2 and DRD4) to empirically examine the onset of crime. Net of the effects of race, age, gender, and low self-control, genetic polymorphisms explained variation in police contacts and arrest, but only among youths in low risk family environments. Moreover, youths with genetic risk factors experienced a later onset than youths without these risk factors. Borrowing from the behavioral and molecular genetics literatures, various interpretations of the findings are discussed as well as a call for increasingly interdisciplinary perspectives in criminology that encompass both sociological and biosocial frameworks.     

Anglicizing the United States Constitution: James Bryce's Contribution to Australian Federalism

James Bryce's analysis of American federalism made it possiblefor the Australian founders to reproduce federal institutionson the American model without replicating the republican andempirical ideas that underpinned them in the United States Constitution.Bryce's account in The American Commonwealth (1888) appealedto Australia's founders because it was suited to their needs.Bryce was English, and, like a sensible nineteenth-century Englishman,he argued that U. S. institutions had little to do with intellectualproduct. Instead, they were largely English institutions adaptedto American purposes. Reading Bryce, Australia's founders assumedthat if federal institutions had little to do with abstracttheory, and had simply been adapted to American circumstances,they might also be adapted to Australian circumstances. Thus,Bryce's approach to American federalism allowed Australia'sfounders to substitute their own colonial tradition of parliamentarydemocracy under the Crown for the republican principles of rightsand the separation of powers that underlie the U.S. Constitution.     

Can Cephalometrics Discriminate Between the Sexes in a Diverse Juvenile Sample?

A critical component of the biological profile is sex estimation. Methods commonly used for sex estimation in adults do not work well for juveniles. Population‐specific studies have used cephalometrics to estimate juvenile sex with 80–90% accuracy. Our study attempts to estimate sex in individuals less than 18 years of age using a sample of 1618 lateral cephalograms incorporating all three Angle Class occlusions as well as population diversity. For the sample as a whole, 10 skeletal cephalometrics were found to have significant differences between the sexes. Males and females classify correctly about 50% of the time. Dividing the sample by age groups and race/ethnicity improves results for older age groups and Native Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans. Our results indicate that cephalometrics are not useful in determining sex of unidentified juveniles when age and race are not known.     

Guardianship for your own good: Improving the well-being of respondents and wards in the USA

Adult guardianship is a coercive exercise of the state's power over an innocent individual, justified only by: 1) the ward's incapacity; and 2) the need to protect the ward's well-being. The raison d'être of guardianship is to improve the well-being of the incapacitated ward. Studies of actual guardianship proceedings have long indicated serious ongoing concerns with the process. Repeated revisions of statutes have attempted to improve guardianship procedures, with some success. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the actual effect of guardianship on the well-being of respondents and wards, when the system functions as intended. The presumption that guardianship, when not abused, is in the best interests of an incapacitated adult is called into serious question by empirical research into the role of internal locus of control and autonomy on human well-being. Indeed, a wide range of data indicates that guardianship itself can have significant negative effects on the physical and mental well-being of respondents and wards. The guardianship system must be reformed to maximize the therapeutic effects of guardianship and to minimize the unnecessarily anti-therapeutic effects. I examine the effects of guardianship from a therapeutic jurisprudence perspective and propose and analyze modifications that could enhance the therapeutic effects of guardianship.     

The intersection of genes and neuropsychological deficits in the prediction of adolescent delinquency and low self-control

Gottfredson and Hirschi's A General Theory of Crime, Moffitt's developmental taxonomy theory, and Caspi et al.'s Gene x Environment study are three of the most influential pieces of contemporary criminological scholarship. Even so, there has been little attempt to integrate and empirically assess these three perspectives simultaneously. This article addresses this gap in the literature by analyzing phenotypic and genotypic data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). The results revealed that all three perspectives have considerable empirical support, where neuropsychological deficits interact with the MAOA genotype to predict adolescent delinquency and levels of self-control for White males. The theoretical implications of the findings are noted.     

Convergence or path dependency in policies to foster the creation of university spin-off firms? A comparison of France and the United Kingdom

This paper examines attempts by French and UK governments to fill the gap between the US and Europe with respect to the creation of academic spin-offs. Analysis of the contrasting cases of the UK and France, shows that there is no convergence of national policies to foster the creation of firms by academics. Rather, the two countries demonstrate different rationales and approaches to policy in this area. In UK, the rationale for spin-off policy is mainly to develop a third stream of financing. Spin-offs are a part of a policy to commercialize technology and knowledge created by universities. Policy is at the university level, leading to the creation of diverse structures. Public schemes bring public money directly to universities. In France, the rationale for policy towards the creation of new ventures by academics is the development of high technology new ventures as part of a technological entrepreneurship policy. The notion of a third stream of financing for universities is an argument that is never advanced. The UK has placed the universities at the heart of policies aimed at the creation of spin-offs, this is not the case in France.     

Academic entrepreneurship and business schools

In this paper, we employ resource-based and institutional theories to examine the current role of business schools in academic entrepreneurship. In particular, we seek to identify and understand the challenges to business schools contributing to the transfer of knowledge to enable academic entrepreneurship. Employing a case-based method, we present evidence from 42 interviews with technology transfer officers (TTOs), business school deans, business school entrepreneurship faculty and scientists in eight UK universities. Our empirical analysis is focused on analyzing the challenges arising from the links between business schools and three other principal stakeholders of academic entrepreneurship (i.e., the university management, TTOs and academics in science departments). The findings suggest that in addition to concerns about the nature of their human capital, the ability of business schools to fill knowledge gaps in the development of academic entrepreneurship is constrained by the institutional structures of universities which influence: the strategies of the university and the business school; links between business schools, TTOs and scientists; and process issues relating to differences in language and codes, goal differences, incentives and rewards, expertise differences and the content of interactions. We conclude that if business schools are to play a more prominent role in academic entrepreneurship there is a need to develop internal university processes and policies that promote rather than hinder internal knowledge flows between business schools, TTOs and science departments.