Misbehaving Science: Controversy and the Development of Behavior Genetics

by Aaron Panofsky

Behavior genetics has always been a breeding ground for controversies. From the “criminal chromosome” to the “gay gene,” claims about the influence of genes like these have led to often vitriolic national debates about race, class, and inequality. Many behavior geneticists have encountered accusations of racism and have had their scientific authority and credibility questioned, ruining reputations, and threatening their access to coveted resources.  

In Misbehaving Science, Aaron Panofsky traces the field of behavior genetics back to its origins in the 1950s, telling the story through close looks at five major controversies. In the process, Panofsky argues that persistent, ungovernable controversy in behavior genetics is due to the broken hierarchies within the field. All authority and scientific norms are questioned, while the absence of unanimously accepted methods and theories leaves a foundationless field, where disorder is ongoing. Critics charge behavior geneticists with political motivations; champions say they merely follow the data where they lead. But Panofsky shows how pragmatic coping with repeated controversies drives their scientific actions. Ironically, behavior geneticists’ struggles for scientific authority and efforts to deal with the threats to their legitimacy and autonomy have made controversy inevitable—and in some ways essential—to the study of behavior genetics.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Biology, Genetics, Politics

320 pages, Paperback

First published June 5, 2014

Reviews

[Stetson · Rating 2.5 out of 5]

This is a Bordieu-inspired critique of the "structural logic" governing the field dynamics of behavioral genetics. This analytical frame is almost entirely useless. What ends up being more useful is historical coverage of the emergence and character of the hereditarian and anti-hereditarian debate, especially in the post-WWII era but prior to Jensen's How Much Can We Boost IQ and Scholastic Achievement? (1969). There is almost no direct engagement whatsoever with the actual scientific questions that have animated the various controversies that have followed behavioral geneticists around for decades.

[W.E. Crusio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, insightful. A must read for any behavior geneticist and anybody else interested in this field.

[James Lingford · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative history of behaviour genetics and why it sucks