WHAT IS JAIL?

Table of Contents
Introduction:

State whether the characteristics of offenders are inherited within their family tree:

Comment on the characteristics of offenders in the light of nature or nurture theory:

Explain both sides of the theory and which characteristics lead people to go to jail:

Conclusion:

Reference list:

Introduction:
The following assignment attempts to comment on the behavior of offenders and comprehend
whether the traits of these traits are nature induced or develop due to environmental factors. The
assignment highlights the case studies of two families namely, Kallikak family and Jukes family
and attempts to understand which side of nature vs. nurture theory is responsible for the
development of criminal behavior in both the families. The assignment explains what specific
characteristics of criminals are and what the underlying cause of such behavior is. A juvenile
born in a family having criminal records has more chances of developing criminal traits.
However, if the same juvenile is given adequate protection and guidance, he or she may grow up
into a normal person.

State whether the characteristics of offenders are inherited within their family tree:
Singh, I. (2012) states inheritance of characters in criminality can be regarded under two
conditions; direct inheritance of traits of offenders in normal individuals, and indirect inheritance
of traits of criminals through factors like insanity, epilepsy, feeblemindedness, et cetera. The first
condition involves the case wherein, the concerned person themselves have criminalistics traits
which are inherited by otherwise normal individuals. On the other hand, the second condition
involves those wherein certain qualities of people who are not themselves anti-social are
inherited and produce criminals when ill adjusted to their environment or ill balanced with
respect to other traits in the same person. Thus a feeble minded individuals might not show any
criminal tendencies when adequately protected but might land into the police court when left to
his own resources.

The family of Martin Kallikak with so-called feeble-minded barmaid produced 50%
feebleminded descendants, 11% sexually immoral individuals, and about 8% alcoholics. They
mostly included thieves, paupers, criminals, prostitutes, and keepers of ill-repute houses. On the
other hand, Kallikaks relationship with an honest Quaker woman, his wife produced 50%
mentally defective people, 33% alcoholics and 16% sexually loose individual. This shows that
characteristics are inherited a result of heredity (Psychology.jrank.org, 2016)
However, on studying Jukes family history case, it was seen that the mother of the offenders
along with her sister produced 600 children over a period of 85 years, with most of them living
in the outskirts of society. The study revealed repeated occurrence of undesirable traits within
their family history explaining that these could occur due to environmental factors rather than
heredity factors (Psychology.jrank.org, 2016).
Comment on the characteristics of offenders in the light of nature or nurture theory:
Characters, which are inherited in the successive generations, may follow the indirect pathway or
the direct inheritance pathway. The cause of violence broadly falls into two categories; nature
and nurture. McLaughlin & Muncie, (2012) carried out case studies of several criminals have
explained a certain urge to commit crime or kill another individual. Criminologists strive to
deduce the underlying cause behind this urge; whether it is innate or influenced by
environmental factors. Nature theory suggests that etiology of immoral behavior is biologically
influenced through genetic inheritance (Levitt, 2013).
Whereas, Jupp & Jupp (2012) explains that nurture theory explains that environmental factors
and upbringing methods are responsible for criminalistics traits. Research of families having
criminal records show that children tend to exhibit more offending traits if a certain member of
the family have been incarcerated than the children born in families having no criminal

backgrounds (Boisvert, Boutwell, Vaske & Newsome , 2013). A study carried on two groups of
children by DeLisi & Vaughn (2014) showed that crime rate was twice as high in the first group,
which had only the grandparents as criminal, than the second group where nobody had criminal
history. This shows that criminal traits are greatly determined by environmental factors.
Males & Brown (2013) believes that certain biological traits can also lead to the development
of criminal behaviors. For instance, there exists evidence regarding genetic impact on criminal
behavior. A genotype conferring low levels of enzyme, monoamine oxidase is likely to cause an
individual to behave violently or exhibit anti-social traits (Glenn & Raine, 2014).
Thus, it can be said that both biological and environmental factors are mutually responsible for
the development of criminal attitudes.

