Biology and Social Factors in Criminal Psychology - Essay Example

Running head: HOW BIOLOGICAL FACTORS MIGHT INTERACT WITH SOCIAL FACTORS IN PREDICTING CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR Discuss How Biological Factors Might Interact With Social Factors In Predicting Criminal Behaviour [Writer’s name] [Institution’s name] Discuss How Biological Factors Might Interact With Social Factors In Predicting Criminal Behaviour Introduction Criminology has always been preoccupied with studies regarding criminal behaviour. It has researched a lot on why a person could behave in such manner their studies have also led to breakthrough. They now believed that it is the interaction of both genes and environment which cause a person to commit a crime. The following paper is based on the above mentioned concept. The entire paper shall present such theories which support this notion. Analysis Before the analysis of the concept in question, it is very important to fist have clear understanding of what crime really is. Crime is something which is ever ending; it has a negative impact on the entire society. According to the Webster's Dictionary (2008) it is "a violation of law, religious rules or human." This definition clearly gives a complete understanding of what a criminal is. He/she is someone who breaks the manmade or god made laws in a negative manner. The criminal code is set of a regulation which guides people how to behave. These laws are set according to the norms of society. An individual who goes against the law the social norms and standards is considered by the criminal code is a criminal. There are two concepts that tend to describe criminal behaviour, the pathological concepts criminal behaviour as a mental illness, categorising criminals as insane, and the normal debate, which argues that criminals are of stable minds who commit crime for various sociological reasons. The pathological debate states that criminality is an insane behaviour; however it fails to clearly define what it is to be insane. Insanity as defined by the pathological debate can be seen as a personality disorder that leads to distress or severe impairment (Howrad, 1999). All mental disorders by this definition then lead to some form of distress, however normal behaviours also lead to some form of stress. A simple drive in peak hour traffic can cause sever distress and impair one's normally controlled outlook for example road rage. There is an intense argument regarding the concept the inherited genes or the environment may be able to affect a person’s behaviour. This controversy is most often recognized as the nature verses nurture conflict (Merton 1938). Some psychologists believe that it is strictly genes that affect our way of life, while others believe that it is the environment and some believe that both of these influence us. It will also look at two different psychological theories about personality are how genetics and environment affects personality. The use of twin studies in genetic research and what implications genetic research of personality will have for society will also be examined. Cells of individual organisms contain a specific number of chromosomes. Within the nucleus, each chromosome has a match forming a homologous pair. One of the pair is inherited from the father, the other from the mother. Along each chromosome there are thousands of genes. The gene is the basic unit of inheritance – a specific section of DNA controlling a characteristic (physical or chemical).Each gene may have two or more different forms, called alleles. If the inherited pairs of alleles are similar they will form the dominant genes, and if they were different they form the recessive genes. In either ways the full number of chromosomes must be 46 pairs (23 from each parent). Down’s syndrome, is a form of developmental disability cased by the presence of an extra arm in chromosome 21 resulting in a dramatic physical and mental change in the individual (Lykken , 1995). There are many indications that personality has a genetic basis. First, Behaviour often is species specific. Each species have their own genetic make up, this is why the behaviour shown by all member of the same species is similar to their own and different from other species. Some behaviour are so distinctive that scientist use them to identify between related species.3 Behaviour which is caused by genetic influence is always the same and it can be passed form generation to generation. Some behaviour runs in families, for example it was found that intelligence is hereditary (McGee etal 1998). Scientist found that when using twin studies, genes account for 40 – 60% of human behaviour. However research was done with tall twins showed that they had high self esteem because people tend to treat tall people with respect so they developed this trait because of environmental factors. So it would appear that personality is likely to be due to an interaction of genes and environment. Genes do not directly influence personality traits. Instead, genes direct the development of the nervous and endocrine systems, the body chemistry that rules our behaviour. To support this view, recent research carried out on a mouse showed a change in the mouse’s behaviour when they manipulate its genes. There was also evidence linking brain damage-resulting to changes in genes structure and behaviour. However the study of genes and behaviour is not an easy task, for example, geneticist need to link and identify each specific gene with its specific personality trait to be able to carry out more accurate research. In 1928, a psychologist called J. B. Watson argued that: “ if I was a dozen healthy infants and my own specified world to bring them up in,…and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer and yes, even beggar man and thief, regardless of his talent, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors” We can see from this that Watson thought that only the environment is responsible in child development. Linked to this idea, recent twin studies which were carried out on 3226 male twin pairs from Vietnam, showed when they share a common environment them all show criminal behaviours. Despite this they also found that once the environment changes genetic factors take over their behaviour (Watson 1996). Currently, scientists agree that genes may increase our risk of developing alcoholism, but the consensus ends there. Further, since alcoholism appears to be the product of both heredity and environment, the roles of the two are hard to separate. To support this view, new studies from the National Institutes of Health showed a clear link between genes and alcoholism. Gordis etal (1990) argued that “Alcoholism is multi-gene. It is not due to a mutation in a single gene,” he also states that “There is likelihood that it's a handful of genes, each one of these genes responsible for a part of the risk of the disease. This supports the previous research about alcoholism stating that many genes tend to play a part in developing our behaviour and personality although experiences and circumstances are also important Gordis etal (1990). The study of genes and behaviour may affect society in many ways. The diagnoses of certain personality traits such as criminality and homosexuality might result in discrimination against those people or even unborn babies because of their “bad” genes Gordis etal (1990). Criminals who are waiting trial might blame their “bad” genes for their crime.9 Scientist avoid connecting particular population with a particular gene, in fear of the return of eugenics – the practice of “improving” the human gene pool by eliminating undesirables. With the increase in DNA techniques scientist are hopping to link specific gene with its behaviour. Research is now being carried on mice to try to identify certain genes with their behaviour and then to generalise the findings to humans. Like any other scientific findings, the discoveries of behavioural genetics will always have some kind of response from society; this is why scientist tends to keep their findings secret until they are sure of the out come. A lot of theories interact factors, the genetic as well as the environmental one. These theories at times are known as the arousal theory of criminality. One such important theory is of Eysenck. It consist of 3 important factors psychoticism, extraversion, and neuroticism, this is usually called the PEN model (Eysenck, 1996). Psychoticism consisted of traits like hostile, unfriendly, reckless, cold, antisocial, and un-empathetic. He associated Extraversion with the traits like sociable, energetic, full of life, sensation-seeking, cheerful, dominant, and self-confident. Neuroticism was correlated to anxious, depressed, low confidence, irrational, unstable, emotional, and stressed (Eysenck, 1996). By means of research, Eysenck came to the conclusion that these factors may be present in criminals. He also came to the conclusion that it was mostly true for psychoticism factor, and through it behaviours which are criminal or non criminal could be differentiated. Extraversion was good a good predictor of criminal behaviour for especially for youngsters, while neuroticism was a good predictor of criminal behaviour of the old aged (Eysenck, 1996). According Eysenck (1996) low arousal levels characteristics were like those present in extraversion. People who have low arousal levels and the look for more stimulation as they are not getting the required amount form their brains. Hence, basic concept of the general arousal theory of criminality is that a lot of people inherit a nervous system which has a low level of arousal. Thus they seek other sources to fulfil this requirement. According to theory, the appropriate stimulation consists high-risk behaviour related with antisocial behavior; this may also include sexual promiscuity, drug abuse and other kind of crimes (Miles & Carey, 1997). An important concept that should be pointed out it is necessary that those who have low stimulation level will seek more stimulation. They have to have an appropriate environment and personality along with antisocial or criminal tendencies. Consider this point it may be said that this theory takes into consideration both genetic as well as environmental factors. External forces can also impact on an individual's behaviour. A study by Pavlov showed that we can predict ones behaviour by exposing them to specific external material. In this study dogs feeding times where associated with the ringing of a bell. Results showed that after a while, the dogs would immediately start to salivate at the sound of the bell without knowing or visually recognising the location of food. There are many everyday examples which illustrate the relationship between particular environmental conditions and subsequent predicable physiological or behavioural responses. The sight of blood makes many people feel nauseous, the smell of food induces hunger, the sight of a weapon may induce feelings of aggression and the viewing of erotic images can produce sexual arousal and so forth, these are examples of environmental factors influencing biological outcomes. Regardless of what individual genes are, different feelings and behaviours can mostly be predicted or motivated through a set