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Are Criminals Affected By Nature Or Nurture?

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One of the most debated topics throughout the world is nature versus nurture. When psychologists debate this topic, they are studying what influences a person’s personal development. Some say that a person’s nature influences personal development while others say a person’s nurture influences personal development. A lot of people spend time contemplating which one actually does the influencing but what some do not realize is that, perhaps, both nature and nurture help shape a person’s personal development. One topic that comes up quite often is whether or not a person is born a criminal. Today, there are proven facts that people who have parents that are criminals have a high chance of becoming criminals themselves. Not only can people become criminals because of their family but they can also become criminals because of the environment that they surround themselves in. This is where nature versus nurture comes into play. A person’s nature is their genetic makeup, basically meaning that a person’s nature is the genes they get from their parents. Also, a person’s genotype, one’s genetic makeup based on the sequencing of the nucleotides we term, provides them with physical traits that set the stage for certain behaviors (56). …show more content…

It may be that the disorder was influenced by either nature or nurture, or both could influence it. The debate about whether a person is born a criminal could go in a lot of different directions. One could say that a person is a criminal because of their nature and what their parents passed down to them or another could say that only a person’s nurture influenced them to do things that made them a criminal. What most people say is that a person does things that make them a criminal because of both their nature and their nurture. They do things based off of what they got from their parents as well as what environmental factors influence

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Both sides of the nature versus nurture debate hold merit and have compelling arguments to answer the psychological question of whether behavior stems from inborn characteristics or learned practices - whether genes or surroundings are the root of human action and integrity. For Werner Pfennig of Anthony Doerr’s 2014 novel, All The Light We Cannot See, it is clear that the environments he lives in throughout his life influence his mannerisms and comportment. Werner is an excellent example of how the characteristics of external situations can impact morality - how nurture prevails over nature. The culture of the environments people find themselves in often unconsciously impact their virtues, and not always for the better. Growing up as orphans

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Carroll Edward Cole was another lust serial killer. While his father was drafted to serve in World War II, his mother would take him along to watch her perform sexual intercourse with random men. Once they return home she would beat him, so he would not tell his father. Once Cole was in first grade the beatings he receives from his mother came to an end because his father came home from the war. Peers from school began to make fun of him for his feminine name, this is a trigger for when he blacked out from strangling the family puppy.

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There is no tell-tale sign of who becomes a criminal and who doesn 't. Many things factor into the development of a criminal. The debate between nature vs. nurture in this aspect cannot be blamed on a single element, instead both environment and genetics play a role in criminality of an idividual. The population of American jails has a high rate of individuals with mental disorders. Although, not everyone who has a mental disorder ends up in jail the vast majority of Americans who are incarcerated are likely to have inherited a mental disorder at some point in their life. At some point in American history, genes were said to be the sole reason a person became criminal however, this is not the case today.

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Chapter five talks about life course theory, latent trait theory and trajectory theory. These theories are the development of crime and delinquency. Life Course theory suggest that delinquent behavior is influenced by individual characteristics. Another influence is social experiences, and they can provoke antisocial behaviors in the future. Family, jobs, and peers can affect their behavior in a positive or negative way.

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During Rush and Pinel 's time they concluded that their hypothesis was correct and that psychopaths were actually conceived with a mental difference, leading to the assumption that unethical harm (evil acts) by these individuals had an organic cause. In spite of the fact the book covers the early research with respect to the social sciences, it is essential to become aware of the recorded studies between the late nineteenth century. The book is essentially about psychopathy, and about its understanding in present-day society. A surprising mix of thorough scientific research and social examination, The Myth of the Born Criminal was written for the individual who seeks an unbiased interpretation, knowledge, and understanding of what truth – or fabrication has developed over the years and concluded as a result of the investigations of psychopathy. (NEED MORE OF MY OWN THOUGHTS) (YOU CAN GIVE A PROGRESSIVE ARGUMENT)..

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Most of us don't remember our first two or three years of life — but our earliest experiences may stick with us for years and continue to influence us well into adulthood. Nature and Nurture could have many different affects on later development for children. Nature is the influence of the genes that people inherit. Nurture is the environmental influences, beginning with health and the diet of embryo’s mother and continuing lifelong, including school, society, school, and family.

