Criminal behavior

Criminal behavior

Criminal behavior increases linkages between biological conditions and biological theories. Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theories facilitated theorists such as William Sheldon to perceive criminology as a form of a mesomorph, endomorph, and ectomorph body type. However, discussions arose over the possible combination of genetic abnormalities in the human body that facilitates criminal behavior. Notably, the analogy is that male individuals with an added Y-chromosome in an XY- trisomy enabling an XYY genetic trisomy combination tend to engage in criminal behavior. Criminal behavior today creates advances in biological theories that consider the environment to trigger physiological and physical criminal action. Thus, this paper provides a comprehensive analysis of biological theories, the role of law, definition of crime, causal logic, and implication of the criminal justice system.

In light of Gibbons (1994). people believe that crime is an association of political and sociological perspectives. Over the years, theorists have underplayed the essence of biology in criminal behavior. Today, behavioral genetics plays an essential role in determining the criminal behavior of an individual. Besides, biological factors facilitate aspects such as antisocial behavior hence leading to crime within society. According to biological theories in place, people commit crimes due to biological attributes fueled by the environment. Biological features incorporate genetic makeup, hormone imbalance, and chromosome balance. As described earlier genetic makeup directly influences chromosome balance in the human body system. An extra Y- chromosome in an XY genetic makeup of a male individual would easily lead to criminal behavior (Mannheim & Bernard, n.d.) Besides, environmental conditions also fuel the behavioral pattern of an individual. Arguably, Fishbein argues that normative and personal reasons influence the behavioral intentions of a person. Fischbein’s model is evidential in predicting the validity of behavioral intentions.

Fischbein’s model of normative and personal reasons applied in biological theory describes biological factors such as the adolescent period, choice behavior, and family planning (Miniard & Cohen, 1981). The adolescent period is a rite of passage for everybody in a society. It is the stage where biological genetics and hormone imbalance come into perspective. It is a stage where biology plays an essential role in molding one’s character and behavior. However, during this stage, individuals tend to engage in different behavioral patterns that do not please society. For instance, engaging in alcohol that drives an individual to criminal activity. In this regard, Fischbein’s normative reasoning comes into perspective that the adolescent stage is a normal biological stage that characterizes a person’s behavior, hence leasing to criminal behavior. During this stage, hormone imbalance is the perfect biological reason that leads to criminal behavior (Miniard & Cohen, 1981). The model of personal reason initiates biological aspects such as choice behavior in a community.

The primary role of law is to protect citizens from crimes and criminal behavior. In most cases, law advocates for the apprehension of criminals in the contemporary world. Crime, on the other hand, is deviating from normal behavioral patterns against the law. A criminal is a person deviating from normal behavior. Criminals are, by nature, known as lawbreakers in the contemporary. Nature has it that in every society, there must be one criminal or one mad man. However, nature also depicts the true instincts of a criminal. Nature describes the biological context of a criminal. According to Lanier (2018), biological theory illustrates that individuals with physical abnormalities tend to engage in criminal behavior, and that is nature from a broader perspective. Psychosis is also a form of biological, mental disorder facilitating biological theories in determining criminology as an aspect of biological complication. Given crimes committed, most criminals are morally inferior to personality disorder leading to crimes. On the other hand, the law views criminals as primitive individuals without a sense of empathy or morality. Biological theories depict the narrative mentioned above as criminal insanity that drives individuals to act primitively against the law.

Fischbein talks of behavioral intentions fueled by normative and personal reasoning models. The models named above lead to choice behavior. The application of the models is to predict behavioral actions in an individual. Behavioral intentions conclusively use predictive and diagnostic purposes in identifying dysfunctional behavior. The validity of deviating from the normal behavior prohibited by law uses personal and normative reasoning. However, without confidence, one is not able to deviate from normal behavior. Normative aspects like the adolescent stage of an individual create an imbalance in hormones, leading to inappropriate confidence, making one engage in criminal activities (Miniard & Cohen, 1981). Therefore, the evidence mentioned above is proof that crime is a deviation from normal behavior. Science is a subject that can measure what is normal to a person and the environment. Personal or normative reasoning of engaging in criminal behavior is an association of attitudinal and conceptual components in an individual. Fischbein depicts the fact that there is a distinction in thinking; there is always a formulation that implies influences resulting in criminal behavior.

Fischbein’s analogy on scientific behavior is that the surrounding influence matters a lot to an individual engaging in criminal behavior; hence, aid is required to curb criminal conduct within the society. According to Henry and Lanier (2009), the surroundings and the individual’s influence trigger differences in thinking. The surroundings triggering different thinking analogies often lead to drug and law-breaking hence leading to latent criminals. Causal logic is the cause of crimes that predispose an individual to criminal actions. Biological causes such as genetic inheritance often lead to criminal behavior. Notably, individuals who inherit genetic complications in their brains often are aggressive to their colleagues. Besides, direct biological factors such as menstrual periods experienced by female offenders also lead to aggressive behavior. Biological causes of criminal activity that indirectly facilitate criminal behavior, incorporate high testosterone, low IQ, and low serotine levels (Anderson, 2019). Besides, Fishbein believes that aggressive behavior directly links to criminal behavior since it depicts behavioral attitude fueled by personal reasons.

According to Biological theories, reduction of crime would include aspects such as diagnosis and rehabilitation. Through diagnosis, the criminal is subjected to the brain’s scanning to establish any form of biological disorder facilitating criminal behavior. Rehabilitation, on the other hand, involves aspects such as segregation or sentencing of mentally ill offenders. Therefore, separating criminals from society is the primary aspect that would reduce crime within a community (Rocque, Welsh & Raine, 2012). Fishbein believes that crime is the behavioral intention of an individual caused by behavioral attitude and conception, then biological aspects such as scanning would be appropriate in determining a criminal. Early age MRI scanning is essential in determining a criminal, hence measuring thinking and learning abilities. Distinguishing learning abilities at an early age would reduce levels of crime in a society. In this regard, Fishbein relates biological factors to criminal behavior by establishing the normative reasoning model (Fishbein, 1990). As described earlier, the normative reasoning model is the normal growth of an individual to adulthood. In the process, the child gets into the adolescent stage and develops hormonal imbalance making him engage in criminal activities such as being a sex offender. The effective approach in dealing with sex offenders, in this case, is the castration of the criminal hence reducing criminal behavior.

Despite biological theories determining criminal behavior in a society, some scholars criticize the notions and beliefs that no experiments define the relationship between biology and crime. In most cases, scholars believe that crime is a socially associated attribute within a society, and no biological aspect produces a criminal. In this regard, crime occurs differently in different cultures, and the conviction of a criminal is an establishment of a social phenomenon. Thus, scholars believe that various factors determine the criminal behavior in a community. The notion of non-biological factors interacting with biological factors is the primary causal factor of criminality. In essence, different societies limit biological factors compared to others. For instance, in the U.S, people have access to firearms leading to crime compared to countries such as Japan hence determining the narrative mentioned above that criminal behavior is a socially associated aspect.