Wrestling with Behavioral Genetics: Science, Ethics, and Public Conversation

ISBN 10: 0801882249 / ISBN 13: 9780801882241

Published by Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005

About this Item

Used - Very Good. Seller Inventory # 4-J-4-0541

Bibliographic Details

Title: Wrestling with Behavioral Genetics: Science,...

Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press

Publication Date: 2005

Binding: hardcover

Condition: Very Good

Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

Edition: 1st Edition.

About this title

Synopsis:

Hardly a month goes by without a media report proclaiming that researchers have discovered the gene for some complex human behavior or trait - intelligence, dyslexia, shyness, homosexuality. The practical implications of genetic research can bring great good - relieving parents of self-blame for a child's schizophrenia or autism and possibly treating genetic diseases in the future. Other findings - or pernicious interpretations of them - can cause great harm, for example, by establishing flawed connections between genetics, race, and educational attainment. "Wrestling with Behavioral Genetics" brings together an interdisciplinary group of contributors - human geneticists, humanists, social scientists, lawyers, and journalists - to discuss the ethical and social implications of behavioral genetics research. The essays give readers the necessary tools to critically analyze the findings of behavioral geneticists, explore competing interpretations of the ethical and social implications of those findings, and engage in a productive public conversation about them. This volume provides an accessible introduction to a fascinating and controversial science and the societal and individual implications of its continuing development.

About the Author:

Erik Parens is a senior research scholar at the Hastings Center and an adjunct associate professor in the Science, Technology, and Society Program at Vassar College. Audrey R. Chapman is director of the Science and Human Rights program at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Nancy Press is a professor at the School of Nursing and the Department of Public Health at the School of Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University.