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Sociological and Environmental Factorsof Criminal Behavior

A debate that continues to spawn controversy in many scientificdisciplines is on the topic of heredity and the influence genetics hason the overall character of a human being. More commonly referred toas the Nature versus Nurture debate, scientists as well as the averagecitizen are intrigued as to what determinants shape personalcharacter as well as individual behavior. There are several factors thatimpact an individuals destiny and through various studies,explanations, and theoretical models it becomes very apparent thatone isolatable factor is nearly impossible to distinguish.It is widely accepted that the model for the development of humanbehavior is extremely fluid and effected by several factors, not justgenes or environmental factors alone but in fact an interactionbetween the two. There are several important theories that do notadvocate the influence of heredity or environmental factors over oneanother but in fact display the importance of their interaction indetermining an individuals behavior. An individuals geneticdisposition is important in that it lays down a fundamental frameworkthat can be a guide for propensities of certain courses of action. It is afact that someone may be born with the disposition for a higher thanaverage intelligence but environmental factors play a tremendous rolein how this trait would be expressed. If an individual were to grow upin an environment that fostered the pursuit of academic interests, thisintellect trait would have the ability for increased expression ratherthan if the individual were in an environment that placed little valueon learning. This can in turn relate to criminal behavior and socialdeviance. Various developmental and sociological factors play a role inan individuals inclination towards exhibiting criminal behavior. This

section will focus more on social and environmental factors that havebeen shown to influence behavior. Individuals with certain geneticdispositions may be effected more than those without these traits butin all situations it has been determined that these factors can beattributed to shaping criminal behavior.

Genetic and Environmental Studies

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Perhaps one of the most fundamental studies influencing scientificopinions of nature vs. nurture would be a study done comparingmonozygotic versus dyzygotic twin pairs (Christiansen, 1977). In thisstudy, twin pairs were examined for the concordance of criminalbehavior for both twins. This is a study of particular interest becauseboth sets of twins were raised in the same environment but in onecase, the case of the monozygotic or identical twin sets, the siblingsare genetically identicalwhere as in the other case, the case of thedyzygotic or fraternal twin sets, the siblings are merelygenetically similar. The MZ twin pairs were found to have a 50%concordance (in one out of two cases both twins exhibited criminalbehavior) where in the DZ cases there was only 21% concordance.This illustrates a strong correlation of genetics and criminaldisposition but it also indicates the relative importance of

environmental factors as well; environmental factors influencecriminal behavior, which explains why there is not a 1:1 correlation ofgenetic disposition and criminal behavior.An additional study was performed more recently (Mednick, Gabrielli,and Hutchings, 1984) where family psychology vs. biological heredityin determining criminal behavior was examined. This study was doneusing identical twins that were adopted by two different families andraised apart from each other. It was observed that adopted childrenare as aggressive as their adoptive parents rather than their biological

parents. The results from both studies indicate that environment andgenetic disposition are equally as responsible in shaping humanbehavior.

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SocializationOne of the most important environmental factors during childhooddevelopment is that of socializationor the way a child is taught howto act. This refers to the period of childhood development whenchildren learn the rules and values of their society. This modelhypothesizes that initially children learn to merely obey the rules oftheir society. Certain actions are repeated because of directlycorrelated consequences. A child does not intuitively know thatstealing is wrong; they have to be taught through negativeconsequences that this behavior is not acceptable. They theninternalize these rules and eventually believe them to be

fundamentally correct. In other words, socialization refers to thedevelopmental period where the ideals of morality and sociallyacceptable behavior are instilled in a child. If a child is consistentlytaught how to act through both positive and negative reinforcement,the child will begin to exhibit certain characteristics because theybelieve them to be inherently correct. If a child is not taught how toproperly act or inconsistently reinforced, clear-cut moral obligations

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may not be instilled leading to effected social judgment and adisposition towards criminal behavior.

EducationAn important point to make is that levels of education have beendetermined to be significant in the manifestation of criminal behavior.Individuals with learning disabilities have been shown to be moreprone to violent behavior. The major reason for this is given in aninterrelated causal pattern of events with education at the center.School achievement is predictive of pro-social behavior or behaviorsdesignated as upholding the moral values of a society. This is becauseacademic achievement is interrelated in our society with several othervariables such as financial success, high self-esteem and an internal

locus of control. This particular model may account for reasoningbehind the general idea that individuals with a high IQ generally havefewer tendencies for criminal behavior than individuals with a low IQ.The hypothesis is that having a higher IQ results in easierachievement in school. As stated above, doing well academically isassociated with several societal factors as well. Individuals with alower IQ may not succeed as much academically which would resultin lower self-esteem and not as much financial success, resulting inan increased disposition for criminal behavior. It is important then tostress education and to address issues with learning disabilities at an

early age to disallow the appearance of these negative attributes.