Contemporary Biological Definition

Because MAOA and CDH13 have been more readily linked to living a life of crime in the science world and in media, some criminals and lawyers are now taking advantage of it and using it as a bargaining tool, much like pleading insanity. Although it may seem like an easy way to get a plea bargain it may also hold the incarcerated more liable if they had previous knowledge of such gene. While it is very obvious that people will be subject to things beyond their control whether through genetic, biological, or environmental influence one thing they can choose is their free

1. Describe and the biological and psychological factors that contribute to crime and deviance within our society today. There are many factors that suggest that abnormal human traits tend to lead someone to the life of crime. The trait theories are divided into two groups – biological makeup and psychological ideals. The biological makeup tends to say that they the physical and mental makeup of someone tends to make them either lead a life of crime or know the difference. Cesare Lombroso studied “scientific” factors of crime and came up with some very interesting theories about the mental/physical aspects of criminal traits and activities.

One of the first things that come to people’s minds when they hear the word psychopath is Ted Bundy. Bundy spent most of the 1970’s killing 30 or more young woman who happened to resemble his ex-girlfriend in some way. The exact time and number of Bundy’s kills will likely never be known. Ted Bundy is what is considered a successful psychopath. Psychopathy is a form of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Not every person with ASPD is a psychopath, but every psychopath has ASPD. No one knows exactly what causes this disorder, but there has been some speculation over the decades. The two main ideas is that an genetic influence causes psychopathy or an environmental influence causes psychopathy. The neurotransmitter MAOA has been linked to several brain structural differences in the brains of a psychopath when compared to the brain of a non-psychopathic person. Multiple studies have linked childhood abuse to the psychopathy development. Both of these causes have been shown to influence psychopathy development but it is my hypothesis that genetics hold

What causes people to commit crime? This million dollar questions has place many criminologists and researchers searching for answers. In the past decades, people have tried to explain crime by referring to the earliest literature of criminal’s atavistic features to human biology. Recent studies have shows that crime is described in the social environment. While, no one theory can prove the causes of crime, strain theory has gain support in academic research for its five mode of adaptation.

It was not a topic that was brought up earlier, because there was tainted history of using biology to figure logistics of criminal behavior. Instead, criminologists look at social and environmental factors such as poverty rates, drug/weapon accessibility, and socialization. Over 100 studies have shown genes play a role in crime. Kevin Beaver, an associate professor at Florida State University’s College of Criminology and Criminal Justice states approximately 50 percent of a human’s aggressive behavior is comprised of the thousands of expressed genes affected by the environment (Cohen). The other half of a human’s aggressive behavior is usually environmental or social factors such as, neighborhood, wealth, and education. It is important to also know the other factors that “make” someone a criminal because it will also help researcher see what else contributes to criminal activity (Eysenck).

Everyday a different crime is committed; however, the reason or motive behind it is not always understood. Over the years, theories were developed to explain why certain crime occurs. For example, Andrea Yates was a mother of 5 who drowned her children due to a mental illness she endured, but there are many theories that play a vital role in explaining why she committed this crime. The theories that will be discussed throughout this paper are the Biosocial Trait Theory and the General Strain Theory.

Modern biology is focused more on understanding behavior, like violence and crime, through research on indicators and influences. Rather than attempting to determine a single root cause, researchers are discovering markers of predisposition and identifying factors of risk. In a recent interview about his new book, The Anatomy of Violence: The Biological Roots of Crime, criminologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Adrian Raine asserts that there is a “biology of violence” that should not be ignored; “Just as there’s a biological basis for schizophrenia and anxiety disorders and depression… there’s a biological basis also to recidivistic violent offending” (Gross, 2013).

A much discussed gene in the field of genetic psychology is the MAOA gene which encodes the MAO-A enzyme. Monoamine oxidase A is an enzyme that can degrade amine neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin. Several variants of the gene are seen in humans due to different combinations of the alleles that make it up. MAOA-L, a variant of the gene linked with aggressive and violent behaviour - predominantly amongst men - has earned itself the nickname ‘the warrior gene’ and is cited as a cause for antisocial behavioural tendencies. Following the large extent of research around the gene and its translation onto peoples’ behaviour, the presence of the gene has been argued in court as a grounding for defence in situations where

Another example Karoliszyn uses in his article on predictive policing is the idea that genetic makeup could potentially be a cause of violent behavior. He states, “In years to come, many legal experts speculate, brain scans and DNA analysis could help to identify potential criminals at the young age of three.” The warrior gene is one of the things that scientist are looking for in these DNA tests and brain scans. This gene codes for the monoamine oxidase enzyme (MAOA). In “The Warrior Gene: Epigenetic Considerations,” it talks about the actions of those with the warrior gene. “Antisocial and violent behavior may or may not be associated with psychological measures that indicate an underlying personality disorder,” states the author of “The Warrior Gene: Epigenetic

Criminals are born not made is the discussion of this essay, it will explore the theories that attempt to explain criminal behavior. Psychologists have come up with various theories and reasons as to why individuals commit crimes. These theories represent part of the classic psychological debate, nature versus nurture. Are individuals predisposed to becoming a criminal or are they made through their environment. There are various theories within the biological explanation as to why individuals commit criminal behavior, these include: genetic theory, hereditary theory,.

However, while the overstimulation of the Id and the failure to acquire and develop the the Ego and SuperEgo leads to criminal tendencies, while aggression may be out of adaptive values, and while genetic studies have pointed towards the influence of genes and criminal behaviour, these theories alone are insufficient to account for crime. Evolutionary theory does not explain or predict for the extreme degrees of aggression in individuals nor has the genetic theory proven for 100% heritability; which raises the need for us to examine the Nurture camp of crime theories as well.

Researchers have also looked at criminal behavior from a genetic aspect. In fact, "behavioral genetic research has show that genes influence individual differences in a wide range of human behaviors -cognition, academic achievement, personality and temperament (including such traits as aggression and hostility), psychopathology, and even vocational interests and social attitudes" (Meadows, 2010, P.16). There may in fact be a connection between how an individual is wired and the behavior that results. This does not necessarily mean that some individuals are inevitably going to become a criminal. However, some individuals may simply have a greater tendency "to be more aggressive and thus less likely to control emotions absent some type of positive interventions" (Meadows, 2010, P. 16). Furthermore, genetic research looks at the heritability of certain disorders and specific genes that

When looking at criminal activity and the direct connection to the criminal behavior we see that there have been many research trials that have taken place over the history of humankind (Mishra & Lalumiere, 2008). Two of these research areas that have been developed to attempt to understand the causes of criminal behavior are known as biological and psychological perspectives of crime causation. These two sectors have their principles that are held in their theories as a standard scientific understanding of the basics that each evaluation of criminal behavior is built on (Dretske, 2004).

The biology and environment play a huge role in these offender’s lives. The interaction between neurological and having a disadvantaged environment can put them at a higher risk of becoming an offender. These offenders can be seen as psychopaths because of the factors that are a play. Throughout their childhood they begin to have antisocial conduct. Then during adolescence they begin to have cumulative consequences and in adulthood they start to commit criminal behavior.

His father had fatally shot his mother and killed himself. “After the desultory earlymorning quarrel came the halfstifled scream, and then the sound of his father's voice counting three, and the two loud pistol shots and he tiptoed into the dark room, where the two bodies lay motionless, and apart, and, finding them dead, found himself possessed of them forever” (Whitman). From this point in his life he secluded himself from most of the outside world. Throughout his life, he was afraid that, like his