CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR

Criminal Behaviour

Criminal Behaviour

Introduction

There have been constant debates between criminologist and various other people involved within the profession that someone's biological factors could influence them to commit crime or equally their environmental conditions are the major influence on them committing crime.

In this essay it is argued that criminals are made rather than born. The essay will base this argument on relevant theories and empirical research that has been undertaken on this topic.

Discussion

The Nature/nurture debate refers how nature hereditary or genetic factors interact with the persons nurture. These nurture forces are all the environmental factors in response to person?s chances of being criminally inclined or not. This debate relating to criminology is concerned with determining what is the cause of criminal behaviour and alleging whether it is caused by either biological (nature) or environmental factors (nurture) that a person is exposed to while they are growing up (Barfeind & Bartusch 2005, p.229). The focus on nurture, which this essay will argue is behaviour that is determined by social, environmental and outside influences that the person is exposed to and it?s likely result in affecting a person?s chances of engaging in criminal activities.

Criminal activities are those, which a person engages in which can lead to arrest, conviction and possible incarceration this applies to all adults who commit crimes. Adolescents who commit crime are referred to as delinquents who are engaging in the act of delinquency.

Gene based approaches that are related to the nature side of the debate have very little evidence to suggest that a criminal is born and the argument that criminality allegedly runs in the family relies too heavily on genetics for the explanation rather than environmental factors. There is a distinct variable when comparing family criminality to offspring criminality. It is a very difficult task to prove that the variables are due to the genetic factors that link the family members together or the environmental factors that were present in both circumstances. Hollin (1989 p.212) argues that the more important variable is the environment; equally parents and their children commit crimes so it can't be blamed on the shared genes, but should be blamed on the environmental factors. All family members may have had deprived schooling, deficient diets, and continuing unemployment or had a comparable social class.

B.F Skinner was the most influential within the behavioural tradition. Skinner's key concern was to demonstrate empirically the nature and connection ...