Matt is a history teacher. His twin brother Greg is a drug addict. Growing up in the Boston area, both boys did well in high school: they were strong students in the classroom and decent athletes on the field, and they got along with their peers. Like many young people, the brothers drank the occasional beer, smoked cigarettes and experimented with marijuana. Then, in college, they tried cocaine. For Greg, the experience derailed his life. The questions that have risen from this are: what made Greg so susceptible to the grasps of cocaine- to the point that the drug essentially destroyed his life? And how did his identical twin, who shares the exact same genes, escape a similar fate? And how can exposure to a drug set up some individuals for a lifelong addiction, while others can move past their youthful indiscretions and go on to lead productive lives? These questions, although not new, have lead neuroscientist to begin taking a fresh approach to finding the answers. New findings suggest that experience can contribute to mental illness by adding or removing “epigenetic” marks on chromosomes. These tags are particular chemicals that can influence gene activity without changing the information encoded in the gene.…
Reiss, D., M.D., Leve, L. D., PhD., & Neiderhiser, J. M., PhD. (2013). How genes and the social environment moderate each other.American Journal of Public Health, 103, S111-S121. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1441259241?accountid=45049…
Swendsen, Joel D., et al. “Are Personality Traits Familial Risk Factors for Substance Use Disorders? Results of a Controlled Family Study” The American Journal of Psychiatry 159.10 (2002): 1760-1766. Web. 18 Nov. 2011.…
For years people have argued that alcoholism is a choice and not a learned or inherited disease. These people will normally agree that yes, children are in fact influenced by family, but purely of a social nature, and that this disease is actually caused by poor economic status, poor social upbringings, or merely by imitating the behaviors of those who raised them. However, research has proven that in a great deal of cases there is in fact enormous basis for alcoholism being a genetic or inherited disease. While genetics cannot predict alcoholics very well, research can show that one can be born to be an alcoholic; the action and reaction taken in spite of or because of this gene however determines the outcome. When paired with a poor social upbringing it can prove to be quite difficult for one to overcome the influences that are trying to determine their lifestyle choices. As with everything in our lives alcoholism is a product of Nature versus Nurture, completely made up by both.…
Genograms can be very enlightening for families. Many patterns of multigenerational issues can be exposed and explored by beginning with a genogram. There are patterns of medical issues that can be brought to light and give a family a chance to make healthier choices in an effort to stave off the effects of genetic predispositions to certain illnesses. The same can be said for patterns of addictions across multiple generations of the family. When these patterns of addictions are uncovered, they can be addressed, and possibly used to benefit the therapy of a family member.…
* Fowler et al, 2007 – found that in a study of 1,214 twins genetic influences played a role in the progression to heavy addiction.…
The influence of nonrandom mating on the distribution of genotypes among a group of animals.…
Sturgess, Jessica E., et al. "Pharmacogenetics Of Alcohol, Nicotine And Drug Addiction Treatments." Addiction Biology 16.3 (2011): 357-376. EBSCO MegaFILE. Web. 7 Apr.…
One strength of the nature versus nurture concept in relation to understanding human development and individual behaviour is the ability to explain addiction to smoking, drinking and narcotics. Children see their family and friends behaviour as socially acceptable and so exhibit these behaviours with little question. This often leads to entrenched social behaviour. This suggests that our early experiences can affect our perspective later in adulthood.…
Genetic information is complex and overwhelming and there are many resources available via the internet containing detailed facts on the subject. For this assignment, I will summarize information that is available from various genetic websites and who might find these types of sites useful. I will also select two abnormalities of sex chromosomes and two gene-linked abnormalities from Chapter 2 of our text entitled Child Development (Santrock, 2014) and use the information from the websites to provide a brief report on each abnormality.…
According to Greydanus et. al. (2014), factors shown to suggest a higher risk for marijuana use included genetic factors, family history, minimal parental supervision, drug availability, high-risk peer group, and those with a need for higher thrill-seeking activities. Individuals vary greatly in respect to genetics, environment, behavioral traits, and cultural norms. When considering behavioral traits and personality, marijuana users are typically characterized by apathy, negative mood states, and loss of goal motivated behavior (Hurd et. al., 2014). When considering heritable genetic factors, Hurd et.al. stated that a growing number of family, twin, and adoption studies have shown that marijuana use disorder is strongly heritable, yielding a percentage of 30-80%. The author found that multiple factors can interact with one another and can contribute to vulnerability. Siegal et. al. (2015) claimed that being presented with an opportunity to use drugs is the first step of drug involvement. The authors further claimed that being around others who are…
Arguing how could an addiction like smoking be genetic, and why are some types of people more likely to smoke than others. Does believing that an addiction like smoking is genetic help the person quit (are all those smokers who quit not “genetically” addicted) and in relation to alcohol, are people really predestined biologically to become alcoholics and thus to become A.A. members. For example; the rock group Aerosmith; all five members of this group now belong to A.A., just as they previously all drank and took drugs together. Thus, how improbable a coincidence it is that five unrelated people with the alcoholic/addictive inheritance should bump into one another and form a band (Peele,…
In conclusion, it is safe to say that the role of our genetics and the environment equal people's behavior and traits. You cannot blame either one because without one, the other wouldn’t exist. Genes effect a lot of your personality and behavior but the environment molds the way people are going to act. This will always be an ongoing controversy because it is nearly impossible to pin point accurately where the role of genes and the environment step…
There is evidence that genetic plays a role in the development of alcohol and drug dependence through environmental factors. The environmental factors that play a role in genetic in addiction pertains to risk factors. According to Thomas and Osborn (2013), the genetic-environmental interaction consists of various sources of risk factors such as stress, economic hardship, family, and surrounding oneself with substance users. Additionally, Dick and Agrawal (2008) illustrate that individuals that share the same gene are more likely to be at risk for alcohol and drug dependence based on a twin study. However, society demonstrate that if one family members is an alcoholic another member may be at risk. In this case, the gene in one member can within another member, however, individuals may need to go through testing in order to determine if genetic is a factor that is contributing to an addiction. Additionally, genetics plays a role in determining alcohol or drug dependence through a wide range of genes instead of a single gene. Genes play a role in drug dependence but it is not deterministic or the sole reason an individual struggle with an…
Environmental: Outside factors, such as stress or a major life event, may trigger a genetic predisposition or potential biological reaction. For instance, if bipolar disorder was entirely genetic, both identical twins would have the disorder. But research reveals that one twin can have bipolar, while the other does not, implicating the environment as a potential contributing cause.…