Criminal behaviour should be considered a matter of individual rather than social responsibility. Discuss
Carl Ikejezie
Criminal behaviour is one of the negative aspects of the human society and it affects the whole world. Its causes are innumerable, from poverty to lack of education to environmental influences, genetic predisposition. Criminal behaviour is any behaviour that has a criminal intent, or results in punishment by law enforcement of some type.
This essay intends to show with evidence from research that criminal behaviour is a matter of social responsibility more than individual responsibility.
The causes of this behaviour are many; this essay will discuss four here, namely: genetic predisposition, parental involvement, environment influences and poverty.
The fundamental individual causes of criminal behaviour may be the genetic predisposition. Joseph (2001) claims that criminal behaviour is also a result of inherited characteristics, but also points out that the individual’s characteristics and personality could be still influenced by the environment.
Studies have shown that a highly prevalence of XYY syndrome was associated with aggressive, and criminal behaviour. However, future studies not recognized this syndrome like the only reason to commit a crime or have a criminal behaviour.
One of the main social causes of criminal behaviour could be the lack of parental involvement; especially the absence of the father in child’s upbringing. The work of Wilkinson et al. (2010) reveals that the absence of the father in family has a significant impact on has a child’s behaviour develops. It suggests that children’s with an abscent father are more likely to commit not just against property but also violent crimes, including sexual abuse. On the other hand, the presence of the father can be very important; he can teach him how to be present in the family, and how to relate to the opposite sex.
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