What is Nurture vs. Nature?

What is nurture versus nature? According to The Free Dictionary, nurture versus nature is a name given to a long-standing controversy as to the relative influences of genetics versus the environment in the development of personality. Nature is represented by instincts, and genetic factors, and nurture by social influences (Elsevier 2009). This topic is discussed when we can't label a criminal as being born or raised. Our idea of criminals may be a basic one; "a person commits a crime, therefore he is a criminal." This doesn't bring in the motive for the act, why motivates a person to commit a crime against another? Is there a textbook definition of why people become criminals? We can discuss this topic with different viewpoints for hours, days, even months. Was Jimmy born a serial killer or did something in his childhood trigger a reaction and caused Jimmy to commit heinous acts against other human beings? Was Tommy born a pedophile or did an event in his life cause him to become one in his adulthood? We don't have definite, concrete answers, but there are studies done by scientists that can explain this topic a bit more. PscyNET has a definition by Plomin as follows: Examining nurture and nature in terms of their interplay in the development of individual differences (American Psychological Association 2010). Therefore, we see here, that nature versus nurture is also the way human minds are developed towards crime. As stated, we will study various viewpoints and discuss each side thoroughly. One opinion on nurture and one on nature, but we can't be biased to one side, or we won't attain the full understanding of the term. Hopefully we have a open mind, unbiased, and open to new opinions. As a criminology student, we have to look at both faces of the coin. The point is that nurture and nature are very different, their definitions vary and they results vary. Are criminals born or are criminals raised in society? Let's look at examples of cases where either can be a possibility. You can make your choice in the end and decide where you stand.

The human body is born with many functions, many parts, many ways to grow, and many ways to manifest itself in this world. We, as humans, can think, we can reason, we can study facts and get the information we seek. According to Wolfe, The same brain cells can be used many times to recall similar lines, colors or smells. The various elements of past experience reside all over the brain-in the visual cortex, auditory cortex, and other areas ( Pat Wolfe 2001). This shows us that our brain is a factory of thought, a power plant of information that is constantly being fed. Our brain is so complex that we can talk, see, and walk all at the same time. Our vocal chords produce sound, our eyes detect light and break it down into visual images, and our brain sends our body electrical signals that allow us to move. All at the same time, so we, human beings, are a pretty complex system. My chemistry professor once said, "take care of your body, it is very expensive real estate" (Sapna Gupta 2010). How can this be related to nature and criminal behavior? Well, we are born with complex brain functions; what if some can be born with predetermined genetic structures that control the urges for criminal behavior? Nicole Hahn Rafter writes in her book, Creating Born Criminals, where she researched eugenics, the breeding of humans and states: "born criminals or offenders who are doomed from birth to commit crime." She also states that there were actual states in the late nineteenth century who established eugenic institutions and they incarcerated people who could be criminalistics and stopped them from breeding.(Creating Born Criminals, Nicole Hahn Rafter 1998). This means that people had an idea about criminals being born, so in order to stop crime from growing, they would incarcerate people related to criminals in order to control the situation. Schmallerger in Criminology Today tells a story about a man that became a pedophile because of a brain tumor. The research talks about two researchers from the Virginia Medical School that had a case of a man who had a tumor and started to commit pedophilia crimes. Schmallerger states that these researchers said this man was married and had no previous history of pedophilia (Schmallerger 2009). In some cases we can see that the human mind might take over and control the individual's criminal behavior, this man who never had a criminal history as a pedophile started his acts because it was triggered by a brain tumor. This is an example of a criminal behavior related to nature. Before he had the tumor, the man was a good man. No pedophilia, but afterward when the tumor grew, he became a pedophile with strong sexual urges. Schmallerger also says that the man's behavior went back to normal after the tumor was removed. I want to illustrate and example, what happens when a child is found himself locked in a room with a sibling of the same age. Let's say they are 8 years old, if one of the children fires a gun found on the floor, and shoots his brother, was this act a cause of nature or nurture? Well, we would have to study this case to come to a conclusion, but what if we have two boys. The same age, just as the previous scenario, however, in this case the two boys are in two different rooms. Let's say one of the boys is exposed to violent video games, violent movies, and loud music. The other boy lives life normally and has no health issues. Which boy do you think will be tempted to pick up the gun and shoot the other? The boy who was exposed to the violence or the boy who was living a normal life? It's up to you to choose, but the fact is that this topic ranges from the life of a normal person being altered by genetics and the life of a normal person being altered by his environment. Crime can be born and it can be raised. Let's look up at the side of nurture in specific way and we'll be able to compare and contrast later to see which side makes more sense. Of course, there is no right or wrong, but there is an opinion and everyone is entitled to it.

