The Causes of Crime. What are the causes of crime essay

For centuries, the one plague that human civilization faces is a disease that has no evident cure - crime. Before one can even try to find solutions for it, one must understand what a crime is and the nature of crime. Crime itself is defined as any offence harmful against society. The nature of crime however deals with the motives and causes of crime, which has no one clear cut explanation. There are several different theories on the cause of crime such as heredity, gender and mental defects, but each one is not substantial enough to explain crime and why it takes place. The theory on heredity as being the source of crime is based on the idea that criminal activity is predisposed by human genes. Gender being the root of crime suggests that testosterone, the male hormone that causes aggressive behaviour is encouraged in male-dominated societies, thus leading to criminal behaviour. Both heredity and gender are based on "nature", but in effect, lead to "nurture". Beginning mental defects can be caused during pregnancy (i.e. smoking and drinking while pregnant) or any disturbance to the central nervous system during childhood. In fact all these apparent causes can be linked in one way or another to childhood upbringing. While a child grows up, economical factors that interfere with his/her lifestyle such as poverty can lead to petty theft. Scientific proof shows that testosterone does cause aggressive behaviour in males, so why does society still encourage it in young males then? Domestic abuse can have enormous consequences to a child's "mental" state, which in turn can cause "mental" imbalance. When all the theories are added up, the sum total is equal to childhood upbringing. Therefore, the way a child is nurtured the influence of economical, social and traumatic factors contribute to the causes of crime in modern western society.

First of all, the world in which we live in depends a lot on financial standards. This includes poverty, social classes and the simple