Psychology of Criminal Behavior | Assignment

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR 1
Psychology of Criminal Behavior
Name
Institution

PSYCHOLOGY OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR 2
Psychology of Criminal Behavior
Executive summary
When it comes to identifying what factors intrigue an individual to commit negligent
Behavior, one can find themselves on an endless search for the exact answer. There has been an
extensive amount of researches done to determine what exactly activates an individual to select a
life of crime. The discussion of nurture vs nature remains a constant argument of which is more
responsible for individual development, either influences of external factors or inheritance of
internal factors. Many people believe that three key factors may lead an individual to the dark
path of destruction. Some of the influencing factors that shall be discussed in this paper are
separated into 3 categories; psychological, social, and biological. This paper is separated into
different parts.
Biological Theories
Biological theories attempt to describe behaviors contrary to societal expectations via
examination of personal characteristics. These theories are grouped within a paradigm known us
positivism, which proclaims that behaviors remain determined by factors beyond individual
control. Many researchers argue that biological theories are the biological nature of humans to
determine whether they shall commit criminal acts or not. Biological theories are usually tied in
with the concern of genetic and actual neurological brain issues (Fox, 2017). Determining if an
individual may tell the difference between right and wrong, or if an individual has any
connection with their emotions are key ways of identifying biological deficiencies. Individuals
with a personality disorder have a higher tendency of participating in delinquent Behavior. This
kind of Behavior could be violent, aggressive, impulsive actions, lack of attention, undertaking
things out of spit as well as feeling no guilt. Individuals on the more normal side that feel
remorse and have guilt may find it extremely confusing how a human being remains capable of

PSYCHOLOGY OF CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR 3
causing destruction and hurt to other people without feeling bad about it. Unluckily, it is just the
way the minds of these people remain structured. Many biological theories argue that the idea of
an individual’s brain structure normally determines their function. Such structures of the brain
are strongly focused on inheritance (Ling, Umbach & Raine, 2019). Also, some biological
factors shown to affect the behaviors of a person are hormone levels, traumatic brain injuries,
and mental illness. Therefore, the question we need to ask ourselves is that, could genetic be the
main root cause of CB (Criminal Behavior)?
It has been found that men may possibly carry an extra Y chromosome that could
possibly be linked to reasons for more aggression in them. Also, other genetic defects may
influence CB (Criminal Behavior). There is also some proof that confirms that DNA may be the
root cause. For example, abnormalities in central lobe (CL) in the brain might raise a lot of red
flags. This section of the brain regulates our emotions as well as emotional expression.
Neurotransmitter, which are messenger substances that arouse the excitation from one nerve cell
to other cells at chemical synapse produce dopamine and serotonin. When an individual is not
generating the correct chemical levels of dopamine and serotonin, the social behaviors of a
person may easily be affected. Many researchers argue that kids with deficient levels of
neurotransmitter are more likely to participate in criminal acts as compared to other kids.
The biological factors that have a great influence on criminal behavior is mental health
disorders. Mental health disorders are remains one of the main biological factors that predispose
an individual to involve in criminal activity. MHDs range from Bipolar Disorder (BD) to
Schizophrenia to personality disorders like Antisocial Personality Disorder, Borderline
Personality Disorder and Conduct Disorder. Therefore, it is true that individuals with MHD often