7.9 The family, policy and the state
Although human nature may be determined by evolution, the behaviour that it generates is not fixed but hugely varied. Changing material and social environments alter behaviour as the evolved human mind responds in predictable ways to new circumstances (Cronin and Curry 2000). Evolved intelligence (a biological phenomenon) brings with it the ability to create new behaviours and societies. The evolutionary approach therefore suggests not just that certain human traits are inbuilt, adaptive responses to situations that existed in the distant past, but also that human behaviour can be altered to suit contemporary environments. Human behaviours are thus not completely biologically–determined or “hard wired”—human beings are capable of exercising free will and making choices. The evolutionary approach is not a defence of the status quo—human beings are capable of change.
Even so, in contrast to the standard social science approach that implies that the human brain is monomorphic and that sex differences are due to socialisation, the evolutionary approach emphasises that major aspects of behaviour are strongly influenced by biological predispositions, as they are for other animals. The underlying reason is the difference between the sexes in the level of investment in offspring. However, there are no necessary policy implications, since the existence of biologically based sex differences does not in itself suggest what, if anything might be done about them.
However, understanding genetic imperatives can help in understanding why people behave the way they do and why problems addressed by government intervention (such as persistent unemployment among low-skilled young men) can be so intractable. It can also lead to a better understanding of how to encourage people to behave appropriately in today’s world. Knowledge of the ultimate causes of certain predispositions can provide help in understanding behaviours, and devising policies to change behaviours while appreciating their limits (Browne 1995).
Concern for kin is a universal human behaviour. A key insight of the evolutionary approach is an understanding of the reasons underlying the bonds between blood relatives and the strength, centrality and implications of blood relationships among kin. The genetic ties between family members mean that families are likely to be stable in some dimensions, such as intergenerational and kinship bonds, flexible and adaptive in others such as economic opportunities that change the value of marriage, and socially and psychologically problematic in yet others such as the impact of family structure and stability on the welfare and development of children (Rossi 1997).
The strong ties between blood relatives mean that the family is a natural coalition in which people innately care for one another. A person’s primary loyalty is likely to be to the family, rather than to an unrelated group, such as the church or state. Family loyalty and the acquisition of wealth and power by families may thus be seen as a threat to government who have passed laws in the past to limit the power of families. Incest laws, for example, that banned marriage between distant relatives, and laws on sex (for example limits on the days on which a person could have sex) and marriage prevented the accumulation of wealth in families that could have threatened the establishment (Betzig 1995, Thornhill 1991). Policies and laws may be ineffectual or indeed induce perverse effects if they conflict with familial imperatives.
Some writers have argued for policies based on the insights of evolutionary biology (see for example Buss 2000b, Gray 2000) Ridley (1993) has argued that the greater competitiveness of men justifies affirmative action for women in the workplace to redress human nature. Similarly, Tiger (1970) argued for changes to the workplace, such as accommodating women’s child-rearing absences, to ensure the economic equality of women. Rossi (1997) argues that strategies to reduce teen pregnancy and sole parenthood, especially among the poor and disadvantaged, should be grounded in an evolutionary understanding of human sexuality. Thornhill and Palmer (2000) suggest that education about the adaptive underpinnings of rape can help both men and women to prevent it.
Chisholm (1999)argues that policies should reduce inequality—since inequality is a major source of risk and uncertainty that leads to pathology. Unemployment that creates low-status, unmarriageable, men can lead to family dissolution, absent fathers and sole mothers. The social consequences of unemployment on the marriageability of men need to be considered in policy. Wilkinson (2000) advocates tackling inequality and hierarchy to address population health problems that arise from social status.
The evolutionary approach has a number of implications for policy (Singer 1999). First, human nature is ultimately driven by genetic imperatives, and although it can be channelled it is not infinitely malleable. Secondly, although some behaviours can be explained, they are not necessarily desirable. Thirdly, people have a tendency to strive to enhance their wealth, status and power and to advance their own interests and that of their kin. Finally, the task for the policy-maker is to work out what can be altered in order to achieve the desired ends (Cronin and Curry 2000).
