Criminology Assignment: Biological Factors, OJ Simpson Case Analysis

This criminology assignment delves into two key areas: the influence of biological characteristics on criminal behavior and an analysis of the O.J. Simpson case. The first part examines the historical and contemporary perspectives on the role of heredity, twin studies, and adoption studies in understanding criminal tendencies. It highlights the arguments for and against the inheritance of criminal behavior, with references to notable studies and researchers. The second part provides a detailed account of the O.J. Simpson case, including the events leading up to the murders, the trial, and the verdict. It then explores the social reactions to the case, particularly the racial divide in public opinion, and analyzes the case through various sociological perspectives, including functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. The assignment emphasizes the role of race, inequality, and the criminal justice system's impact on perceptions of guilt and justice.

Running Head: CRIMINOLOGY
Criminology
Name
Institution

CRIMINOLOGY 2
Criminology
Assignment 1
There is a mounting literature on the role of biological characteristics and the antisocial,
violence and criminal behavior among children in the society. Modern biological theorists in
criminology explore the whole range of biological characteristics towards the cause of criminal
behavior, comprising those that emanate from genetic defects. Explanations of human behavior
regarding heredity can traced back to ancient times and are founded on the logic examination
that children tend to look like their parents in behaviors, look, as well as character (Dick, Adkins,
& Kuo, 2016). Charles Goring employed the novel statistical methods in the study of criminal
behavior and concluded that criminal behavior is inherited in much similar manner, as are
normal physical behaviors, as well as characteristics. This premise confirms that criminal
behavior or deviant behavior in children is inherited from the parents and that parents are
responsible for the criminal behavior of their children (Bjork, Chen & Hommer, 2012). Goring
further claimed there was greater relationships amid the rate and duration of incarceration of one
parent plus that of other amid the imprisonments of parents plus that of their children, as well as
amid the imprisonment of their brothers. Hence, Charles made the conclusion that criminality
(rate of imprisonment) was linked to inherited; however, not with environmental, traits, and
suggested that in order to lower crime rate, individuals with those inherited traits must not be
permitted to reproduce. This underscores the fact that parents that criminal behavior will
classically transmit the behavior to the children (Ferguson, 2010).

CRIMINOLOGY 3
Additionally, rebellious behavior frequently clusters in families, which suggests that both
hereditary factors besides family environment are some of the risk factors for the antisocial
manners. The twin, as well as adoption studies has been used to study the effect of inherited
genes on the criminal or antisocial manners. The study of comparative criminality of twins
shows the possibility of heredity playing a role, because in genetics, there is an unambiguous
difference between identical along with fraternal twins. Thus, the superior resemblance in
behavior when genetics is identical establishes a strong assumption that the similarity is due to
the control of heredity. Physiologists Johannes Lange in his report in 1929 indicated that in a
team of 13 pairs of male identical twins, whereby when single twin had a report of incarceration,
the other similarity had been incarcerated 77% of the cases; while in an analogous group of 17
pairs of fraternal twins, and when single twin had been incarcerated, the other twin a prison
record in only 12% of reported cases. This shows that there is a higher similarity of criminal or
antisocial behavior amongst identical twins compared to fraternal twins (Ficks & Waldman,
2014). This demonstrates that children will likely inherit criminal behavior from their parents.
Therefore, this means that parents should bear the responsibility of the criminal behaviors of
their children since they contribute to these behaviors in their children. The growing literature
continues to explore the relationship between criminality and heredity, where most of these
studies believe that children with criminal records can be traced back to their parents as shown in
twin and adoption studies (Ling, Umbach & Raine, 2019).
Assignment 2
O.J. Simpson case

