This document discusses the nature vs. nurture debate around criminal behavior. It examines several case studies of violent criminals and their psychosocial backgrounds. Criminologists cited believe both biological and environmental factors contribute to criminal actions. Childhood experiences like dysfunctional families, abuse, and poor social bonds can influence development in ways that increase criminal risk. However, biological factors like brain chemistry and genetics are also relevant. The debate around the root causes of crime will likely continue as societies and understanding of human behavior evolve over time.

1. Biosocial
Nature or Nurture

2. First Degree Murder/Robbery


Victim: Katana King, killed by Watson during a cellphone robbery.
Parents: Father not around. Mother was an alcoholic. The day she gave birth
to Prince her Alcohol blood level was 0.28 because she had gin for breakfast.

Childhood: Marijuana use at the age of 13, on medication for hyperactive
disorder and mood swings, dropped out of high school, sister murdered by her
husband, found mother dead on the front porch from an overdose, brother
sentenced to 18 years for robbing a cab driver. (Meisner 2013).

Criminologist: : Jack Levin “ psychological characteristics alone cannot
explain his actions, they are also influenced by the social environment in which they
function.” (Adler 2010).

3. Serial Killer

Victims: 10 Women, shot , raped , stabbed, beheaded, dismembered.
Parents: Father didn’t want him. Mother displayed anti-personality disorders, she

Childhood: Extremely bright (IQ. 136). Displayed antisocial behavior such as

Criminologist: Jack Levin “ psychological characteristics alone cannot explain

Neuroscientist: Asa Bergvall “ violent offenders have an impaired ability to

was also abusive to Edmund.
cruelty to animals.
his actions, they are also influenced by the social environment in which they function.
(Adler 2010).
shift their attention in order to view the world in a different way-a function linked to the
prefrontal cortex.” (Wallace 2010).

4. 
Brain development: Prefrontal cortex, if damaged can result in
psychopathic behavior and the inability to make morally and socially acceptable
behavior.

Genetics: Behavior genetics tries to tease out the heritability component
from the environmental contribution to various traits and behaviors, such as IQ or
violence.

Autonomic nervous system (Ans): Psychopaths are said
to be impulsive and unemotional because their ANSs are more difficult to
condition due to low arousal thresholds, while their low levels of fear and anxiety
also seems to be associated with a chemical imbalance between the behavioral
activation system (BAS), which is sensitive to dopamine, a neurotransmitter that
facilitates goal-directed behavior, and the behavioral inhibition system (BIS), which
is sensitive to serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps us to manage risk. (Lilly
2011).

5. 
Relationship with parents: The social bond of attachment.
Closeness leads youths to care about parents’ opinions, including their disapproval
of “bad behavior.” The mothers role in a child's life is critical, kids that don’t get
affection from there mother don’t know how to have feelings for others.

Environment: Structural adversity, the result of exposure to family
disorganization and ineffective parenting, school failure, and association with
delinquent peers.

Education: Low IQ, low grades, disliking school environment, alienation
from school, rejection of authority, these plus other factors are associated with
increasing likelihood of delinquency. (Lilly 2011)

6. 
Antisocial behavior: A developmental trait that begins early in life
and often continues into adolescence and adulthood.

Dysfunctional families: Harsh and inconsistent discipline, little
positive parental involvement with the child , and poor monitoring and
supervision. Gerald Patterson's social-interactional perspective takes the view that
family members directly train the child to perform antisocial behaviors.

Antisocial children: As they move outside the home they manifest
child conduct problems. They are ill suited for the school environment and are
likely to fail academically. As they move into late childhood and early adolescence,
these youngsters gravitate toward deviant peer group membership.

7. 
Antisocial conduct: Antisocial conduct is largely a theory of
continuity in offending, in which social-interactional processes increasingly
constrain individuals to remain on deviant life courses.

Offending: Late on-onset boys are both moderately deviant and
moderately skilled. They are less likely to persist and more likely to desist from
serious offending.

Bonds: If meaningful social bonds are established during adulthood, they can
function as a turning point that leads offenders into conformity. Weak social bonds
underlie continuity, strong social bonds underlie change. (Lilly 2011).

8. 
The debate over why crimes are committed will continue to be debated over time.
Theories will continue to be shaped by social experiences and corresponding views
of the world. Changes in society will determine how we think and what we do
about crime. What I have learned, is that biosocial and social environment play a
role in the development of Street crime, murder, and white collar crime.

9. 



Adler, F., Muller, G., Lauer, W. 2010. Criminology seventh edition. P. 228.
Lilly, J., Cullen, F., Ball, R. 2011. Criminological Theory context and consequences.
5th edition. 14. 351-382.
Meisner, J., Gorner, J. Teen Pleads Guilty In Death Of Women Pushed Down CTA
Stairs. The Chicago Tribune.com. Retrieved November, 21, 2013.
Wallace, K. 2010. Are Serial Killers Born Or Made. www.suite101.com. Retrieved
November 20, 2013.