Nature versus Nurture
Seems like forever, since the scientists have started to explore the reasons why some people are born with a good temper, and some of them are aggressive and prone to violent behavior. Some researchers claim that it depends on our biology, and others disagree with them telling that the environment plays a vital role in the shaping our personality. The opponents of the theory that the biology influences our behavior claim that biological components are able only to determine our physical characteristics such as eye color, height, hair color, body type, and general looks. But, actually, this statement is true only to some extent. We all are born with approximately one hundred billion nerve cells. There is no connection between them until we are three years old. And within this time, the emotional, social and cultural factors determine this connection.
There are even stories about the children, who were raised by the animals. They are called feral children. Their parents abandoned them, and the four-legged friends took up the responsibility of nurturing them. It led to dire consequences. Their teeth were sharpened; they were craving for blood, earth-eating, chicken-hunting. The love of darkness, ability to climb the trees like a wild animal and friendship with dogs, monkeys, leopards, birds make us stand frozen with shock (Keith, 2008).
Such sad experiences can show that the upbringing plays a critical part in the shaping of our identity, especially in the early years of our life. Of course, if the adult person will get into such environment, he or she will not start walking on all fours and be afraid of people like those poor children.
Recently, the criminologists have also become interested in taking a closer look at this question. They are doing their best to find a “criminal gene” in those, who has already committed the crime. They want to discover what exactly puts them up to a crime. The different studies and experiments have already been held. One of such studies has shown that that identical twins raised separately are more likely to both become criminals than non-twin siblings raised separately (Boyd, 2014).
The second field that criminology wants to explore more deeply is the neuroscience or the study of the brain. As the techniques that let us study the architecture and functioning of our brain become more detailed and less invasive, the scientists are getting better and better at mapping the human brain and discovering differences in people’s brains. For now, the studies have shown that there are some structural and chemical differences in the brains of criminals when compared to the brains of non-criminals. For example, one study showed that certain types of criminals have less activity in the part of the brain responsible for arousal and fear. The theory is that they feel less fear of consequences, and correspondingly, act in irresponsible ways (Boyd, 2014).
Thus, the phrase the founding father of the biological theory of the criminology that criminals are biologically different from non-criminals proves to be true. But such factors as family conditions, friends, poverty level, job availability, and mass media cannot be wished away as well (Boyd, 2014).
According to the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud, every person has three levels of personality. And the third one is our superego. The superego controls the ability to be conscious of our actions, to know right from wrong, and it is the stage where we develop our morality. This is our conscience. The superego is directly influenced not only from our internal mechanism but also by the mores or rules of society (Roach, 2015).
Of course, we do not choose our family, and everyone can be born to a difficult family and inherit bad genes. But in some people, it will never manifest itself because they are brought up in the loving family and friendly environment. And there are people, who were born to a good family, but become juvenile offenders very early. And the most often the reason for such misbehavior is the parents, who could not say “no” to their child. And the kid was growing up in permissiveness, impunity, and, in future, transfers these habits to the adulthood. So, all the results from the above-mentioned studies led me to the following conclusion: our personality, behavior, and the way of thinking are only about 20% influenced by our heredity, and the rest 80% depends on the social, physical, and situational environment.
Works cited:
1. Keith, Fritha. “10 Modern Cases of Feral Children”. 2008. Web. Accessed 16 Jan 2016 at http://listverse.com/2008/03/07/10-modern-cases-of-feral-children/
2. Boyd, Natalie. “Biological Theories of Crime: Overview & Features”. 2014. Web. Accessed 16 Jan 2016 at http://study.com/academy/lesson/biological-theories-of-crime-overview-features.html
3. Roach, Carol. “Sigmund Freud and the super ego”.2015. Web. Accessed 16 Jan 2016 at http://health.wikinut.com/Sigmund-Freud-and-the-super-ego/n3ogxb9_/