Introduction: The brain is constantly changing due to new pathways being created as we learn new things or gain new experiences in our day to day lives. This is called brain plasticity. The brain never loses its plasticity . This means that during the adolescent years, the brain is still able to change structurally, which may cause changes in behaviour. This is also due to the fact that the frontal lobe does not fully develop until an individual reaches the mid-twenties. Brain development can be affected by many factors, including genes, environment and physical l health. This means that everyone’s brain takes a different path of development, due to the different stimuli we are exposed to. It is believed that teenagers exposed to stressful situations (I.E. Broken homes, financially unstable families, being outcasts, abusive caregivers, etc.) are …show more content…
The belief that teenagers who turn to criminal behaviour come from abusive backgrounds, is more often than not false. This behaviour, described as delinquency, can stem from any sort of background. It is better described as conduct disorder (behaviour of adolescents that violates the rights of others’ or society’s rules and are harmful to people around them in any way), as this term more aptly portrays that it is not always extreme behaviours described as teenage crime that are in question. It may be an issue as small as missing one’s curfew, but if the behaviour is uncommon for the child in question, then it may be for similar reasons as for teenagers who commit larger crimes, and for this reason, is just as important. Conduct disorder may often stem from the basic human tendency to be selfish. What causes the difference between those who become criminals and the rest of the population may be a result of genes, as many studies show that a teenager who turns to crime often has a relative in gaol, or even one who can be described as
Theories such as, Inherited Criminality, Appearance, and even theories regarding the poor development of key areas of the Central Nervous System (CNS), could all be factors. But what really stands out, is how these biological factors may have interacted within the environment in which these children grew up (Bernard, 2016). Most of the children featured in the documentary were abused, delinquent, and often used drugs and alcohol. Any undetermined biological or physical factor as identified by the biological theories of crime, could very well have played a role when factored into the environmental conditions that the child was growing up
Analyzing the juvenile delinquency, this can be perceived from different mindsets. Merriam-Webster defines juvenile delinquency as conduct by a juvenile characterized by antisocial behavior that is beyond parental control and therefore subject to legal action and a violation of the law committed by a juvenile and not punishable by death or life imprisonment. Also, a crimes committed by a person is only name a juvenile if the individual is under the age of eighteen In today’s society majority of kids are not born to be criminals or defined as above as delinquents. Children usually develop these habits or lifestyles choices due to poverty, circumstances and culture.
There is no tell-tale sign of who becomes a criminal and who doesn 't. Many things factor into the development of a criminal. The debate between nature vs. nurture in this aspect cannot be blamed on a single element, instead both environment and genetics play a role in criminality of an idividual. The population of American jails has a high rate of individuals with mental disorders. Although, not everyone who has a mental disorder ends up in jail the vast majority of Americans who are incarcerated are likely to have inherited a mental disorder at some point in their life. At some point in American history, genes were said to be the sole reason a person became criminal however, this is not the case today.
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.
57). Research shows that delinquency and youth violence have been on the rise over the decade growing in epidemic proportions since 1993 (Hoyt & Scherer, 1998). Delinquency means for one to break the law and does not have to involve any form of criminal activity in one doing so. However, it is known that antisocial behavior, delinquency, and violence share common roots and similar consequences according to Mcwhirter et al. (2013). Violent crimes committed by youth has escalated by youth victimized by youth violence doubling the in juvenile arrests for violent crime by 2010, and fueled anxieties about future crime wave as the juvenile delinquents mature into adults (Hoyt & Scherer, 1998) with female delinquency making its mark up the ladder according to research.
Teenagers are known for being immature and not the brightest when it comes to handling situations by themselves, but everyone must grow up sooner or later. Without teenagers going through these hardships where would the world be, we all must learn some lessons the hard way to grow up into functioning people. One thing that involves during growing up is realizing other people’s problems around you. Coming-of-age involves recognizing perspectives.
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
Minimum Legal Drinking Age The debate concerning the Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) has set Americans into disagreement. While many argue that 18 is the appropriate age many contradict this by saying that 21 is a better option. There is always been a debate about the issue, in 1971 when the voting age was changed to 18, also the MLDA was changed to 18. A decade after in 1984 to be exact Congress passed the National Minimum Legal Drinking Age.
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).
Children who are not allowed to drive a car with another adolescent, nor to drink alcoholic beverages, because their brain is stated to not be developed enough, should not be judged as adults when in court. Jacob Ind murdered his mother and his stepfather at the age of 15. At this age an adolescent is not allowed to have a restricted license in 43 of the United States of America. A 15 year old is not allowed to have a full license in any of the 50 states. As for drinking; a fifteen year old is not allowed to drink in any of the states.
Emotional and cognitive development are related with a child’s ability to control behavior in social situations (Wasserman et al., 2003). Poor cognitive development can impede academic achievement, which in turn affects behavior and puts a child even more at risk of becoming a delinquent. Hyperactivity, in which a child is restless and fidgety, makes it more likely that a child would later be involved in delinquent behavior; however, hyperactivity alone does not necessarily lead to delinquency. As Lahey, McBurnett and Loeber stated (2000), “hyperactivity leads to delinquency only when it occurs with physical aggression or oppositional behavior” (pg. 4). A dangerous combination of hyperactivity and physical or oppositional behavior can put children at risk of becoming violent young
The emphasis of socioeconomic status in capital punishment cases plays a critical role in the evaluation of an inmate’s disposition and the biases that occur from the impacts of wealth. Economic standing impacts an individual to be drawn to or propelled from crime, dependent on the influence from the surrounding community. The initial socioeconomic influence on destitute areas provokes individuals to live a life of crime, which ultimately brings many crimes to be charged with capital punishment convictions. Occupational prestige and education stand amongst several other factors that account into the economic evaluation of death row inmates and the social impact left on an individual. In addition to the initial impact from socioeconomic upbringing, the decision-making in court can result in juror bias against the defendant.
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
This can lead to juvenile involvement in crimes. Secondly, factors associated with parental conflict and discipline to include abuse, nagging, harsh and erratic discipline makes the home very uncomfortable and wayward, thus pushing children to seek comfort from peers. Thirdly, deviant parental behaviors and attitudes such as parental criminality, parental violence and tolerance of violence form a high tendency for crime involvement. Lastly, family disruption as a result of chronic spousal conflict or marriage break-up can leave the children to the hands of their peers for upbringing and in most cases would expose them to criminal activity (Loeber & Stouthamer-Loeber,
Every day on the news there are all kinds of reports. Crime reports are a major part of today's events. Almost every day there are posts about crimes. The level of crime has risen immensely in every corner of the world. People have tried to understand the causes of crime, but if we look around the world we can see that many of the crimes are caused by people who abuse drugs and alcohol, people who think negatively towards others, and poverty.