Biological Factors

It was not a topic that was brought up earlier, because there was tainted history of using biology to figure logistics of criminal behavior. Instead, criminologists look at social and environmental factors such as poverty rates, drug/weapon accessibility, and socialization. Over 100 studies have shown genes play a role in crime. Kevin Beaver, an associate professor at Florida State University’s College of Criminology and Criminal Justice states approximately 50 percent of a human’s aggressive behavior is comprised of the thousands of expressed genes affected by the environment (Cohen). The other half of a human’s aggressive behavior is usually environmental or social factors such as, neighborhood, wealth, and education. It is important to also know the other factors that “make” someone a criminal because it will also help researcher see what else contributes to criminal activity (Eysenck).

It has been suggested that genes inherited play a very important role in persons involved in criminal activity, and that genes effect the thought process which determines if a individual chooses to become active in criminal activities.

There are several theories that are used to explain why people commit crimes. These theories cover a range of scientific studies that still continue to be used in crime studies today. By using these theories and information gathered, an explanation of the criminal behaviours will be examined and explained relating to each supporting theories. The traditional explanations for crime are nature vs. nurture debate and the ideas relating to any possible biological reasons that turns someone into a criminal. Are some people really just ‘born bad?’ or are there other, social reasons for criminal behaviour? In this essay I will look at both sides of the argument, and offer an insight into the reasons behind such criminal behaviours. The Classical

The Nature and Nurture debate, one of the oldest debates in the history of psychology, questions whether or not criminal behaviour is a result of the nature of a person, meaning something that lies in their genes causing a person to act in a certain way, or nurture, the environment, therefore criminal behaviour as a result of a person’s life experiences (Sincero, 2012). This essay shall look in depth and answer to how the four areas of criminal behaviour, which are biological, sociological, psychological and environmental, as part of the nature and nurture debate, can explain criminality and deviance. This will be done by discussing a number of theories and experiments that have come to the surface over time. Researching the nature and nurture debate, it is shown that the debate continues to interest people today, mainly because of what is thought will be the outcome of these findings, which is preventing people turning to criminal behaviour by understanding people’s genetics, how they were born and avoid situations that lie in the environment to stop them interacting with criminal activities.

Criminal behavior has been around for centuries, which is why many criminologist study and create theories based on criminal behaviors. They do this as a preventative measure, if you can find a causation of a crime you can stop its occurrences. Criminologist, took these theories and broke them down into three major factors of criminal behavior, psychological, sociological, and biological. Each factor focuses on a key component of criminal behavior, which is explained in theories. However, these theories all have strengths and weaknesses, which is what will be illustrated in this article.

In today's society, one will find that there are many different factors that go into the development of a criminal mind, and it is impossible to single out one particular cause of criminal behavior. Criminal behavior often stems from both biological and environmental factors. In many cases criminals share similar physical traits which the general population do not usually have. For example criminals have smaller brains than properly adjusted individuals. However biological reasons cannot solely be the cause of criminal behavior. Therefore, one must look to other sources as to how a criminal mind is developed. Social and environmental factors also are at fault for developing

Evolutionary psychology is important to the study of crime because it provides an understanding to human behavior, including criminal behavior and responses to criminal behavior. Evolutionary psychology also provides criminologist with the tools to examine domains that have been unknown or to discover features in the causal chain that otherwise might be missed by existing criminology theories. According to evolutionary psychology, all human behavior, criminal or otherwise is a creation of psychological mechanisms combined with environmental contribution that activates them or prevents their activation. All human behavior, at some essential level of description, requires psychological mechanisms and environmental input into those mechanisms for their activation. Without the presence of psychological, no behavior could be produced. Criminal

Most of the paper will include theorist perspectives on developmental trajectories associated with an early age of onset and continuation of crime (antisocial behavior, an environment, biology, etc.). Theorist claims are that teenagers are prone to risky behaviors and deviant acts. The typical starting point for criminal behavior is around 14 through 17 years of age. Anti-social behaviors diminish (limited to youthful misadventures) before the child reaches age 20 provided there are no problems to prevent this change (Wright, Tibbetts & Daigle, 2008). Children under years 10 do not usually present with criminal behavior, even if they show propensity throughout this developmental phase although they may

For example, a British newspaper from the 1980s, asked 1,000 adults what they think the main causes of crime are. The majority of people, 53%, answered that the lack of parental discipline was the most dominant cause of crime, whilst others, 20% considered poverty as a factor of crime and 20% for television violence. Therefore, this highlights that poor parenting is a significant factor of criminal behaviour. Similarly, not a lot of parental involvement in the child's life has also been found to influence criminal behaviour. For example, a father who was never involved in his son's social events increased his risk of offending, this tends to happen generally after the age of 21. Another similar factor is poor communication between a parent and child which can contribute to bad behaviour. One important theory known as the ‘social learning theory’ highlighted that the role of the family and peer group are key factors of criminal behaviour and the role of ‘reinforcement and punishment’ determines whether a person take part in criminality. Therefore a person learns how to behave from the people around them. For an example, students who show hostile behaviour towards their friends are more likely to rejected, this creates poor relationships and leads to the students making friends with those who have similar behaviours to them. If the relationship continued into adulthood then it could result in an environment where they influence and encourage one another to lean towards criminal behaviour (Holmes et al., 2001). This is supported by Matthews (2001) who found that young criminals were more likely to have friends who also take part in inappropriate or illegal acts than non-criminals. These studies show that other than TBI, family and friends are important factors of offending

The sociological (nurture) theory focuses on how the upbringing of an individual can influence them to have a criminal mind-set. An example of a criminal who’s influences made them evil is Myra Hindley, the second Moors Murderer. Contributory factors of the sociological theory could be family influences, education, the socio-economic climate, the environment in which they live in and peer groups. Family influences are possibly

Poor education, low school attendance, peer pressure, disadvantaged socioeconomic status, and substance abuse are a few factors that have the greatest impact upon the commission of crimes by juveniles. These factors could possibly drive a young person to commit crimes. I strongly feel that the social learning has contributed a major role in the juvenile world from negative influences. Once those negative influences are within the youth, they then display their actions within their criminal behavior. Overall, it is very concise that the propensity for criminal behavior begins prior to adulthood.

Criminals are born not made is the discussion of this essay, it will explore the theories that attempt to explain criminal behaviour. Psychologists have come up with various theories and reasons as to why individuals commit crimes. These theories represent part of the classic psychological debate, nature versus nurture. Are individuals predisposed to becoming a criminal or are they made through their environment.

20). This illustrates that not only is persons' genetics contributing to criminal behaviour 'but' also the environment in which the they are socialised can initiate deviancy.

Another factor that can influence crime is socialization, which is the process of learning how to properly behave. If someone grew up having a distant relationship with their parents, they might be more likely to commit a crime. A parent is a child’s first and best teacher. A good parent should teach their child right

Criminals are born not made is the discussion of this essay, it will explore the theories that attempt to explain criminal behavior. Psychologists have come up with various theories and reasons as to why individuals commit crimes. These theories represent part of the classic psychological debate, nature versus nurture. Are individuals predisposed to becoming a criminal or are they made through their environment. There are various theories within the biological explanation as to why individuals commit criminal behavior, these include: genetic theory, hereditary theory,.