CRIMINOLOGY 4
Event
On June 12, 1994, Nicole Simpson, the ex-wife of O.J Simpson and his acquaintance
were killed in front of Nicole’s residents. The two had been stabbed to death and displayed the
signs of defensive wounds on their hands, as well as forearms. Following some days of
investigation, several vital DNA samples established at the scene of crime had been analyzed by
the forensics that made the police officers to believe that Simpson was the main culprit in the
killing case. Simpson was a former US football start, actor, as well as football commentator.
Simpson travelled to Chicago on the fateful might when the killing took place; therefore, the
police contacted the suspect and informed him concerning the killing and he immediately rushed
home. As the police on tracking him so that he gets arrested, he entered into a friend’s vehicle
leading the police officers to chase him. Simpson was in the back sit of the car with a gun at him
saying he was going to kill himself. Following many hours of confrontation, the chase eventually
ended with police cars and 15 helicopters engaged in the chase of the suspect when Simpson
finally surrendered to the police officers at his home (Walton & Chau, 2018).
Verdict of the Case
Simpson’s trial was one of the most famous and followed case in the history of world,
especially in America. Simpson was officially charged in court on July 1994 in which he pleaded
of being innocent. In 1995, Simpson trial started for the killing of his ex-wife, plus her pal,
Ronald Goldman, both who were found with several knife wounds, with Lance Ito as the leading
attorney in the case involving murder. The Los Angeles district lawyer’s office that was led by
Marcia, as well as Darden, stressed the violence on his wife, which had happened before and

CRIMINOLOGY 5
after O.J. Simpson divorce as the motivation for the killing of Simpson’s ex-wife and her friend.
Simpson’s defense team founded mainly their defense on the premise that proof in the case had
been mismanaged plus that the majority of the associates of the Los Angeles police unit were
racist, especially Fuhrman, a police officer supposedly who discovered a bleeding leather glove
at the home of suspect. The team defending Simpson claimed that the glove in question would
not have been Simpson since it seemed undersized for the suspect’s hand when he attempted to
put on in the court. The trial went on for over 8 months, around 150 witnesses testified in the
case, although Simpson did not take the stand. On October 1995, the judges in the case started
deliberating where they reached a judgment in less than 4 hours (Neuendorf, Atkin, Jeffres,
Billman & Loszak, 2009). Nonetheless, Ito, who was the presiding judge in the case, delayed the
pronouncement of the case until the next day. On the following the jury pronounced that
Simpson was innocent of the killing of his Nicole plus Goldman Ronald. After the verdict of the
case, there were several polls on public opinion concerning the case and these opinions were
drawn along races. The White Americans were mainly distressed by the verdict of the jury, while
the mainstream of the African-Americans supported the decision by the jury, perceiving
Simpson’s acquittal of the murder as triumph in a legal structure, which systematically
discriminated against the blacks (Gill, 2011).
Social Reactions to O.J Simpson Case
Based on al evidences that were provided before the court, the bulk of the individuals
judged that Simpson culpable of the killing of his wife plus friend. Several cable television
channels committed a lot of time to assumption regarding the case plus to public opinion. Thus,
conviction in Simpson’s guilt or innocence was split mainly along races, with the mainstream of

CRIMINOLOGY 6
Blacks in support of Simpson while Whites believed that Simpson was culpable of killing. The
case of O.J Simpson drew racial issues in the American society where the verdict by the jury that
he was not guilty received support from African-Americans who believed that the verdict was
the right and was the beginning of an equal society because they believed they had been
discriminated by US legal system for many years. On the other side, the white Americans
believed that the verdict by the jury on the innocence of Simpson was not right and justice had
not been served and undermined their legal system in the country. The white Americans
expected the Simpson could be judged and imprisoned for the killing of his wife in addition to
friend. This is where the race played a function in the case since it because a battle between the
whites and blacks (Jetelina, Jennings, Bishopp, Piquero & Gonzalez, 2017).
Based on the functional perspective, it is evident that the American society is based on
the race is a function of inequality where African-Americans are not seen as equal to white
Americans. The American society justifies racism as creating inequality where American-
Africans should not be equal to white Americans who are seen as superior (Barrett, 2017). For
the mainstream of Americans, the case-mainly the product-disclosed what was erroneous with
the justice system, that is, for the case of white Americans. For some people, Simpson’s
exoneration in the murder case was cause for unstrained triumph, mainly African-Americans.
The growing challenges of race, racism, as well as aggression were disclosed in public’s views
of O.J Simpson’s culpability or blamelessness besides the explosive comments ensued following
the verdict of not guilty in the trial. Thus, the reality that the mainstream of Whites and the
mainstream of Blacks were two worlds separate in their views may be easily predicted.

