Epigenetics prematurely born(e): Social work and the malleable gene

Abstract

Biological sciences are currently in the cultural ascent, promising to provide a theory of everything in the natural and social worlds. Beginning with the decade of the brain in the USA in the 1990s, neuroscience was first onto the stage, but developments in genetics, known as epigenetics, have profound implications for society and culture, and the responses of the state to intimate family life and personal choices. Epigenetics provides an explanation of the mechanisms underpinning the interaction of the environment and the DNA blueprint, and thus invites an interest in the impact of adverse conditions, such as deprivation or normatively deficient parenting. The implications of this biology of social disadvantage for social work are far-reaching. Epigenetics is part of an increasingly political biology with the potential to affect the moral direction of social work. This paper reviews the state of the field and its immediate implications for the profession.