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Biological aspects of criminal behavior
Biological aspects of criminal behavior
Biological aspects of criminal behavior
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Crime and Determinism
The foundation of our legal system rest upon the single philosophy that humans hold their own fate. Even though, we perceive in our daily lives the persistence of causation and effect. Even children understand the simplistic principle that every action will have a reaction. Despite this obvious knowledge, we as a society still implanted the belief that our actions are purely our own. Yet, with the comprehension of force that environmental factors impact our development, we continue to sentence people for crimes committed. Moreover, uncontrollable environmental influences are not the only deterministic factors we ignore in our societal view of crime. One’s biological composition can work against any moral motives that they
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Kent, Adam. 2009. “Vulnerable Youth and the Transition to Adulthood.” Table 1. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Office of Human Services Policy, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC. http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/09/vulnerableyouth/3/index.pdf.
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6. Joseph, Jay. “Chapter 8: Is Crime in the Genes? A Critical Review of Twin and Adoption Studies of Criminal and Antisocial Behavior.” The Gene Illusion: Genetic Research in Psychiatry and Psychology under the Microscope, Algora Pub., 2004, pp. 278–279.
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Crime causation began to be a focus of study in the rapidly developing biological and behavioral sciences during the 19th century. Early biological theories proposed that criminal behavior is rooted in biology and based on inherited traits. Cesare Lombroso (1836-1909), an Italian army prison physician, coined the term “atavism” to describe “the nature of the criminal”...
Despite much controversy surrounding the notion of inherited criminal tendencies, there is much evidence to support such theories. Although Lombroso may have employed his theoretic atavisms in an attempt to provide a biologically deterministic method of reducing or preventing crime, they have ultimately lead to an abandonment of gravitas concerning such a notion. However, as myopic as Lombroso's theories of criminality being a hereditary trait appears (Mannheim, 1965) research has shown shared physical characteristics to be commonplace in explicating the argument of genetic criminal behaviour. Although Lombroso presented...
Collins, M. E. (2001). Transition to Adulthood for Vulnerable Youths: A Review of Research and Implications for Policy. Social Service Review, 75(2), 271-291.
Bureau of Justice Statistics. 1973–1997 National Crime Victimization Survey data [Web site data files]. Available Online at http://www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org/ojstatbb/qa125.html. 30 September 1999. Washington, DC: BJS, 1998.
The Article “OVERCOMING THE MYTH OF FREE WILL IN CRIMINAL LAW: THE TRUE IMPACT OF THE GENETIC REVOLUTION” in the Duke Law Journal reports about the state of the criminal justice system in America with new genetic discoveries. The author Mathew Jones explains how some scientists have come to the idea that aggression and ones affinity to criminal behavior may be dependent on their genetic make-up. He explains that our system is based on the assumption that as a majority human beings have free will over the decisions in whether to act or not act in criminal behavior. He also foreshadows each side of the augment’s’ perception of its impacts.
Trait theory views criminality as a product of abnormal biological or psychological traits. It is based on a mix between biological factors and environmental factors. Certain traits alone cannot determine criminality. We are born with certain traits and these traits along with certain environmental factors can cause criminality (Siegel, 2013). According to (Siegel, 2013), the study of sociobiology sparked interest in biological or genetic makeup as an explanation for crime and delinquency. The thought is that biological or genetic makeup controls human behavior, and if this is true, then it should also be responsible for determining whether a person chooses crime or conventional behavior. This theory is referred to as trait theory (Siegel, 2013). According to Siegel (2013), due to the fact that offenders are different, one cannot pinpoint causality to crime to just a single biological or psychological attribute. Trait theorist looks at personal traits like intelligence, personality, and chemical and genetic makeup; and environmental factors, such as family life, educational attainment, economic factors, and neighborhood conditions (Siegel, 2013). There are the Biosocial Trait theories an...
Bureau of Justice Statistics, (1998, Dec.) National Crime Victimization Survey. Washington, DC: Department of Justice.
There has always been a fascination with trying to determine what causes an individual to become a criminal? Of course a large part of that fascination has to do with the want to reduce crime, and to determine if there is a way to detect and prevent individuals from committing crime. Determining what causes criminality is still not perfectly clear and likewise, there is still debate as to whether crime is caused biologically, environmentally, or socially. Furthermore, the debate is directly correlated to the notion of 'nurture vs nature'. Over time many researchers have presented various theories pertaining to what causes criminal behavior. There are many theories that either support or oppose the concept of crime being biological rather than a learned behavior.
They also explore the myths about the connection between genetic factors and criminal behavior. The first myth they looked at was “Identifying the Role of Genetics in Criminal Behavior Implies That There Is a “Crime Gene.”” This myth is dismissed because of the unlikelihood that that a single gene is responsible for criminal behavior. The second myth they look at is “Attributing Crime to Genetic Factors is Deterministic.” This myth is also easily dismissed because of the fact that just because someone has a predisposition to a certain behavior doesn’t mean that the person will take on that behavior.
Subsequently, since discovering that both biological and sociological aspects both play a part in human behavior, studies began to formulate to see whether nature or nurture held a stronger influence. Two of the main studies done were the family and twin studies. Family studies are defined as “studies that examine the clustering of criminality in a given family” (Schram, P. J., & Tibbetts, S. G.). One of the families that was studied was the Kallikak family by H. H. Goddard. Through this study they found criminality is more common in some
In conclusion it is shown through examinations of a average criminals biological makeup is often antagonized by a unsuitable environment can lead a person to crime. Often a criminal posses biological traits that are fertile soil for criminal behavior. Some peoples bodies react irrationally to a abnormal diet, and some people are born with criminal traits. But this alone does not explain their motivation for criminal behavior. It is the environment in which these people live in that release the potential form criminal behavior and make it a reality. There are many environmental factors that lead to a person committing a crime ranging from haw they were raised, what kind of role models they followed, to having a suitable victims almost asking to be victimized. The best way to solve criminal behavior is to find the source of the problem but this is a very complex issue and the cause of a act of crime cannot be put on one source.
Sociologists have been examining crime and its causes for over 150 years, and through several researches, various explanations have been used to describe crime and deviance. Crime is a behaviour that goes against all formal written laws of a given society (Haralambos, Smith, O 'Gorman, & Heald, 1996). Laws in different societies differ, so do crimes i.e. what may be considered as a crime in one society may not be in another different society. For instance, while same-sex relationship is accepted in some countries like the United States, United Kingdom etc. it is illegal in countries like Nigeria, and most Arabic countries. Other examples of general crimes are theft/robbery, murder, kidnapping and others. Once a crime is committed, sanctions
JOSEPH, J (2001), Is crime in the genes: A Critical review of Twins and Adoption Studies of Criminality and Antisocial Behaviour.
The general theory of crime I would pick is the neoclassical school of theory. Neoclassical focuses on the importance of character and the dynamics of character development, as well as the rational choices that people make when faced with opportunities for crime (Schmalleger, 2012). This theory is practically what is used in law enforcement today. The neoclassical theory focuses on punishment as being a deterrent for future crimes. Unfortunately, it is becoming more evident is the criminal justice system, criminals are being punished lightly or the charge is downgraded. More often than not, this is not helping the situation, but is allowing for the criminal to continue to commit crimes. Punishment has been established as an effective means
There are more contemporary biological theories that have since developed. However, most are still nearly impossible to prove true; for example, the genetic theory of crime in fraternal and identical twins. This study is supposed to provide evidence that those who are born with the same genetically heritable trait are more prone to crime than fraternal twins or siblings because of the ...