The way we are brought up can be very different with each person's background. We have Caucasian, American families, African American families, Hispanic families, and Asian families. Amongst those we have the rich, the middle class and the poor; in those classes, we have the good people, who live a healthy life, out of crime, then we have the other people that live a life related to crime; the criminals. I see that more and more children are now exposed to video games, to violent movies, and to violent acts. They see, hear, and act out what their parents do. They go to school and basically "role play" what their parents do at home. If a child sees his father beat up his mother, that boy might go to school and pick on girls, he might smack some around, he might sexual touch others, and in the end, this child will end up in jail for sexually harassing or raping a young woman. We see this because the child learns this from home, they are not born criminals, but they are brought up in a criminal society. An institution that promotes crime will eventually cause a person to commit crime. A young man that has a brother who is a drug dealer will most likely become part of the drug life himself, maybe not as a drug dealer, but as a consumer, maybe a gangster. It is tough to look at criminal behavior this way because we are forced to judge, we are forced to point the finger and label people who are in these situations and call them criminals. We are forced to say that they will grow up to be criminals, the fact is, that people learn what others do, but they have to be very strong-willed in order to ignore the crime others do and not be part of it. Schmallerger says, with the definition of the Learning theory, that all behavior is learned in much the same way and that crime, like other forms of behavior, is also learned (Schmallerger 300). This explains what I said before, that humans learn from each other and learn crime by being exposed to other people's criminal behavior.

We have looked at both sides of the coin when it comes to nurture versus nature. We can see that the topic is very difficult to explain because everyone can have a different opinion of it. We see criminology through the eyes of a criminal and the eyes of law enforcement to make sure we make no mistakes when it comes to solving a crime. It is in the hands of the judge and the jury to decide the fate of a person who has committed a crime. We mentioned that the brain has many nerves that control many parts of the human body in a complex way. We saw how a tumor can affect a person's life, where crime was no part of the man's life, but after the tumor was found, the man became a criminal. We saw the result when the tumor was removed; the man's behavior went back to normal. There were examples of children being born into a normal life versus children born in a chaotic, criminal environment. Crime does not discriminate to race or gender or social background. Rich and poor alike can become criminals, some may be born as criminals with chemical imbalances in their brains, while others can grow up around a criminal environment and become criminal people themselves. We can see that crime is learned, this is explained with the learning theory, that basically says that crime can be learned just as any other thing can be learned by a person from another person. To summarize, nature verses nurture is a phrase that can sum up all of criminal activity. It explains crimes down to the smallest detail and can place criminals in different categories. The ones born criminals, ones that have genes in their bodies that make them criminals; as the ones that are brought up by society and become criminals because they don't know any better. My only opinion on this issue is the fact that video games, violent movies, and learned behavior can influence a child in becoming a criminal and it has to be monitored as soon as signs start to show criminal behavior. In the end, its either nature of nurture. It is up to you to decide your side, the facts are there.

References

Elsevier. (n.d.). Nature versus nurture. Medical Dictionary. Retrieved April 17, 2010, from http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Nature+vs+nurture

Plomin, R. (n.d.). Genetics and experience. PsycNET. Retrieved April 17, 2010, from psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1996-97203-000

Rafter, N. (1997). Creating Born Criminals. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

Schmallerger, F. (2009). Criminology Today (5th ed.). Saddle River, New Jersey : Pearson Prentice Hall.

Wolfe, P. (2001). Brain matters: translating research into classroom practice. Alexadria, Virginia: association for supervision and curriculum development.