Biological Trait Theory: Biological And Psychological Aspects Of Criminality

According to Siegel (2015), trait theory is the view that criminality is a product of abnormal biological or psychological traits which can be subdivided into two major categories: those that stress biological makeup and those that stress psychological functioning (p. 109). Biological trait theories includes four different conditions: biochemical, neurophysiological, genetic, and evolutionary. Biochemical factors will include diet, hypoglycemia, hormonal influences, premenstrual syndrome, lead exposure, and environmental contaminants. Neurophysiological factors will include brain structure, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, brain chemistry, and arousal theory. Genetic causes could stem from parental deviance, adoption studies, and

Bundy idolized his grandfather who was an abusive man. This also could have attributed to his antisocial behavior and violent tendencies if he was learning it from another family member. Even as a young child, he started showing violent behavior. His aunt woke up one day to find herself surrounded by knives and three-year-old Ted grinning at her (Ramsland, 2011, p. 110). Another aspect of behavioral perspective is social learning which is believed to be learned through acts of violence seen on television or movies. Bundy discusses possible environmental stresses that could have driven “the killer” to commit the crimes when he says, “You might be talking about conditions even after environmental stresses we’ve talked about. Sexual stimuli in the environment that he may be paying attention to on TV, or even a highly violent, stimulating kind of movie” (Michaud & Aynesworth, 2000, p. 232). Bundy admitted that part of his external stresses stemmed from the violence that watched on television in addition to the pornographic videos that he would see that depicted sexual violence. This would cause him to try to enact his own fantasies of sexual violence.