Not by a long shot. After all, most men are not violent and some women are. By far, the most important influence on our behavior is how we are treated. In humans, the first years of life are periods of extreme vulnerability and extreme opportunity, emotionally and biologically. During the first twenty-four months of life, the human brain grows to approximately 90 percent of its eventual size.
Brain cells proliferate and lifelong neuronal pathways are created.
Those cells that are not stimulated to form connections die off. In other words, at birth we may be dealt promising neurological, emotional, and intellectual cards, but experience will determine, in the long run, whether we hold a winning hand. Studies over the last twenty years have shown that the kind of attachment an infant makes to its mother during the first two years of life will affect his or her relationship to others. The mother who meets and responds to her infant's needs is far less likely to raise an aggressive, antagonistic child than the angry, controlling, severely troubled mother would. The child of the disturbed mother is far more likely to be aggressive by the time he or she reaches school age.