Are People Born Criminals? Essay Example

I do not think that people are born criminals but the background and environmental factors that are responsible for criminal behavior. Criminal behavior is majorly influenced by the environment in which a person lives (Chatham, 2016). The issue of blaming the genetic makeup for criminal behavior should not be used as an excuse for the environmental background of an individual. Behavior is learned from what individuals sees in their immediate environment. As children grow, they tend to emulate senior members of society. What they hear and learn during this period influences their growth and the kind of behavior they will choose in their later lives. The society that approves criminal behavior will see children perceiving being a criminal to be fashionable or something that is tolerated in the environment. Criminal behavior is a social construct and what people see will determine their choices in life (Chatham, 2016). Besides, the socio-economic background of individuals has been blamed for criminal behavior. Places, where there are rampant unemployment and other social problems, tend to have high crime rates. Thee social problems tend to push people to crime, and young children will join criminal gangs and crime become the order of the day.

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Criminal behavior has negative consequences to both the criminals and victims of criminal behavior. If people are born criminals, there is an obligation to eliminate the risk of criminal behavior through the intervention of eugenics or in some other cases biological determination. There is no person who desires to be born a criminal, and since people are not given a chance to decide, it is the responsibility of the parent and the society to eliminate the genes that support criminal behavior (Levitt, 2013). The biological determination can help to determine individuals who are at a higher risk of engaging in criminal behavior. The determination can help to identify individuals who might require eugenic intervention to help prevent the passage of their genes into the next generation. The use of eugenics can be used to link up partners into marriage whose genes can eliminate the hereditary traits of criminality from one of the partners (McCaghy et al., 2016). There is a need to improve the existing traits of criminal behavior by eliminating the traits that are thought to be a high risk of spreading criminality. The context of conducting biological determination should follow ethical principles and should ensure that all the concerned parties are willing to participate in the process without any objection. Society and science have a role in preventing crime, and if certain criminal behaviors are hereditary, eugenic intervention becomes an option.

There are ethical implications of knowing that a person has a criminal behavior at an early age. The main implication is prejudice towards these individuals. The society might develop a perception towards these people which could potentially lead to discrimination. Individuals who are known to be at a higher risk of engaging in crime might be discriminated denying them opportunities in society. The other ethical issue is constant victimization in the event of criminal activity. Individuals that show traits of criminal behavior tend to be victimized for crimes that occur in the society even if they have not been involved (Levitt, 2013). The victimization of these individuals creates an ethical implication in the society that links these people to crime. The two ethical implications could further the problem of discrimination that potentially affects the identified individuals.

References

Chatham, W. (2016, Aug 22). Nature Vs Nurture: Are Criminals Born or Made? Retrieved from https://www.willchatham.com/general/nature-vs-nurture-are-criminals-born-or-made/

Levitt, M. (2013). Perceptions of nature, nurture and behaviour. Life sciences, society and policy, 9(1), 13.

McCaghy, C. H., Capron, T. A., Jamieson, J. D., & Carey, S. H. H. (2016). Deviant behavior: Crime, conflict, and interest groups. Routledge.