The implications for responsibility of possible genetic factors in the explanation of violence

Genetic determinism is unlikely to be true of most human behaviour. The discovery of a genetically based disposition to violent behaviour would not automatically undermine a person's responsibility for such behaviour. The relevant question is not just whether the genetic disposition plays a causal role, but whether it is so strong as to be irresistible. This requires complex evaluation of different kinds of evidence. When genetic causes are combined with others, including environmental ones, the resulting picture of human behaviour may be a more determinist one than we are used to. Such a picture, if it came to be accepted, would not necessarily undermine responsibility. The everyday distinctions between what we can and cannot do would still survive. But understanding the full implications of such a picture would in some ways modify our attitudes and practices. Blame would take a different form, and retributive punishment might come to seen unacceptable.