The Myth Of Criminal Behavior

In this Paper, I will be exploring the myth that criminal behavior is caused by the environment in which a person grows up in. This paper will basically discuss the long-time argument of nature vs nurture. The nature theorists believe that criminal behavior is biological and inherited in genetics, while the nurture theorists believe that everyone is born the same way and the way they are raised plus the environment around them influence criminal behavior. This is relevant because it’s a very big topic not only in criminal justice, but also in psychology as it involves the way people interact within society and the development of criminal behavior. I also have always been intrigued with the nature vs nurture debate and would like to know more

One major piece of evidence that supports the nature view is sex chromosomal diseases. It is believed that the XXY syndrome and criminality share a correlation due to the reasoning that the extra male chromosome induces higher levels of testosterone which leads to higher aggression (Justification of Criminal Behavior). The reason this was researched was because of a case in 1996 when a man was convicted of the murder and rape of eight students. He argued that he was suffering from XXY syndrome but it later was discovered he had a normal genotype (Justification of Criminal Behavior). Another piece of evidence is the insanity defense. A person accused of a crime can acknowledge that they committed the crime, but argue that they are not responsible for it because of their mental illness, by pleading "not guilty by reason of insanity." (Francone, E.) This directly supports the nature perspective since people are born with mental illness or have the genes to cause a mental illness later in

The family and home life can influence the way a child develops and if the child is not given the correct punishments, then the child could start to develop criminal behavior. The research conducted against the myth(nature) shows that sometimes people are just born with more aggression and cannot control their aggressive behavior. People may also be born with a mental illness that effects the way the reason which could possibly be a cause of why they committed criminal acts.

This paper has changed my views because of the research that was conducted. I was very heavy on the nurture side of the argument but after I looked at both sides, I see that sometimes people are born with more aggressiveness and/or mental illnesses that they cannot control. This does have an impact on me because I have always been interested in the nature vs nurture debate, and this paper better helped me understand both sides.

Conclusion

After the research conducted for both sides of the myth, I conclude that the myth is plausible. I believe criminal behavior is caused by both nature and nurture, and it is not always 100% accurate. Someone could have been raised in a terrible family and a bad neighborhood and still succeed in life. The same goes for the nature view as mental illnesses rarely lead to criminal