Letter: Findings don't condemn poor

Sir: We recently showed that birth complications combine with maternal rejection in predisposing people to violent crime ("Seeds of violence sown in the cradle", 3 September).

In commenting on our findings, Clare Prout (Letters, 11 September) felt that lack of financial resources, more than a genetic predisposition to be bad parents, was the crux of the problem, and that there was a simplistic suggestion that "the poor breed violent offspring".

First, we should clarify that while birth complications are a biological factor, they are more likely to be environmentally than genetically determined. Furthermore, the evidence for a genetic predisposition to violent crime is not strong.

Second, some of our most recent research has shown that poor people who are good parents and whose babies do not suffer birth complications actually have offspring with low rates of adult violence.

While we believe that poverty plays a role in predisposing to violence, it must not be forgotten that many poor people do not commit crime.

We are further convinced that biological factors also predispose to violence, and that to successfully prevent future violent crime we need to take into account the complex interaction between social and biological processes.

Professor ADRIAN RAINE

Department of Psychology

University of Southern California

Los Angeles, California

USA