Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you represents determinism; the way you play it is free will.
--Jawaharlal Nehru
Here's an interesting website that gives some information on how the outlook people have concerning determinism v. free will impacts the course their lives actually take.
http://www.trinity.edu/mkearl/socpsy-2.html
and here's another interesting website that looks at the nature/nurture debate:
http://folk.uio.no/roffe/faq/node11.html
Our progressive understanding of genetics has indicated that both sides are half- right. Nature gives us inborn abilities and traits; nurture takes those genetic tendencies and modifies them as we learn and mature.
Researchers on both sides of the nature/nurture debate don't believe that the link between a gene and a behavior is the same as cause and effect. (In other words, a gene may increase the likelihood that you'll behave in a particular way, but it doesn't MAKE you do things. )