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The court system should acknowledge the offenders past and realize that the reasons they are committing crimes are not their free will, it is elements in their past that have caused them to act in a deviant manner. Furthermore, Cullen and Johnson (2017) agree by stating, “science has demonstrated that un-chosen individual traits (e.g., temperament, self-control, IQ) and un-chosen social circumstances (e.g., family, school, community) can be

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Third, psychiatrist Bruce D Perry believes there are consequences of growing up in a neglectful environment that can ultimately create abnormalities in the brain, and ultimately generate erratic behavior. Finally, Dr. Cohen and Dr. Moffitt also believe that those who are raised in an environment where your parents exhibit antisocial behavior and maternal depression, have more of a chance of behaving antisocially themselves. All these arguments believe that social factors (including the political/social system, parents/guardians, society's standards, and experiences) deeply contribute to the way we as human beings portray our behaviors and

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Adolescents often inherit their criminal traits from their surroundings. For example, if a child was raised in an urban area in a dysfunctional household due to their parents who were drug abusers, most likely that child will soon take part in the same actions that they saw their parents do. Behaviors that are inherited can and will influence decisions, beliefs, and behaviors of adolescents. If deviant behaviors are portrayed at a young age a child will learn to utilize it in their everyday life, which will lead to deviance. Most individuals who commit deviant acts are often in search for love and are dealing with wanting to be accepted in their

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On the other hand, there are many studies that focus on environmental and societal factors, stating that there is no “criminal gene.” The basis for the evidence pointing to crime as a genetic factor lies in twin studies. Many think that because of the high concordance rates in identical twins it means that crime is genetic. However, there is just no logical way you can arrive at that. Did you grow up doing the exact same things, eating the same foods, playing the same games, and watching the same TV shows as your siblings?

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A common psychological debate is whether individuals are more controlled by nature or nurture. In this debate, some argue that nature, the inherited traits over which we have no control, impacts our lives more. Conversely, others argue that nurture, our upbringing by our family members and relatives, has a greater influence on our lives than nature. I prefer to argue that neither is more important than the other, but rather they simultaneously mold individuals into the people they become. The attributes of our environments and genetic traits we are born with are equally influential throughout a person’s lifetime.

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Depending on the background, having a family history in crime may affect an individual. There is no true way to prove that a gene is a cause of criminal activity, but with predisposition to crime, one might fall into it easier. Hormones change a person early on, through puberty, and even later in life. There may be random spikes in hormone levels and these levels may heighten the sense of a need to expel or release tense and high emotions. This could be carried out through criminal activity.

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The nature vs. nurture debate centers on whether human behaviour and personality are inherited (nature) or acquired (nurture); in other words, whether a person’s environment or a person’s genetic inheritance determines their behaviour and personality. Goldsmith and Harman (1994) adopt a neutral position, in which both nature and nurture influence people, stating that they “believe that the fundamental issue concerns the interplay between characteristics of the individual and of the relationship” (54). Goldsmith and Harman discuss temperament and attachment for infant, with temperament being linked to the nature side of the debate and attachment being linked with the nurture side; as a result, the infant’s temperament influences the attachment bond between the infant and the mother, but the attachment bond influences the temperament of the child as well. Therefore, both nature and nurture interact with each other to produce people’s behaviour (Harman et al. 54). Andersen and Berk (1998) take on the nurture perspective, while Leary (1999) claims that nature is the determining factor of a person’s personality.

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In responses to the reading, the chapter was broken down into three part, in which the author Larry J. Siegel, discussed the foundations of development theory’s. The Development theory explained the different standards of the life course theory, which propose that the development of a criminal career is a self-motivated process. Not only that, but the chapter continues to explain behavior in that area, which one in particular was problem behavior syndrome(PBS) and expands are provides us with more information on the life course theory. Finally, Siegel then explains the different concept of latent trait and the basic principles of the general theory of Crime and trajectory theory.

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Genes act at a cellular level in the development and maintenance of the structure that do have positive or negative effect for behaviour. Psychological Geneticists have stated that interaction between nature and nurture is of a complex category. Human development cannot be fully understood without proper knowledge and understanding of the interaction between internal and external variables on personality, it is obvious that human behavior is an experience of a life span. Thus, our ideas about life and the way we react to the situation around us is as a results of interaction between different biological and environmental factors such as genetics, social norms, core faith, and attitude. In addition, Bronfenbrenner, 1979 and Lerner, 2002 “expressed a similar position that human behavior cannot be fully understood without mentioning the changing relationship between human and the contextual environment”.

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