Biology contributes to killers. As people in today 's society, we are constantly being bombarded with the crazy actions that mankind is capable of. We watch the news and hear about murders, or even read a book about a mysterious killer. As we go through these pieces of reality, one can 't help but be struck by the thought--what causes a person to act so violently? There have been many studies done to try and find an answer. For a crime such as serial killing, there are two thoughts. The first idea is that serial killing is caused by an abnormality in the frontal lobe of the brain. The second idea is that serial killers are bred by circumstance which means they have certain genes also known as the negative gene that makes them prone to becoming a killer.…
James Q. Wilson and Richard J. Herrnstein 1985 put forward a biosocial theory of criminal behaviour. In their view, crime is caused by combination of biological and social factors. Biological differences between individuals make some people innately more strongly predisposed to commit crime than others. For…
The use of genetic knowledge developed by the HGP is likely to have momentous implications for both individuals and society. Many of the questions criminologists have raised about the role of genetics in criminal behavior may be answered by the results of research begun by the HGP. 7 In the area of crime-control policy, HGP-related information is expected to support the development of public policy options related to crime pre-vention and the treatment of offenders.…
Crime is bad behavior displayed by citizens who reject societal norms and instead chose to commit crime. However, there are many types of theories of why crime occurs the most prevalent cause for crime involves the social environment of the criminal offender. Psychological theories discusses that these interruptions in childhood development is the cause for crime but because the delays developmental is the effect of the criminal’s environment. The same goes for biological theories that find genetic or biological factors that make a person more prone to become a criminal but require certain environmental factors for the person in reality to become a criminal.…
Criminologist David Rowe was one of the primary leaders in a movement to bring the discussion of biology back to criminal justice which occurred in the late 1990's before this both biological and individual traits were largely ignored by criminologists. Now biological and individual traits are influential in large part due to Rowe whom published a book titled “Biology in Crime” in 2002. In this work Rowe contends that genetic factors affect individual traits due to their impact on the central nervous system and autonomic nervous system and that their is a physiological relation to a heightened amount of violence when these systems are thrown off and their is evidence that criminals may have deficits in the per-frontal cortex of the brain and their is an association between low…
Matza, D. & Sykes, Gresham (1961). Juvenile Delinquency and Subterranean Values. American Sociological Review. 26(5). 712-719.…
The aim of this essay is to compare, contrast and evaluate two sociological theories of crime causation and two psychological theories of crime causation.…
This is a statement that researches have long sought the answer for, it all boils down to nature versus nurture. Is there a clear answer? I can honestly say now that I do not believe so, after evaluating both sides I see that nature and nurture seem to play an almost even role. Therefore, I do no think it is fair to determine this question with a yes or no answer, instead I hope to present the facts and allow others to make a judgment based on those. When beginning my research I had the advantage of working with top psychiatrists in my area to try and determine the cause of criminal behavior, and I realized very quickly that there are two very convincing opposing sides and no…
The debate regarding criminality being a result of nature or nurture has been a topic of discussion both within criminology and outside of it for decades. Criminologists brought forward theories attempting to address and explain this paradox, and explanations for crime included psychological, sociological, economical, biological reasons, amongst…
Theories are useful tools, which suggest the way things are and not the way things ought to be, we can use them to help us to understand the world around us. In terms of criminal and deviant behaviour the theories proposed in this subject area set out to try and give reason as to why an individual commits criminal or delinquent acts. In this essay I will be using biological, psychological and sociological explanations of criminality to suggest why individuals take part in criminal behaviours.…
Psychological Explanation is based on someone's mental behavior. A person's personality and learning factors can cause them to commit a crime. According to some early childhood experiences it can have a major effect on personality and development. Also according to Psychological Explanation crime is stemmed from abnormal urges and desires.…
Social structure theory s focus on socioeconomic and cultural values. There are three subtypes that sociologist and criminalities have identified. Social disorganization theory, strain theory and cultural transmission. Social disorganization theory focus conditions in the urban environment. A juvenile that live in a neighborhood where there is a high crime rate most likely the juvenile will be involved in criminal activities. Strain theory is obtaining money and goals illegally. Juveniles will start to steal and sell drugs instead of getting a job. Cultural deviance theory mentions people who live without necessary resources will make up their own laws that conflict with the regulated social norms. Social process theory is the view that criminality…
Biological theories of crime causation follow the principle that many behavioral tendencies, including aggression and criminality, are constitutionally or physiologically influenced. Most of the usual sociological suspect would have come from a broken or abusive home, is a part of a family below the poverty or has a parent who is convicted criminal. All of these examples support the biological theories and most of the time people living in those conditions are more susceptible to…
Do individuals become criminals as a result of heredity or genetics or is it their environment that is in fact at play? This question has left Criminologists in debate for the better part of our modern era. In order to help answer this question we must first take a closer look at the concept of Nature vs. Nurture, a popular psychological term initially created by Darwin and other positivists. "Nature vs. Nurture" refers to internal and external factors that play a role in behaviour, in this case in reference to criminals. "Nature" is paired up with the biological explanation known as internal factors. "Supporters of the biological perspective argue that we must identify the role of heredity and the importance of biophysical, as well as biosocial…
Appelbaum, P. S., (2005). Behavioral Genetics and the Punishment of Crime. Law and Psychiatry, 56 (1), 25-27.…