The Relationship between Genetics and Violence Essay

For as long as humanity has existed, men have committed violence against one another. Assuredly, Nancy G. Guerra’s and Lyndee Knox’s entry on violence in the Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice affirms that, “As historical and cross-cultural records demonstrate, our evolutionary history is laced with examples of violence. Indeed, paleontological data reveal a rather continuous stream of human violence dating back thousands of years.” It is clear that violence is a part of human nature that has always existed and will likely never be eradicated. One of the aspects that all forms of violence seem to share is that, societally (in terms, at the very least, of Western societies), they are looked down upon. Consequentially, those who commit violent

Violence take multiple forms, many of which are covered in the nightly news. Murder, rape, familial abuse, bullying, workplace hostility, armed robbery—all of these are societal problems with far-reaching repercussions. There have long debates and discussions regarding whether nature or nurture influences individual violent behavior. People are concerned about what makes an individual to engage in violent behavior such murder or burglary among other types of crimes. They are also concerned about what makes people stop such behavior. However, there is no precise conception whether nature, nurture or both influence violence. Some people assume that, violent behavior results from individual’s life experiences or upbringing also known as nurture. Others feel that violent behavior is more complex and results from individual’s genetic character or nature. In other words, it is not clear whether violent behavior is inborn or occurs at some point in persons’ lives, but even it’s hard, emphasizing one and ignoring other influences is always an unwise way to go.

More than 30,000 people are killed by firearms each year in the US. Most of which are caused by handguns. Homicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-24 year-olds. Most reasons for gun violence are caused by video game influence, and issues of mental illnesses. Video games are one of the biggest causes of gun violence because of the majority of in game violence that occurs. Today’s children are more prone to violence due to video games and the violent movies, but then that leads back to the way they were raised. In today’s world, both parents work, there is no family time to teach their children the main differences between right and wrong. When most people don’t know who they are harming, it makes it a lot easier for them to cause harm.

Violence expression is not new to daily life; furthermore, it is seen in the popular activities that include video games. Players of video games spent many hours engaging in acts of violence that include fighting, shooting, booby traps, and assaults. Yet, these games are in a cartoon like format that attempts to approximate real life. This form of violence is unrealistic; however, it satisfies the need for violence in a positive way using non-living things. In the article, “8 Misconceptions Non-gamers Have About Video Games, there is an emphasis on the point that gamers focuses on the skills necessary to master the game, rather than the video violence. Nonetheless, this video violence is ramped in our society with much time, money, and thought put into developing the next level of violence. If there is a reason for videos leading to violence, then it is due to psychological and sociological issues (Alert). This is very much the same reasons for violence in the Crucible as the people were thinking and acting in violent ways. In my opinion, violence is a problem when becomes destructive. Knowing the limits of violence is important, especially when the lives of others are involved. While video violence is entertaining, it is important to ensure that it is

In this TEDTalk, Steven Pinker introduced an interesting trend in societal violence. The talk began by presenting fax that showed a dramatic decrease in the amount of violent crime beginning as far back as the earliest human hunter-gatherers. In many places during that time period, the chances of dying at the hands of another human were as high is sixty percent. Although the media and people tend to believe we are living in a time of extreme violence, we are actually living during one of the most peaceful times in human history. Even though the 20th Century witnessed tragedies such as the Holocaust, Rwanda, Stalin’s mass executions, and two World Wars, the chances of a human by violent means was less than three percent.

Violence is a social construct that has been glorified around the world and made accessible through the media (Killingbeck 2001). Violence is portrayed as being something that is part of the everyday world; it is made out to be an acceptable form of behaving and handling situations. This notion has greatly contributed to the propagation of school shootings and the death of innocent children and adults. By reducing the glorification that violence carries and the exploitation of the aftermath, school shootings can be reduced greatly. The media, television, video games, and the Internet are constantly portraying a world full that thinks that violence is the way to resolve issues (Killingbeck 2001). Gun violence is also portrayed as being a resolution to just about everything, when in fact it has been guns that have been the cause of all school shootings to begin with (Muschert 2007). The media glorifies school

