Criminal Behavior: Causes, Nature and Consequences Does an "evil gene" exist, a genetic factor that causes crime? Dr. Henry Howard Holmes or more commonly known as H. H. Holmes is said to have killed as many as 200 people during the 1890’s. Many victims were said to have killed in a mixed-used building he used to own situated west of the 1893 Chicago’s world fair. As a child, he used to be bullied by his friends, which exorcised him of his fears about death, which led to his fascination and unhealthy obsession of killing people. Holmes had a three storey building constructed, and creating an elaborate house of horrors. The upper floors contained his living quarters and many small rooms where he tortured and killed his victims. Some of these …show more content…
There were also trapdoors and chutes so that he could move the bodies down to the basement where he could burn his victims remains in a kiln there or dispose them in other ways. As the story illustrates, an individual influenced upon various root causes can express criminal behavior in wide variety of ways. According to the nature-nurture debate, researchers suggest that heredity is a primary cause for criminal behavior. Nurture defenders argue that natural components, for example, family, school, church and group, are principal components of criminal behavior. From offenses to brutal lawful misdemeanors, a few people venture into the criminal equity framework and take in their lesson to never carry out a crime again. Others shockingly get to be repeat criminals with an endless criminal record. Especially, the investigation of criminology targets why people carry out crimes and why they act in specific circumstances. My research question is “What are the factors influencing criminal behavior?” My thesis statement is because criminal behavior has definite root causes, such as heredity, substance abuse and peer …show more content…
The significance of hereditary qualities, neurophysiology and the numerous natural issues allegedly merit an extremely detailed survey and investigation. Among them parental supervision and their disciplinary practices are an intriguing zone to take a look at. As far as the family issues are concerned, divorce can have devastating effects on the children. It leads to weakening the relationship between children and parents. Also, it prompts destructive ways of handling disputes, which ultimately leads to emotional pain. The instability adversely affects the adolescents as they mature. Teens in divorced families inculcate behavioral problems, which have significant effects on the incidence of crime rates. Children who witness marital discord are more likely to engage in criminal acts. A research has validated associations between exposure to marital discord and parental divorce while growing up and children’s psychological distress in adulthood (Amato & Sobolewski 2001). There are three major classes that determine the relationship between disrupted families and crime; trauma theories, life course theories and selection theories. The trauma theory proposes that the loss of a parent has a negative effect on children, mostly because of
While some theories are not as common, others have evolved and are used in many criminal studies today. Cutting edge criminologists consolidate the most important aspects of sociology, psychology, anthropology, and biological theories to advance their comprehension of criminal behavior. Rational choice theory, psychological, biological, and strain theory are used to analyze the facts of Hernandez’s crime. Biological Theory is
After reading chapters one and two of the Psychology in Everyday Life book and learning about the four big ideas in psychology, and also while trying to figure out the contributing factors of Andrea Yates’ murder of her children. I have to focus in on and think about big idea two, the biopsychosocial approach, that integrates three levels which are biological, psychological and social/cultural; all together these factors influence and give insight into behavior and mental processes. (CITE BOOK) After reviewing these, the psychological factors that I believe to have contributed to Andrea Yates’ murder of her children are, firstly biological, Andrea had a genetic predispositions, which means Andrea had an increased likelihood of developing
My paper aims to discuss the three different factors of criminal behaviour, what causes it and why. My essay will examine and focus mainly on the genetic makeup of a person, the environment in which they are raised in and gender differences.
This theory clearly rules out the effect of inherited or innate factors, and the last is the cognitive theory, which is based on how the perception of an individual is manifested into affecting his or her potential and capability to commit a crime. (Psychological theories of crime) Relating these theories to the case under study, it’s clear that the behaviour can be traced most times to faulty relationships in the family during the first years of
Biological, developmental, and situational perspectives are all critical in influencing criminal behavior. The biological perspective suggests that genetic and neurological factors influence criminal behavior. For example, some individuals may have a genetic predisposition to aggressive behavior or a neurological condition that affects impulse control. This perspective emphasizes the role of biology in shaping behavior. The developmental perspective emphasizes the role of environmental factors, such as upbringing and childhood experiences, in shaping behavior.
While a few theories are not as regular, others have developed and are utilized as a part of numerous criminal reviews today. Cutting edge criminologists consolidate the most important aspects of sociology, psychology, anthropology, and biological theories to advance their comprehension of criminal behavior. Rational choice theory, psychological, biological, and strain theory are used to analyze the
A theory known as “Broken Home Hypothesis” suggests that children who are raised without one or both biological parents are most likely to commit acts than other children who are raised in a nuclear family (Kierkus & Baer,
Today, there are proven facts that people who have parents that are criminals have a high chance of becoming criminals themselves. Not only can people become criminals because of their family but they can also become criminals because of the environment that they surround themselves in. This is where nature versus nurture comes into play. A person’s nature is their genetic makeup, basically meaning that a person’s nature is the genes they get from their parents. Also, a person’s genotype, one’s genetic makeup based on the sequencing of the nucleotides we term, provides them with physical traits that set the stage for certain behaviors (56).
One sociological explanation of crime is that those who engage in crime were raised and shown crime in early ages of their life. The three sources of Robert Agnew's Strain Theory would be: The inability to achieve positively valued goals The removal of the threat to remove positively valued stimuli
Abuse is another thing that has been linked, to problems in a child 's development. The earlier abuse and neglect occur in a child 's life the more severe the impact. Furthermore, the stage of development, while the abuse occurs will influence the type and severity of the consequences. Additionally, the more chronic and long lasting the abuse and neglect, the more harmful it is. When the abuse and neglect are caused, by parents or another significant figure a child, becomes confused because their supposed source of safety is the source of their harm.(Frederico 343).
Why do people commit crimes? What goes through their minds before they actually commit a crime? These are questions asked from society to criminologist every time one decides they want to commit a crime. Criminologists has given us different crime causations, theories, to explain the answer to these questions. A theory is a speculation about how phenomena, behavior, or process are caused and what takes place after the cause is determined (Anderson, 2015).
Furthermore, the psychology of criminal behavior, psychology, and criminology all have a primary objective of achieving an understanding of the variation in the criminal behavior of individuals (Andrews and Bonta , 2010). Empirically, the study of variation in criminal behavior is done by the studying of covariates (Andrews and Bonta , 2010). The primary covariates that PCC studies are biological, social, and psychological (Andrews and Bonta , 2010). Although, criminology tends to assess criminality at an aggregate level, in comparison to the psychology of criminal conduct’s focus on an individual level. Additionally, a psychology of criminal conduct involves applying what is learned by the studying of psychological information and methods to the predicting and influencing the propensity of criminal behavior on an individual
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
These individuals are likely to believe that the better way to reduce crime is to give criminals a harsh punishment. A positivist theory tries to explain that several biological and social factors may lead to criminal behavior. For example, there might be a lack of poverty and education in some places in which could result in a cause of higher crime rates but can be reduced if employment and educational opportunities are being suggested. Last theory is Individual trait, in which suggests that the most distinguishable differences between noncriminal and criminals are physiological and biological. Therefore a suggestion for this would be to limit the interaction between the ones who have the same
Researchers have invested decades worth of time and data, attempting to answer the question of what causes crime. The study of criminological theory contains a great number of explanations, focused on discovering why exactly, crime occurs. Whether causations are biological, psychological, or sociological in nature, theory has lead us closer to answering the question of why crime happens. Perhaps causations are best explained using hybrid explanations that include a little bit of everything.