Many people argue that nurture is the reason for someone to become a criminal rather than nature and vice versa. It is still questionable whether or not nature or nurture is the cause for criminal tendencies. Although some people believe that it is one or the other, there are always exceptions. So, in some cases, nature will be the cause for someone becoming a criminal and in other cases nurture will be the cause for someone becoming a criminal. When a child is brought up in a home will no rules or discipline, they have a higher chance of growing up with criminal tendencies. There is also a belief that people pass down criminal minds and tendencies from generation to generation.
The debate of nature being the cause of someone being a criminal is that our genetics and heredity are the main causes for such behavior. For example, if a kid has one or two parents that are criminals or have criminal tendencies, then they are most likely going to grow up a criminal too. Another factor that involves genetics is that people with mental problems/disorders such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and a personality disorder are more likely to have criminal tendencies. People that have mental disorders can’t control their actions at times, which ends up causing them to act up and sometimes even commit crimes. In some cases, people with personality disorders have blacked out and did not remember acting out or committing crimes, even ones as bad as murder. A study done by the University of Minnesota, discovered that twins that are separated at birth have shown that genetics has a significant impact on human behavior, especially regarding criminal activity (Schram & Tibbetts, 2018, p. 145).
When it comes to nature, you have to look at the genetics of people. A study was done on people with chromosomal mutations and how they impacted criminal behavior of people, which is known as cytogenetic studies. Even though no specific mutation causes a person to become a criminal, the study showed that “…each of these groups of chromosomal mutation produced male hormones, the more likely the individuals were to commit crimes and deviant acts.” The study also discovered that, “…the more the chromosomal mutation produced feminine hormones, the less likely the individuals were to commit criminal acts.” (Schram & Tibbetts, 2018, 147). The study basically said that the “manlier” an individual is, the more likely they are to have criminal like behavior. Hormones and neurotransmitters can also cause someone to engage in criminal like behavior. When there is an over production of hormones, such as testosterone, the individual is more likely going to act aggressively and have criminal like behavior. The two main neurotransmitters that are connected to criminal activity are dopamine and serotonin. Dopamine is mostly linked to the sensation of feeling good. Serotonin is mostly linked to processing information. Low levels of both dopamine and serotonin has been linked to high rates of criminal activity. According to the book, Introduction to Criminology, “…there is a curvilinear relationship between dopamine and criminal behavior, such as that both extremely high and extremely low levels of dopamine are associated with deviance.” (Schram & Tibbetts, 2018, 152).
Another factor of nature being the reason for criminal activity is addiction. Addiction can sometimes be caused by genetics being passed down from family members. Alcoholism can cause people to have criminal behaviors and commit crimes even if they do not have that type of behavior when they are not drinking. When someone is an alcoholic, they tend to not know when to stop drinking when they are drinking and end up getting intoxicated. Most intoxicated people act out in bad ways because they can’t control their actions, which sometimes leads to them committing a crime. The most common alcohol related crime is drinking and driving. According to Addiction Resource, more than 1.1 million Americans are arrested for drinking and driving. Other crimes related to alcohol are assaults, domestic and stranger violence, homicide, and rape. As stated by Addiction Resource, the following statistics show the connection between alcohol and violence that occurs every year: 86% homicides, 40% child abuse incidents, 15% robberies, 37% rape and sexual assaults, 27% aggravated assaults, and 25% simple assaults. Besides alcoholism, drug and substance abuse is another cause for criminal activity. Drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, LSD, PCP, methamphetamine, etc. According to American Addiction Centers, a study done in Memphis, Tennessee showed that 92% of domestic assault assailants were drug and alcohol users, and two-thirds of the them consumed alcohol and cocaine together.
The debate of nurture being the cause of someone being a criminal is that our community, family, friends, and other things in our environment are the causes for such behavior. For example, when a kid is brought up in a tough neighborhood, such as the hood or the projects, they have to learn to be tough and street-smart. Most of the time having to be tough and street-smart causes kids to act out in order to “fit in” with the people in their neighborhood, which eventually causes them to have criminal tendencies and become a criminal. Other than a child or adult’s neighborhood being bad, another thing that could cause someone to become a criminal is abuse whether it is emotionally, physically or sexually. According John Hegger, “…adults who had been physically, sexually, and emotionally abused as children were three times more likely than were non-abused adults to act violently as adults”.
To continue on child abuse and domestic violence, being exposed to emotional harm can lead to a person having criminal like behavior. John Hegger also stated, “… adults who had been physically, sexually, and emotionally abused as children were three times more likely than were non-abused adults to act violently as adults.”
Lately, bullying has become a major cause of people having criminal behavior. When students in school get bullied, they get depressed, lonely, and upset. Getting bullied causes emotions inside people build up and sometimes even blowup. Holding in feelings can cause people to blowup without them thinking of what problems their actions will cause. In some incidents, people have gotten so angry and emotional that they end up shooting up a school. One example would be the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School occurred in Parkland, FL. The shooter attended the high school one year previous of the shooting. Like most school shooters, he did not have a very stable home life. The shooter, Nikolas Cruz, would always act up in school and made jokes about threatening to shoot up the school or that he would bring his guns to school. During his senior year, which was a year prior of the shooting, he had gotten expelled for disciplinary issues. According to Miami Herald, Cruz felt suicidal and was upset because he was bullied, which caused him to become angry and hate the school. Cruz talked about these problems with a girl he knew online who stated, “He said he was, like, pushed around and beat up some time. … He said it made him feel very, like, sad and that he hated the school because of it.” Before the shooting took place, he took a video of himself where he talks about how he is going to be “the next school shooter of 2018” and that he has a goal to kill at least 20 people with an AR-15. In the video, which was posted by Miami Herald, he also talks about how it is going to be a big event, and even laughs and says that he can’t waitI personally know someone who has become a criminal because of both nature and nurture. My biological mother has is a criminal because her mental disorders and the environment. She is bipolar, so she tends to get mad and blow up from time to time. When she blows up, she tends to act out and commit crimes because she is not thinking straight. Besides her mental disorder, her environment has also led her to have criminal tendencies. After graduating high school, she always hung around with the wrong crowd, the ones that always partied and got in trouble. She then got into doing drugs because of those “friends” and ended up committing crimes at the same time.