CRIMINOLOGY 7
A primary concern during and after the trial of Simpson’s case on murder was the
massive difference the racial groups particularly white Americans and African Americans) in the
apparent guilt plus their responses to the not guilt decision. The mainstream media in the case
over-generalized ethnicity effects (Low, J2019). Though jubilant Blacks faces following the
verdict were given extensive news reporting, their pleasure was not collectively collective win
the Black populace, as well as dejected reactions linked to Whites was all far from collective.
This can be attributed to symbolic interactionists, where race and ethnicity offer powerful
symbols of strong identity. The symbols in the case show that the criminal justice system should
favor the Whites rather than the Blacks, which are symbols that have been created in the society
(Molana & Adams, 2019). Blacks, as biased not in favor of marginal cluster, have extensive
account of being ill-treated by the justice system, where symbols created by the society have
contributed to this discrimination from the dominant group-Whites. These discriminations
comprise greater rates of arrests, of being indicted with crime, condemned, as well as being
imprisoned and longer sentences (Roediger, 2017). This account of negative relationships with
the US jurisprudence is the perspectives via which the bulk of African Americans perceived in
O.J Simpson’s criminal trial case. Whilst many can see such arrest as cause of rational distrust of
an individual’s guilt, Blacks can perceive these arrests as a case of the perky, as well as abusive
work out of control, which has featured the association between police units and Black
communities in the US for over 10 decades. This can be explained using conflict theory where
inequalities exist because of social class and race and this where there was a conflict between the
police majority who are Whites and the Black communities (Foley, 2010).

CRIMINOLOGY 8
Moreover, O.J Simpson case can be framed in intergroup, as well as social identity
processes and the role of unequal group statuses in the society. This can be seen in the lens of
conflict theory where the society has constructed “races” based on inequalities in the society.
The group processes have been developed through social identities that can be explained through
social identities. From this perspective based on Simpson’s case, it is not race as a stationary
individual trait, which is crucial; however, the intergroup procedures, which become employed
when social clash surfaces, particularly in the background of inequity besides social fairness.
Thus, criminal justice scheme has a extended account of discrimination against Blacks along
with other biased-against the minority people, comprising the White underprivileged. Hence, the
experiences of dishonor at the professed sabotage of justice in the trial of Simpson ring void in
the background of decades of complete biases, which have mistreated minority groups plus the
poor in the society. In this perspective, it is apparent that Simpson prosecution is the exemption
that confirms the principle. From single Black viewpoint, it can be asserted that Simpson
attracted “White man’s justice” the capability to run off sentence due to wealthy and celebrity
status, in spite of of guilt or blamelessness (Bertram & Celikates, 2015).
Rationalization of the Case
The case was a case of a Black man being accused while the victims were whites were
Whites. In most cases, these simplified characteristics were adequate to initiate an arrest,
conviction, as well as execution. However, Simpson was a celebrity and wealthy. O.J Simpson
verdict by the jury can be said that it was not essentially influenced by the race that he came
from. The case that attracted huge media coverage and public opinion can be said that it was
influenced by wealth and celebrity. O.J Simpson was a celebrity and wealth having played for

CRIMINOLOGY 9
prestigious football clubs for many years. O.J Simpson thrived in his endeavor to transcend race
by becoming an idol of commercial American. Therefore, his exoneration can be claimed not be
race, but the acquittal of O.J Simpson on the grounds of innocence can be attributed to facts that
the defense team presented to the case. Based on sociological perspective, race did not play a
role in his innocence verdict and may be his wealth and class (celebrity) might have played a
function in the verdict of the jury declaring that O.J Simpson was not guilt (Davis et al., 2019).
Conclusions
The actual challenges seen in the trial of Simpson over murder cases entail reviewing the
flaws in the justice structure: not the flaws that resulted to exoneration, unavoidably; however,
the flaws linked to unfortunate significance of race in all criminal proceedings. Racial bias in the
justice system is only sign of the racism, as well as bias, which happens extensively in the
society in the modern days. The real problem to the society is in making the ideals of justice
along with democracy realism for the entire society. From the perspective of Simpson’s trial, the
justice system, similar to educational in addition to political economic structure must be blind to
race, ethnicity class, sex, as well as celebrity concerns. The killings of Nicole and Goldman
represent tragic wake-up calls of the vexatious challenges of violence, besides race in the US
society in the modern times. What are required are more essential changes in race relationships,
gender relationships, as well as social structures, which can result in realization of justice,
peaceful social relationships and equal opportunity (Pegler-Gordon, 2017).

