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Genetics vs environment criminal behavior
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Genetics vs environment criminal behavior
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Are genetic factors more likely to make one person perform violent acts?
Many doctors and researchers in the field of genetics have searched for a answer
to this question.
During 1989-93 one such researcher named Dr. Sullivan found some
interesting points about genetics and crime.
Sullivan while working for the Bush administration’s secretary of health
and human services during 1989-1993 was appalled by the epidemic of violent
crimes he saw taking place in American cities. According to Dr. Sullivan,
"more than 26,000 Americans were murdered,
and six million violent crimes were committed
with young men and minorities falling victim
most frequently". Sullivan also reported that about one in every 27
black men, compared to one in every 205 white men, died violently also 1 in 117
black women met a untimely end as compared to white women which only 1 in 496
were killed due to violent crimes. This is not surprising that young males
commit most of the serious crimes. According to an article in Scientific
American, only 12.5 percent of violent crime in the U.S. in 1992 was committed
by females. What is also surprising according to W.W. Gibbs the author of
"Seeking the Criminal Element," in Scientific American,(1995 March) pp 100-107,
is that a very small number of criminals are responsible for the majority of the
violent crime.
Sullivan who is now the president of the Morehouse School of Medicine in
Atlanta wanted to try and address the violence as a public health issue. In an
interview after he left office in 1993, Dr. Sullivan explains that his rational
for this was that the higher increases in violent crimes and specifically
homicide in the young male population in large cities. Which was higher than
any other social group in America at this time.
Dr. Sullivan then began to organize his department’s research resources
under the banner of the so called "Violence Initiative" as he put it. With the
predominant thought of looking at unemployment, poverty, the use of drugs and
any other factors that might help to contribute to the likelihood of causing
violence. Primarily Sullivans’ research was directed towards the psychological
and sociological point of view. Sullivan primarily working with the before
mentioned points and only worked lightly with the biological aspects, such as
race, gender, brain chemistry and genetic make up.
Dr. Sullivans research, did find some links between aggressive behavior,
and disturbances in the level of a chemical called Serotoin. Which is directly
related to certain genes. Although there was no conclusive proof that this
abnormal gene was completely responsible for a increases in violence, Another
study in 1993 also found a link between genes and violence.
criminal justice system. If the current trends persist, one out of every three African American men can expect to go to prison over the course of his life, as can one out of every six Latino males, compared to only one in seventeen white males (Bonczar 2003). For females, the figures are significantly lower, but racial and ethnic disparities are very similar. For instance, one out of every eighteen African American females can expect to go to prison, as can one out of every 45 Latino females, and one out of every one-hundred and eleven white females (Bonczar 2003). The racial disparities in imprisonment have been felt the most by young African American males (Western and Pettit 2010). Males are a significant majority of the prison and jail populations, accounting for around ninety percent of the population (Western and Pettit 2010). Racial disparities in incarceration are astounding when one counts the men who have been incarcerated in their lifetime rather than those serving time on any given day (Western and Pettit 2002). For instance, in 1989, approximately two percent of white men in their early thirties had been in prison compared to thirteen percent of African American men in their early thirties (Western and Pettit 2002). These extreme racial disparities disproportionately affect communities of color and have significant collateral effects such as family stress and dissolution,
Shoemaker, A., James, C., King, L., Hardin, E., Ordog G. (1993, Dec 15) Urban violence in Los Angeles in the aftermath of the riots: a perspective from health care professionals, with implications for social reconstruction. JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2833, v270 n23
Nature vs. nurture has been one of the oldest and most debated topics among psychologists over the years. This concept discusses whether a child is born into this world with their developmental work cut out for them or if a child is a “blank slate” and their experiences are what shape them into who they are. Over the years and plenty of research, psychologists have all mostly come to agree that it’s a little bit of both. Children are both born with some genetic predispositions while other aspects of the child’s development are strongly influenced by their surrounding environment. This plays into the criminal justice system when discussing where criminal behavior stems from. Is a criminal’s anti-social behavior just part of their DNA or is it a result of their upbringing? The answer to this question is not definite. Looking at research a strong argument can be made that criminals developed their anti-social patterns through the atmosphere in which they were raise, not their DNA.
...& Snipes, J. (2010). Biological Factors and Criminal Behavior.Vold's theoretical criminology (6th Ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
"Anybody living in the United States in the early 1990s and paying even a whisper of attention to the nightly news or a daily paper could be forgiven for having been scared out of his skin... The culprit was crime. It had been rising relentlessly - a graph plotting the crime rate in any American city over recent decades looked like a ski slope in profile... Death by gunfire, intentional and otherwise, had become commonplace, So too had carjacking and crack dealing, robbery, and rape. Violent crime was a gruesome and constant companion...
...R (2005). Evidence for substantial genetic risk for psychopathy in 7-year-olds. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. 46(6), 592-597
Scott, J. "Black Infant Death Rate 2 ½ Times That of Whites." Los Angeles Times, 1991 Nov 15, 110 (347), A35.
Statistically it is believed that more blacks have been killed than whites. As stated by Kyle
...much and they are not aware of what they are doing, and make poor decisions. So, the level of self control individuals can dictate their criminal behavior.
Nature versus nurture has been argued in attempt to understand how criminals behave. The theory of what influences psychopath and serial killers’ violent and destructive pathways has not been agreed on till this day. Criminals such as psychopaths and serial killers have been researched for the past two decades. Scientists have found that genetics is a determining factor of who becomes a serial killer. It is important to understand the determinants involved within a serial killer, because if these social and environmental causes are discovered, they can be altered and controlled to reduce crime (Lykken, 1993). With more studies, we would therefore prevent mass murders and could assist in significant reductions of crime within society.
Racial minorities only make up 35% of those that had been sentenced to the death penalty however, ...
As of 2010, African Americans make up 12.3% of the US population today. Also, the US makes up 5% of the world population, but make up a huge 25% of incarcerated beings globally. African Americans also make up 28% of all arrests, and consist of 40% of inmates of prison and jails. One of the most controversial topics in this decade is that African Americans are more likely to be arrested, sentenced, and to receive harsh penalties compared to white Americans.
The statistics say that African Americans are twelve percent of the U.S. population, but are 43 percent of the prisoners on death row. Although blacks make up 50 percent of all murder victims, 83 percent of the victims in death penalty cases are white. Since 1976, only ten executions have involved a white defendant who killed a black victim.... ... middle of paper ...
The accuracy and reliability of criminal statistics is something that has been of great discussion through criminology for decades. Whilst some believe that crime statistics are a misuse of time and resources, others believe that there is some use for them within the criminological community. The inaccuracies of criminal statistics are highlighted in abundance within academic articles and research, many of which highlight the main source as the dark figure of crime. Many also suggest other inconsistencies within official statistics to be influenced by law enforcement agencies and society. But whilst there is much research to suggest that criminal statistics are unreliable and of no use, there are some that suggest that this may not be entirely
TANNENBAUN, B, (2007),Profs link criminal behaviour to genetics [online] , Available at: http://thedp.com/index.php/article/2007/11/profs_link_criminal_behavior_to_genetics [accessed 16th October 2011].