What about the ethical issues raised by finding genes associated with child psychology and psychiatry? For example, could trait-specific microarrays be used to select ‘designer babies’ prenatally or to label children postnatally? The fear lurking in the shadows of these concerns is that finding genes associated with behaviour will limit our freedom and our free will. In large part, such fears involve misunderstandings about how genes affect complex traits (Rutter & Plomin, 1997). Moreover, knowledge alone does not account for societal and political decisions. Values are just as important in the decision-making process; decisions both good and bad can be made with or without knowledge. Depending on our values, genetics could be used to argue for devoting more resources to help genetically disadvantaged children. Indeed, genetics makes this view more palatable because it avoids assigning blame for behavioural problems solely to environmental failures of the school and family. We need to be cautious and to think about societal implications and ethical issues. But there is also much to celebrate here in terms of the increased potential for understanding child psychology and psychiatry.