In the article by Jones, the research presented demonstrates that humans are not genetically programmed to be destructive--instead, our goals, culture, and society create motivations that cause violence to manifest. Two evolutionary

The popularity of violent video games is rapidly increasing, but abundant evidence suggests that, “playing violent video games [diminish] the player's perception of their own humanity” (Greitemeyer 499). Violence in video games has become increasingly popular throughout the years, as gun related murders have also increased in the United States, according to the data table in “Do Games like ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ Cause Real-World Violence?”. Some might say violent video games are a positive part of people’s lives because they keep criminals off the streets, but that is not the case. People should not be playing violent video games because it causes people to act out in aggressive ways and further, violent video games are directly linked to criminal

In summation, the author goads the reader to delve more into the alternative explanations in hopes that by increasing the masses education, the masses will be less apt to point the proverbial finger at the video games and look more toward the socioeconomic and psychological reasoning behind the individual’s violent behavior.

Some people argue that violence is inherent in man. However every day we see many case in the new about crime because some people taking the law into their own hands so there are many factors that cause crime in the United States one of the most is common is racial crime.On hearing the news of a cruel murder, some people may react by saying, "The one who did it must be crazy!" However, not all individuals who report such acts are upset, although many do have problems coping with life's pressures. Hence, experts point out that violent behavior may also be due to certain defects of the aggressor's personality. These include: learning disabilities; difficulty in relating to others; psychological disorders due to physical abuse or sexual abuse; antisocial tendencies; aversion to a particular sector of society, such as women; lack of

What causes people to be or become violent is the question that I should address first. For some time, some 20-30 years ago, everyone believed crime and murder was left for underdeveloped and uncivilized lands. It is recognised now that this is not the case. In terms of social causes, there are plenty: how their family bonds, the person’s own characteristics, their development as a child,

The nature versus nurture debate is an ongoing debate among social scientists relating to whether ones personality/personal characteristics are the result of his/her inherited genetic traits or the result of environmental factors such as upbringing, social status, financial stability, and more. One of the topics that are discussed among psychologists is the study of violent behavior among people as a whole, and in particular, individuals. Social scientists try to explain why people commit acts of violence through explanation of either side of the nature or nurture schools of thought. However, the overwhelming amount of research done into the relation of violent behavior and the nature versus nurture debate indicated that nurture is the primary explanation to explaining violent behavior because violent traits are learned from adults, someone’s social upbringing is a major factor to why some people are more violent than others, and finally influences from news media, movies, and video games enhance the chance for someone to exhibit violent behavior. In conclusion, violent behavior is a complex issue without a clear explanation that is overwhelmingly supported by the nurture side of the debate.

“On the other hand, considering a specific violent video game may have the reverse effect and actually reduce perceptions of negative effects if it is difficult to generate arguments for negative effects of the specific game” (Ivory, Kalyanaraman 4). Although you may believe that violent video games increase the youth violence rates, in actuality some violent video games can have separate effects on youth depending on the child for instance, one child could become more violent whereas another child will not have the urge to be violent.

A range of studies assert that causes of violent behavior are complex at the level of environmental influence and compare other learning, modelling and disinhibiting factors. This is an area where opposition to the hypothesis is more common. Two longitudinal studies assessing levels of violence pre-and post the introduction of television found a positive correlation, however

            From a scientific standpoint, however, defined causes for youth violence simply have not been found. In fact, a study of youth violence held in 2014, focusing around candid conversation with youths between the ages 14 and 22 who had been involved in violent behavior and fights about the causes of youth violence, found “...no predominant cause of violence emerged from the discussion” (Cheng, et al. 288). Simply put, evidence pointing out any primary cause of youth violence does not exist. With mental illness, poor lifestyle choices, hostile environments, ineffective parenting, and peer pressure all playing roles, one must consider whether violent media and entertainment are primary causes of youth violence. Even if sufficient evidence existed to prove violent media was a significant factor in causing youth violence, one cannot claim that it causes more youth violence than other