http://www.dailyrx.com/news-article/genetics-influence-criminal-behavior-well-environmental-factors-17223.html
In this article, a recent study done by Dr. Barnes, a Florida State University professor claimed that people fell into three categories- persistent offends, adolescence-limited offends (drugs and alcohol, property crime) and abstainers (no deviant behavior). The results of their study showed that genetic factors play a larger role for the life-course offenders compared to the adolescence pathway. I was not surprised by these results because I feel like a lot of people have a deviant stage in their life when they try new things to be rebellious, but this does not mean that they will continue to do these things throughout their life.
In the study by Barnes, they also explained that there is no gene that actually will cause someone to commit a crime because crime is a behavior that one learns. But, there are thousands of genes that will increase your likelihood oh being involved in a crime. I believe that there are genes that cause people to be more likely to be involved in crimes, but I do not think that nature is the only reason for people to be involved in crimes. I am sure that a lot of students here have many of these bad genes, but we do not know it because they have been brought up in an environment that does not involve any crimes. I think people who are persistent offenders have a lot of genes that direct them towards the criminal lifestyle, and they were able to figure this out about themselves because they were brought up in a deviant and criminal environment.
This was a really interesting point. I didn't know that there were so many genes that made it more likely for someone to commit a crime. It makes sense that there isn't "one criminal gene," but that there are many factors that contribute to someone being a criminal. Like you said, I believe that nature isn't the only reason people get involved in crimes. I also think it has a lot to do with how someone is brought up. I think people are much more likely to be deviant if they grew up in a household surrounded by crime and negative influences.
I agree with how you explained the reasoning for people to commit crimes. If a person has the genes for it and grew up being accustomed to deceit, theft, or any number of criminal or otherwise behaviors, it makes sense that they would continue along this path. If another person with those same genes was raised in a much more supportive and rule-following environment, it would make sense that they wouldn't see it fit to do heinous acts.
Interesting point! I think Dr. Barnes' argument sort of explains why teenagers usually do something abnormal or rebellious. As to Barnes' study that there is no gene that actually will cause someone to commit a crime, I doubt on that. I believe that there should be some heritable factors which influence a person's behavior.
To quote your synopsis of the article, "In the study by Barnes, they also explained that there is no gene that actually will cause someone to commit a crime because crime is a behavior that one learns. But, there are thousands of genes that will increase your likelihood oh being involved in a crime."
I think this is a cool fact because this, I think, is applicable to most behavior in general. There are many factors for anything that an individual does and no one behavior can be linked to any one gene.
The fact that there are so many genes that make it more likely for someone to commit a crime, kind of explains why there are such a large number of criminals. I wonder, if there was only a few genes that made it likely for someone to commit a crime, would there be less criminals in the world?? Of course, you still have to factor in the nurture variable.
Like others said, it's interesting to think that there are genes almost specifically designed for committing crimes. Normally we think of genes as building blocks for more "basic" functions and characteristics of life, things that are set in stone (appearance, etc.). In this case, not only are genes able to determine our own future and life pathways, it's even more interesting that there needs to be an activation for some genes, such as the environment activating genes that make us more prone to crime. We can't control which genes we end up with, but we can do our best to improve our environments to stop these "harmful" genes from overpowering our behavior and lifestyle.
It's interesting to think that we have certain genes which contribute to the likelihood of our actions. Genes are often thought of as building blocks, determining things that are set in stone (like your appearance, etc.). The fact that there are genes which influence our personalities, decisions, and future lifestyles is one that most people probably don't consider. Also, the idea that our environments can hinder or accelerate the effects of these genes is also very interesting. We can't control our genes, but we can work harder to change our environment so that these "harmful" genes are never activated.
I agree with you about the idea that both nature and nurture play a role in committing crimes. One thing to consider, however, is did they effectively isolate the children that had the "bad" genes from an environment that would cause them to commit crimes. For example, studies have shown that the committing crimes runs in the family, so it must be hereditary. Based on this, you can't simply conclude that it is hereditary since each generation could have been brought up in a detrimental environment. Just one thing to think about.