At 8 months of age, Bruce and his twin Brian went for a routine circumcision. Bruce's penis was accidentally destroyed during his operation. John Money was a well-known psychologist and a sexologist at the time. Money suggested that Bruce should have a sex change, as plastic surgery was not advanced enough. Unknown to Bruce's parents, Money had an ulterior motive. Money had been working on a theory - that any boy could be raised as a girl. He believed that Nurture was more important than Nature when it came to gender roles. The Reimer twins provided Money with a perfect sample, two twin boys raised by the same people in the same way. This allowed Money to experiment on Bruce while using Brian as a control. Bruce underwent surgery and was raised as Brenda, a girl. Brenda behaved exactly as a little girl; playing with dolls, baking cookies, wearing dresses etc. Money published his works, stating that he had evidence to …show more content…
In an attempt to stop this, Money tried to force Brenda to realise that she was female, and in some cases he was even accused of acting in a paedophilic way towards her and her brother. Around the age of 13, Brenda began to look and act incredibly masculine, rejecting the femininity that had been forced upon her. Brenda's parents eventually told her the truth when she was 14. David later had surgery to reconstruct a penis and went on to have a wife and children.Aged 38 he committed suicide, 2 years after his twin also killed himself. It is believed that they both committed suicide because of the methodology used by Money and his impact on their life Money's reputation was ruined after he reported successes on a flawed experiment. David and his twin brother alleged that Dr Money had taken numerous naked photos of the twins during their treatment and had even forced them to engage in "Sexual play" at age 7. As a psychologist, Money should have sought to protect the twins as they wereso
Nature vs Nurture debate is the representation that society is an organism, but the question is do we inherently possess the knowledge to function as an organism, or are we taught this skill. The debate over Nature vs Nurture is more of a struggle about which theory is the correct theory in my opinion. Social behaviors can be the product of both genetics as well as an influence by our environment.
What determines who you are or what you will become? The debate between nature versus nurture is trying to figure this out. According to “Essentials of Psychology”, Jeffrey S. Nevid (2012) Nature versus nurture is the debate about how genetics and nature determine our behavior. In other words, have your attitude, behavior and health problems developed because of how you were raised or who you came from. It is a debate that has stumped psychologists for centuries. The study of twins, both identical and fraternal, have made it easier for psychologists to figure out this debate. So what is the answer to this age old debate; Nature or Nurture?
The nature versus nurture debate is a controversial issue questioning whether or not human behavior is a result of biology. Nature is the idea that genetics and biology determine an individual’s behaviors and thoughts. The scientific study of how behavior is affected by biology is known as sociobiology. On the other hand, nurture is the idea that human thoughts, feelings and actions are the result of society and culture. In this argument, human behavior is learned through the influence of society, thus can be changed as societies change. In recent times, most scientists support gene-culture evolution. They believe that biology and culture are interrelated; biology is shaped by culture just as culture is shaped by biology. This means
Throughout history, studies have shown that who you become later in life is determined at birth, that one’s genes solely influence who they grow up to be. To some extend this may be true however, new research concluded that the environment and experiences someone experiences as a child can be just as influential as genetic makeup. These studies have led to the Nature verses Nurture debate, with the nature side being one’s heredities and the nurture side, childhood experiences and relationships. This controversy has largely impacted the criminal world, as law enforcement tries to understand why some people commit horrendous acts. Nature vs. Nurture specifically comes into play when trying to understand the psychology of a serial killer, as
One day Janet and Ron’s saving grace came along, Dr. Money. Dr. Money had a theory that children are gender neutral and can be both a boy or girl depending how they are raised. Janet and Ron got ahold of Dr. Money and asked to apart of his experiment, they were going to raise Bruce as a female. Bruce was now Brenda, and being raised as if she was never a male. Brenda went through childhood never feeling right, she wasn't like any of the other girls. Brenda rejected her gender and Dr. Money went through drastic measures to make
The theory of Nature vs Nurture is the controversial notion that people are born a certain way, as opposed to the concept that people are a result of the environments they have been molded by. I am wholeheartedly a result of the environment I was raised up in, however, I am also proudly a deviation of the ambiance of the Western Bronx. As I step out of my building, the obnoxious slam of Domino pieces hitting tables and Bachata music blasting from cars infiltrates the aura of Marble Hill. This was a typical day in 228th Street’s tightknit community. As a Dominican, we are constantly making the best out of the difficult cards we are dealt. We, Dominicans, come here for a better life, yet our success stops at minimum-wage jobs. You are faced with a dilemma when you come from a place like I do:
In 1996, a study was conducted to determine once and for all which side of the debate was the most important. Participating in the study were a pair of twins named Jim Springer, and Jim Lewis. The study showed that despite that fact that the twins were separated at the tender age of 4 weeks, the twins showed startling similarities. Such as, both marrying then divorcing a woman named Betty, owned a dog named Toy, worked as part time deputy sheriffs, and many more. The twins were reunited for the first time since being separated at the age of 39 years old.