CRIMINOLOGY 10
References
Barrett, L. F. (2017). Functionalism cannot save the classical view of emotion. Social Cognitive
& Affective Neuroscience, 12(1), 34–36.
Bertram, G. W., & Celikates, R. (2015). Towards a Conflict Theory of Recognition: On the
Constitution of Relations of Recognition in Conflict. European Journal of Philosophy,
23(4), 838–861.
Bjork, J.M, Chen, G, & Hommer, D.W (2012). Psychopathic tendencies and mesolimbic
recruitment by cues for instrumental and passively obtained rewards. Biological
Psychology, 89(2), 408–415.
Boutwell BB, Menard S, Barnes JC, Beaver KM, Armstrong TA, & Boisvert D (2014). The role
of gene-gene interaction in the prediction of criminal behavior. Comprehensive
Psychiatry, 55, 483–488.
Buckholtz JW, Treadway MT, Cowan RL, Woodward ND, Benning SD, Li R,... Smith CE
(2010). Mesolimbic dopamine reward system hypersensitivity in individuals with
psychopathic traits. Nature Neuroscience, 13(1), 419–421.
Darby RR, Horn A, Cushman F, & Fox MD (2018). Lesion network localization of criminal
behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(3(,601–606.
Davis, K. L., Karpanty, S. M., Spendelow, J. A., Cohen, J. B., Althouse, M. A., Parsons, K. C.,
& Luttazi, C. F. (2019). Begging behavior as an honest signal of need and parent–

CRIMINOLOGY 11
offspring association during the postfledging dependency period. Ecology & Evolution
(20457758), 9(13), 7497–7508.
Dick DM, Adkins AE, & Kuo SI-C (2016). Genetic influences on adolescent behavior.
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 70, 198–205.
Ferguson CJ (2010). Genetic contributions to antisocial personality and behavior: A meta-
analytic review from an evolutionary perspective. The Journal of Social
Psychology, 150(4), 160–180.
Ficks C.A, & Waldman I.D (2014). Candidate genes for aggression and antisocial behavior: A
metaanalysis of association studies of the 5HTTLPR and MAOA- uVNTR. Behavior
Genetics, 44(3), 427–444.
Foley, M. (2010). Serializing Racial Subjects: The Stagnation and Suspense of the O.J. Simpson
Saga. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 96(1), 69–88.
Gill, R. (2011). The Trial: A History, from Socrates to O.J. Simpson. (2005). Publishers Weekly,
252(27), 81–82.
Jetelina, K. K., Jennings, W. G., Bishopp, S. A., Piquero, A. R., & Gonzalez, J. M. R. (2017).
Dissecting the Complexities of the Relationship Between Police Officer-Civilian
Race/Ethnicity Dyads and Less-Than-Lethal Use of Force. American Journal of Public
Health, 107(7), 1164–1170.
Ling, S., Umbach, R., & Raine, A. (2019). Biological explanations of criminal behavior.
Psychology, crime & law : PC & L, 25(6), 626–640.

CRIMINOLOGY 12
Low, J. (2019). Symbolic Interactionism in Canada: Shared Meaning and the Perpetuation of
Ideas. Symbolic Interaction, 42(3), 468–481.
Molana, H. H., & Adams, R. E. (2019). Evaluating sense of community in the residential
environment from the perspectives of symbolic interactionism and architectural design.
Journal of Community Psychology, 47(7), 1591–1602.
Neuendorf, K., Atkin, D., Jeffres, L., Billman, A., & Loszak, T. (2009). The Influence of
Attitudes on Affirmative Action and Racial Identity on Judgments Involving Black
Celebrity Defendants. Howard Journal of Communications, 20(1), 73–94.
Pegler-Gordon, A. (2017). Debating the Racial Turn in U.S. Ethnic and Immigration
History. Journal of American Ethnic History, 36(2), 40–53.
Roediger, D. (2017). The Racial Turn in Ethnic History. Journal of American Ethnic History,
36(2), 54–61.
Walton, P., & Chau, J. (2018). “I’m Not Black, I’m O.J.”: Constructions, Productions, and
Refractions of Blackness. Canadian Review of American Studies, 48(1), 61–76.