Dissecting antisocial behavior: The impact of neural, genetic, and environmental factors

Abstract

Antisocial behavior is a heterogeneous construct. The adverse consequences of the behaviors and diagnoses related to this construct produce great burden for the perpetrators, victims, family members, and for society at-large. The articles presented in this special series build on decades of research aimed at identifying various factors across neural, genetic, and environmental levels that contribute to antisocial behavior. However, there are several methodological issues plaguing this research and it often fails to address the specificity of certain factors for subtypes of antisocial behavior. Furthermore, most research on antisocial behavior does not provide a good sense of how combinations of factors produce specific behaviors or how these underlying factors achieve a level of durability (e.g., adaptive constancy) that continually promotes chronic antisocial behavior. The articles in this series take an important step toward disaggregating factors and individuals to develop appropriate assessment techniques, characterizations, intervention strategies, and prevention programs.