Explain both sides of the theory and which characteristics lead people to go to jail:
Criminal behavior is a complex subject. Furthermore, to deduce whether the traits arise due to
biological or environmental factors is a difficult task. Criminals having substance abuse traits
usually get it from criminal peers. The peers act as environmental factors forcing the individual
to indulge in criminal acts (Wortley & Mazerolle, 2013). Certain traits like fickle-mindedness,
violence can be attributed to bad experience during childhood, having been abused or seeing
abusive acts. Malfunctioning of certain hormones can also lead to certain types of criminal
behavior. Several researchers including Ungar, Ghazinour & Richter (2013), have studied the
three hormones, serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine which are said to influence criminal
behavior. Crimes involving impulsivity have often be linked to low serotonin levels. Mental
health lies at the intersection between biological factors like neurology, genetics and
environmental or social factors like post-traumatic stress disorders caused by stress or trauma.

Evidence says that mental health has direct and indirect connection to criminality. Individuals
committing most violent crimes are people suffering from mental disorders and include traits like
low intelligence, feeble-mindedness, poor diet, hyperactivity, and high level of hormones like
testosterone and cortisol. The case study of Jukes family places considerable emphasis on
environment as the determining factor for development of criminal behavior in addition to
poverty and diseases. A mixture of both nature and natural traits are responsible for bringing out
criminal characteristics and responsible for people landing into police courts.

Conclusion:
The assignment provides an argumentative discussion on the nature vs. nurture theory from
criminal behavior perspectives. The different characters of a person can either be influenced by
their natural instincts or by environmental factors. A child born in a crime-free environment can
still develop into a criminal depending upon environmental factors. Additionally, a child born in
a family having criminal history can grow up to become a responsible citizen against stated
theories provided he or she has been provided proper guidance and protection. Thus, the
assignment attempts to establish that nature and environmental factors can have mutual influence
on development of criminal traits, or one may have more impact than the other.

Reference list:

Books:
Jupp, V. R., & Jupp, V., 2012. Methods of criminological research. 3 ed., Abingdon: Routledge.
rd

McLaughlin, E., & Muncie, J., 2012. The Sage dictionary of criminology, 3 Eds, New Delhi:
rd

Sage.
Wortley, R., & Mazerolle, L. 2013. Environmental criminology and crime analysis. 2 ed.,
nd

Devon: Willan
Journals:
Singh, I. 2012. Human development, nature and nurture: Working beyond the divide.
BioSocieties, 7(3), 308.
DeLisi, M., & Vaughn, M. G. 2014. Foundation for a temperament-based theory of antisocial
behavior and criminal justice system involvement.Journal of Criminal Justice, 42(1), 10-25.
Levitt, M. 2013. Perceptions of nature, nurture and behaviour. Life sciences, society and policy,
9(1), 1-11.
Boisvert, D., Boutwell, B. B., Vaske, J., & Newsome, J. 2013. Genetic and environmental
overlap between delinquent peer association and delinquency in adolescence. Criminal Justice
and Behavior,(35), 85-93
Males, M. A., & Brown, E. A. 2013. Teenagers high arrest rates: Features of young age or youth
poverty?, Journal of Adolescent Research, (74), 35-58.
Glenn, A. L., & Raine, A. 2014. Neurocriminology: implications for the punishment, prediction
and prevention of criminal behaviour. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 15(1), 54-63.

Ungar, M., Ghazinour, M., & Richter, J. 2013. Annual Research Review: What is resilience
within the social ecology of human development?. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry,
54(4), 348-366.
Websites:
Psychology.jrank.org. Jukes Family- Famous people. Accessed on: 1 May, 2016. Available at:
st

http://psychology.jrank.org/pages/351/Jukes-Family.html

Psychology.jrank.org.

Kallikak

Family. Accessed

on:

http://psychology.jrank.org/pages/356/Kallikak-Family.html

st

May, 2015. Available

at: