Boys may feel a genetic urge to join gangs

Bad neighborhoods and lack of opportunity are usually blamed for boys joining violent street gangs. But a new study at Florida State University’s College of Criminology and Criminal Justice finds that the urge to join gangs might lie, at least in part, in their genes.

According to the study, boys who have a variant of the gene monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) — otherwise known as the “warrior gene” — are not only more likely to be in gangs than boys without the variant, but they tend to be among the most violent members. Boys with the MAOA variant are also more likely to get into fights and use weapons, .

Though the drive to join gangs is typically blamed on socioeconomic and environmental factors, from poverty to unstable families to boys’ quest for a sense of belonging, the study found that joining gangs also has a genetic underpinning.

The study is available in the online edition of Comprehensive Psychiatry.