According to the dictionary the term "Nurture" means to feed and protect, and "Nature" means the particular combination of qualities belonging to a person. Although the brothers have one similarity that I would consider nurturistic, which is there willingness to help people thorough their occupation, I believe the rest of the other similarities that the brothers share fall along the lines of nature. For example, both brothers share the same shoe size which seems to be an inheritance from their parents and that is a natural similarity. Also, the brothers share similar interests such as smoking, reading, exercising, coffee, music, brand of clothing, and religion, which also falls into the category of natural characteristics.
In regards to being a “natural born killer”, behavior in a person can ultimately be broken down into it’s biological components. Humans have a “warrior gene” built inside of them and sometimes it’s an uncontrollable urge that just releases with little to know warning. For example, on a drastically smaller scale, you get punched in the face and your immediate reaction is to strike back. That feeling, that action is the “warrior gene” inside of you. That’s part of your DNA to adapt and survive. Some people are born with extremely bad tempers. Where do you think that came from? It’s passed down from generation to generation. Men are more common to strike back, have a poor attitude or make a big deal out of something
Throughout growing up, an individual is told they can do and become anything they want to as long as they put their mind to it. That is great for someone to understand, but despite knowing this philosophical viewpoint, people quickly learn that some individuals are better than others at certain activities. I’m sure throughout school you realized that some students comprehended skills quicker than others.
Does nature or nurturing shape a person? Nature means your genetics which determine your physical traits like hair color and I.Q. Nurturing is how your life shapes you, like where you live, or where you travel. I think that nurturing plays a bigger part in shaping us because our experiences and family help to develop us into the person we become when we are fully grown up.
nurture is environmental factors, where nature is what a person is born with. Both of these are very important and it is actually quite hard to decide whcih is more important than the other. I did some research on this topic and found there are many debates. For this assigment i decided to say nurture is more important in a childs learning because if a teacher does not no whats going on at home they may jump to concolusions about the child. Nurture doesnt just mean home life either, its friends, neighboors, groups and children can become easily peerpresured into doing something they dont want to do which could lead bullying, and i believe it is our goal as future educators to provvent that from happing. that is why i sided on team nurture though
The children were named Bruce and Brian. The couple was living a good life. Janet noticed that there had been some problems with the boys when they urinated. After being brought to the doctors it was decided that the boys get circumcised. Bruce was the first one to be circumcised, when a horrific accident happened. After burning the penis the child needed a surgery so he can urinate properly. After this accident, the doctors decided not to operate on Brian. When the couple was informed as to what happened they went through some tough times. After encountering a broadcasting of Dr. John Money talking about gender transformation, the couple became intrigued. Money stated “the primary factor determining an intersexual child’s gender identity was not biology, but rather the way the child was raised”. (page 32). The couple got in touch with Dr. Money and decided to change Bruce into Brenda. Money convinced them that the child was young enough that they could assign what sex they want the child to have, they just had to stop procrastinating. The child was being raised by a girl while the twin brother was still being raised as a boy. The child encountered many different situations through life
Plasticity as mentioned in this section, which states that the brain has the resilience to develop beyond adulthood based on one’s environment. The brain was originally thought to be "hard-wired" once an individual reached adulthood, with no possibility to further learn, adapt, or develop. This debate is known as the Nature versus Nurture debate. Nature is the "hard-wiring" stating that an individual is born that way, and their environment has no influence; However Nurture is the environments ability to influence an individual’s development. In reviewing the movie about Jody, it revealed how plasticity applied to the Nature versus Nurture debate discussed in Chapter one. Jody underwent hemispherectomy, which removed the whole right hemisphere
- The argument between whether the determining factor of a person character is based primarly on nature or nurture is an argument that can go pretty much either way depending on the experience of the person who is asked. While many would say that nature is more of the dominate factor because it deals with heredity, an equally strong point could be made about nurture because it deals with ones social environment. Personally I believe that both play major roles in the development of a person character but the role of nurture slightly outweighs nature when it comes to this area. I say this because even if a person is bound to develop certain negative traits, if they are put in a structured environment where the development of those traits can