PARENTS WHO FAIL TO RESPOND TO THEIR CHILD'S BAD BEHAVIOR

EDITORIAL: A SECOND LOOK AT NATURE AND NURTURE

Excerpts of Study

The human brain is the most fantastic thing on earth. Nothing could do what the human brain does, yet somehow the brain does it—and keeps getting better at it. During six million years of human development, the brain has continued to enlarge and to become more complex...


One of the most complex features of the brain is its control of behavior, and research in this area is demonstrating that many of our long-held ideas about behavior are incorrect.


Not many decades ago, even scientists thought the newborn brain was a "blank slate," and that all behavior, good and bad, was learned. Research now shows conclusively that this idea was wrong.


Today researchers estimate that around fifty percent of behavior is genetically acquired, and thus attributable to "nature." Even a trait such as poor logic, which can lead to bad behavior, may be transmitted genetically, possibly by preventing the brain's neurons from connecting normally.

In retrospect, it is surprising that both science and society have been so slow to recognize that if people can genetically acquire hair and eye color, a predisposition to diabetes, and so much more, we can also inherit different behaviors—just as dogs and horses inherit different behavioral tendencies.


It is equally remarkable that it has taken us so long to understand that when a malfunctioning brain is inherited, bad behavior can be the result.

The Nurture Factor

It doesn't take much calculation to determine that if "nature" is responsible for 50 percent of behavior, "nurture" has to be responsible for the other half. Because society thinks of nurturing as pertaining to home conditions, and especially parenting, billions of dollars are spent by government in an effort to improve troubled children's home environments.

These billions, however, are failing to help. Why? Judith Rich Harris in her book, The Nature Assumption, presents a strong argument that neither home conditions nor parenting have any effect on the development of a child's personality and behavior...For example, researchers often attributed children's behavior problems to parental discipline styles, failing to note that those disciplinary styles frequently evolved in response to children's aberrant behavior. Indeed, Harris cites evidence showing that peers have a greater influence on a child's behavior than parents do.

It is critical that we recognize the crucial role that genes, often coupled with biological insults, play in determining behavior. Parents, including parents of adopted children, need to realize that if their children have "gone bad," it may be the result of an innate genetic vulnerability or physical insult rather than psychological trauma.

Vol. 10, No. 1, 2004, Page 2