Criminal or antisocial behavior Essay
Criminal or antisocial behavior has always been a debating question in criminology. It is a well-known fact that child behavior predicts future adult behavior. So, namely, what indicators predict whether a child will become an active adult offender? We can distinguish four main indicators: family environment, social environment, child abuse and heritability. Facing cold harsh parent attitude, having divorced or separated parents in childhood also causes criminal behavior in adulthood. According to Wright, J. P., Tibbetts, S. G., & Daigle, L. E. (2008), “mechanisms that translate crime from one generation to the next are likely complicated and varied, basic research in this area demonstrate that criminal parents are more likely to have offspring who themselves engage in delinquent behavior” (p. 32). Social environment is crucial in the shaping of a child’s personality. Living in a big family with low income, poor housing, having teenage/single mother or unemployed parents can’t help a child to develop into a normal adult. Growing in such environment can cause aggressive violet behavior in future. Child abuse (child maltreatment, neglect, physical, sexual, psychological abuse) always leads to fear, long-term depression, hostility, anger, low self-estimation level. These are classical characteristics of the inner world of an adult offender. Obviously, we can conclude that there is a complex interaction between all above-mentioned indicators that are predicting whether a child will become an active adult offender or not. Early identification and careful investigation of these indicators appears to be extremely important for U. S. society on its way to adult crime prevention.
What biological factors appear to influence criminal propensity? It is stated by Wright, J. P., Tibbetts, S. G., & Daigle, L. E. (2008) “that linking biological functioning to criminal behavior is still intellectually unpopular among many criminologists” (p.56). But still a lot of scientists are interested in this field of study and they all come to a conclusion that main biological factors influencing criminal propensity are the next three: genetics, neurotransmitters and neurobiology. Most recent researches show that there is evidence proving the existence of genetic connection with violent crime and chronic offending. It has also been found that adults abused in childhood having a genotype that confers a low level of the enzyme monoamine oxidase can be predisposed to violent or antisocial behavior. As for neurotransmitters, they are chemicals located in the brain to allow an impulse from one nerve cell to pass to another nerve cell. Hormones are chemicals used by the body to communicate between cells. Numerous studies have tried to find links between such hormones as serotonin, dopamine and nor epinephrine and criminal behavior. Only serotonin appeared to influence criminal behavior. Scientists found out that low levels of this hormone can cause childhood conduct disorders, antisocial personality disorders and criminal antisocial behavior, especially crimes committed by impulsivity. Neurobiology is the study that focuses on the structure and function of the human brain. There are over a hundred billion neurons in it. New technologies like magnetic resonance imaging gave us new information on brain functioning. It had been found that prefrontal damage caused by birth complications, alcohol, drugs or head injury is connected with criminal behavior. A person with such kind of damage has limited ability to control its aggressive feelings. We can also mention some socio-biological factors that can affect a person’s risk to be involved in criminal antisocial offending. They are: mental health (or mental disorders); low intelligence level; poor diet; hyperactivity; some kind of hormones like cortisol and famous testosterone; environment pollutants. As well as biological, these factors can also influence an individual’s biological propensity for criminal behavior.