of particular environmental cues. (Wortley, 2002) Correlation between heredity and environment can be looked at through genotypes or a person’s “unique genetic blueprint” (Boyd & Bee, 2006) and the environment which a child tends to experience. Active genotype environment correlation, evocative genotype environment correlation, and passive genotype environment correlation are three casual mechanisms to describe the correlation between heredity and environment in relationship to human behaviour (Scarr & McCartney, 1983). Genotype environment correlations affect phenotypes through the course of a person’s development (p.4). A development of a child stems straight from behaviour his or her parents along with environmental experiences, as the child tends to pick up such behaviours rather quickly. Thus, now behavioural genetic even associates environmental factors to their theories and studies. Genotype environment correlation is defined as a child’s tendency actively to seek environments he or she finds to be “compatible and stimulating” (Santrock, 2002). An example would be a child who is introverted tends to seek solitary environments. A child who is extroverted tends to seek out social environments. Evocative genotype environment correlation is “when the child's genotype elicits certain types of physical and social environments” (Stanrock 2002). The responses a child receives from his or her environment moulds the child’s development. A child who demonstrates a pleasant disposition evokes positive reactions in his or her social environment for example. (Scarr & McCartney, 1983) The explanation the passive type of correlation is the parent passed the genes to the child and supplies the environment in which the child is raised. The environment a parent supplies is directly related to the parents genes which were passed to the child hence the correlation (Scarr & McCartney, 1983, p.4). The example given by Scarr and McCartney is one of a positive nature. A parent who is well versed and enjoys the activity of reading books reads often to the child. The child will most likely be well versed at reading books and enjoy the activity based on the environment provided and the genotype inherited. Twin Studies Identifying traits that are beneficial and those that are harmful is just the first of many steps. Behaviour geneticists must also identify correlations between the genes humans inherit and the environment that humans are fostered in. Researchers have an exceptionally complicated duty before as experiences and environments may usually be influenced by genetic predispositions. For example, identical twins both are born taller than average. When they complete surveys for behavioural geneticists, they both score high for people who are extroverted and self-confident. Is this because they have a “self-esteem” gene, or is this a result of society reacting towards them in a manner with more respect and attention because they are tall. Likewise, a child who is predisposed towards shyness will not seek out social situations that are uncomfortable to her. She may not choose to participate in organized sports. Whatever athletic ability or talent she may possess will remain dormant. Due to her choices, she will not receive any instruction to develop athletic ability. Conclusions that outgoing individuals possess more athletic ability could be grossly inaccurate (Boyd & Bee, 2006). Conclusion Every society has it’s share of crime problems. The law and order is broken by their members, who are then labelled as criminals. How and why they became criminals is a question which ahs been answered in the above analysis. By the above given analysis it can be said that a criminal is someone who has been influenced by both his genetics and the environment. At times only one factor may influence an individual. But at time it’s both and this when the most lethal criminals come into being. References Boyd, D. and Bee, H. 2006. Adult Development. Boston, Ma.: Pearson Custom Publishing Eysenck, H. J. (1996), Personality and crime: Where do we stand? Psychology, Crime, & Law, 2, 143-152. Gordis E, Tabakoff B, Goldman D, Berg K (1990) Finding the gene(s) for alcoholism (editorial). JAMA Lykken, David (1995). The Antisocial Personality. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum McGee, Mark, and Thomas Bouchard (1998). "Genetics and Environmental Influences on Human Behavioral Differences." Annual Review of Neuroscience 21 (:1-24. McGuffin, Peter, and Michael Pargeant (1990), "Major Affective Disorder." In Peter McGuffin and Robin Murray eds., The New Genetics of Mental Illness. London: Butterworth-Heinemann Merton, R (1938), "Social structure and anomie", American Sociological Review, vol 3, pp 672-682 Miles, D. R., & Carey, G. (1997), Genetic and environmental architecture of human aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 207-217. Morley, K., & Hall, W. (2003). Is there a genetic susceptibility to engage in criminal acts? Australian Institute of Criminology: Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, 263, 1-6. Scarr, S., & McCartney, K. (1983). How people make their own environments: A theory of genotype→environment effects. Child Development, 54, 424-435. Statrock Jhon (2002); Topical Approach To Life-Span Development. McGraw Hill retrieved from highered.mcgrawhill.com/sites/0072435992/.../glossary.html on 4 March 2011 Watson J. B. (1928) ,Psychological Care of Infant and Child, Norton, New York Webster's Dictionary (2008), Webster's Dictionary . Federal Street Pr Wortley, R. (2002). "Situational prison control", Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 15-35 Read More