The contribution of biological and social sciences in understanding behavioural problems.
28/02/06 BIOS, London School of Economics
A major focus within applied neuroscience has been the explanation of psychiatric and behavioural problems. Recent interest in human behavioural genetics has suggested a potential role for genetic factors in complex mental health disorders, such as schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder and depression, and other human behaviour problems, including eating disorders and anti-social behaviour. Whilst few people dispute the idea that human behaviour is biologically mediated through the working on the brain, this research agenda has proved controversial. Critics have argued that human behaviour cannot be simply explained by a small number of genetic factors and must involve a complex interaction between biology and society. In response to these criticisms and a lack of scientific progress in finding strong and reliable genetic associations, behavioural geneticists are developing more sophisticated models. In particular, they are reconceptualising genetic variation in terms of risk factors, which interact with social and environmental triggers to cause behavioural problems in individuals.
Until very recently, much of this contemporary biological research has been largely ignored by the core disciplines within the social sciences, most notably sociology. This is perhaps due to the dominance of interactionist accounts of human behaviour within social theory and the legacy of previous disputes over sociobiology and, more recently, evolutionary psychology. However, there is increasing recognition that human action needs to be understood as physically embodied and that work on the biology of behaviour can be meaningfully integrated with social science perspectives. The trend towards genetic, rather than social or psychological, accounts of behaviour can be seen as part of a process in which individual identities are increasing seen in biological (‘somatic') terms. This has important consequences for how we understand ourselves, as well as the development of institutions and policies in areas such as healthcare, education and criminal justice.
This seminar aims to bring together leading researchers from the fields of behavioural genetics, psychiatry, psychology and sociology to consider the place of the biological and social sciences in explaining human behavioural problems. The emphasis will be on constructive dialogue and fostering multidisciplinary interaction to explore the prospects for this area and its potential implications.
- Professor Bryan Lask ( St George's Hospital Medical School , University of London ) – Understanding eating disorders
- Professor Peter McGuffin (MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College, University of London) – Genetics and psychiatric problems
- Professor Nikolas Rose (Sociology/BIOS Centre, LSE) – The new behavioural genetics and the sociology of susceptibility
The meeting will be chaired by Dr Ilina Singh (BIOS Centre, LSE)