Psychology Criminal Behavior Has Been Term Paper

As explained by Gelles and Strauss in their works, "With the exception of the police and the military, the family is perhaps the most violent social group, and the home the most violent social setting, in our society. A person is more likely to be hit or killed in his or her home by another family member than anywhere else or by anyone else." (Gelles & Straus, 1985, p. 88). Therefore it is evident from this theory that the social connections and settings can impact upon a person's conduct and emotions and could force them to act violently, proving this theory to be true in explaining the biological connection with criminal behavior.

Another biological theory mentions that the gender differences, especially in cases of men, generate strings of violent reactions to the opposite gender. This theory argues that the natural superiority instincts in men push their brain functions to act aggressively and violently to any action of the female gender that attempts to point a finger against their manhood. Although this theory puts its focus on the biological traits of a gender, it does not provide definitive support to the fact that superiority causes men to display violence with women. This theory ignores other facts such as sexual motives and other social dilemmas and emotions in determining the criminal behavior of a person.

One more such theory suggests that the biology of a person plays an immense role in determining his criminal behavior. It explains that having a history of ancestors that were involved in criminal acts throughout their lifetimes has an impact on a person biologically as the person is also assumed to have been born with those criminal tendencies. Although hereditary and genetic biology can act to be supporting this suggestion, it is important to note that every human mind is different and it is incorrect to blame a person of possible criminal behavior in the future depending upon the fact that the person had criminals as ancestors.

Evaluation of the theories stated in this paper display that not every biological theory presented by psychologists explain the relation of biological functions with criminal behavior. Therefore, biological approaches as a body of research towards the study of criminal behavior and can only be related to the ways an impact on the human body affects the brain, and thus, the biological approach can only be taken as effective if theories provide supportive evidence and are largely acceptable by the field of psychology.

Bibliography

Barkow, J., Cosmides, L., & Tooby, J. (1992). The Adapted Mind. New York: Oxford University Press.

Bartol, C.R., & Bartol, a.M. (2007). Criminal Behavior: A Psychosocial Approach (8th Edition). Prentice Hall.

Dawkins, R. (1986). The Blind Watchmaker. Harlow, UK: Longman.

Gelles, R.J., & Straus, M.A. (1985). In Crime and the Family. Springfield, U.S.: Thomas.

Raine, a. (2002). Biosocial studies of antisocial and violent behavior in children and adults: A review. Journal…