Research Paper Rough Draft There are many biological theories in criminology that attempt to explain behaviors that contrast with society’s expectations; these theories are within a paradigm known as positivism. The theory of positivism, asserting that criminal behavior is beyond ones’ control, can be used to explain why that individual committed the crime, as opposed to the crime being due to a rational choice made. The brains of violent offenders are different from other individuals in structure and in function. This part of the brain controls “deeper and more primitive subconical structures […] which are thought to give rise aggressive feelings.…
There are many theories in the field of criminology. There are the biological theories, the psychological theories, and the sociological theories. The biological theories connect violence and criminal tendencies with certain biological characteristics. A criminologist, William Sheldon, had a theory that criminal behavior was more common in those of athletic people than tall,skinny,stout,or unmuscular people.…
To some, the biology of the killers also plays a role in their understanding. Main biological factors include, physical trauma, brain damage, and genetic traits. An example of this idea is in a study done by Adrian Raine, professor of psychology at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. He was given a result that strongly implies “that birth complications can lead to mild brain damage that may go unnoticed throughout childhood, yet predispose a boy to violent behavior in adulthood.” (Gerdes 93).…
According to my personal view, I believe that criminal behavior is not biologically determined. In order to be biologically determined the person should have mental illness that drive him or her to commit crimes. But, not everyone is born mental who committing crime. We also have people with clean backgrounds with not history of crime at all; then how to learn criminal behavior? Everything is just learned based on where you live, how you live, education, and family support.…
In today’s society there are multiple assumptions on violence committed by youth. Many assume violence is an innate trait. If an adult shows traits of violence and aggression then one typically generalizes it’s a result from being born with that demeanor. One might also assume that this character flaw can never be changed or adapted. From this perspective, the belief holds that once a violent person, always a violent person.…
(Saul McLeod) And Bandura 's (1977) social learning theory that tells aggression is a learned from the environment someone is placed in through observation and imitation. So looking into to the fringes of society, where many fear to go, inside the minds of four vicious murders, to find an answer to the previous question, what causes serial killers to become what they are: Nature or nurture? The first killer that I will consider is Jeffery Dahmer. Jeffery was the first child of Lionel and Joyce Dahmer.…
Terrorism is a gigantic problem in our world today. The truth is, as big of a problem as it’s become; it is still one of the least understood topics in law enforcement. The research in this area is very controversial, and is widely disagreed upon by scholars, so I thought I’d take this time to apply some modern criminal deterrence theories to terrorism. One of the major problems with terrorism is that it’s not easily observed. The American Psychological Association states, “terrorists aren't likely to volunteer as experimental subjects, and examining their activities from afar can lead to erroneous conclusions.…
For this week’s unit paper we are to summarize and provide an example of how biological, sociological, and psychological theories of crime causation affect human behavior and actions. Biological theories believe that somewhere there is a biological difference that make criminals commit crimes. There are two different theories that I feel could relate to this and those two would be neuroscience and genetics. Many people do not understand that the brain is very complex and fragile organ which can be damaged by traumatic injury, tumors, neurodevelopment disorders, neurodegenerative disorders, vascular lesions and many other causes. You may hear this in the court room a lot of times especially with juvenile’s.…
Throughout the history of time, there have been many different types of serial killers and psychopaths. They have ranged in age, location, gender, religion, and upbringing. The great debate of nature vs nurture always arises when asked what caused the people to do it. Was it because of nature of the beast, or did the person have a traumatic up bringing? Nature vs nurture is not a black and white statement, it is a combination of both that makes the person do and act out the way they did.…
Or we can say that it is some mental imbalance that caused a person to become that way. Obviously every situation is different. Some more obvious than others. What I took away from this exercise is the fact that there seems to be a “violent gene”. I’m not sure I believe it though.…
As the book stated, biological explanations have not been well received by many people despite a growing body of evidence that biology plays an important role in human behavior. Most researchers studying antisocial behavior concentrate their studies on the frontal and temporal lobes because these lobes are involved with goal directed behavior, impulses, and emotion. “Over 70 studies examining sex differences in brain functioning found evidence that men are more antisocial, commit more serious types of offenses, and more often have more serious childhood conduct disorders” (Pollock, 2017, p.88). Much research gives explanations that we commit good or bad acts because of biological predispositions. When explaining how these biological approaches might explain antisocial behavior, we have to…
Serial killers are as fascinating as they are horrifying. As much as we fear them, we are intrigued in learning about them and knowing their story. Today our society is filled with shows like “Dexter” and “Criminal Minds” that gives a glimpse of serial killers. We enjoy watching it on television or reading about it in books or on the internet. Scholars take hours out of their day to studying these murders and crimes.…
These common characteristics demonstrate a relationship between impaired brain usage and crime. The human brain facilitates all human behavior; violence, aggression, ideology, fear, as well as “all human emotional, behavioral, cognitive and social functioning. This three pound mass of 100 billion neurons and 1000 billion glial cells is infinitely complex,” says Dr. Bruce D. Perry, M.D., Ph.D., an internationally recognized authority on brain development (Perry). Clara Moskowitz, an active writer on Livescience, who holds a graduate certificate in science writing, signifies that those with antisocial personality disorders “typically have no regard for right and wrong” and “they may often violate the law and the rights of others” (Moskowitz). Since this antisocial personality disorder can characterize many certain criminals at this time, scientists look to what may make an individual behave like that of a felon.…
And when aggression is more narrowly defined as simple physical violence, the connection all but disappears” (par. 12). This confirms my thought that testosterone cannot be blamed for men’s violence. Men’s toughness is displayed in every aspect of their…
Learning about the various biological, sociological, and psychological theories of criminality gave me an understanding of what leads individual’s to commit a crime. Theories of the causes of crime is a growing body of evidence about the factors that place people at risk of criminal offending. Biological, sociological, and psychological theories focus on anatomical, physiological or genetic abnormalities and their contributions to crime. “Biological theories about causes of crime focus on the idea that the physical body, though inherited genes, evolutionary factors, brain structures, or the role of hormones, has an influence in an individual’s involvement un criminal behavior” (Causes of Crime, 2009). Biological theory of criminology explore…