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1. Discuss your view of determinism and free will.  Provide a brief description and definition of each. Determinism is the belief everything happens because of another event. Determinism happens because of internal or external forces, and we do not have control over those. External determinism is things outside the person that we have no control over. For example, our parents' influence, what is on the television or social media, or from our friends. These can be defined as behaviorism and social learning theory. Internal determinism is the thing that happens inside our body. These are your personality traits. You might not realize that internal determinism is happening, it can be unconscious thoughts and actions. There are also different levels of determinism, hard and soft determinism. Hard determinism believes that every action has a cause. Soft determinism believes that while you do have a choice, your choice is chosen by external or internal factors. Free will is when we have a choice in what we do and how we act. (McLeod, 2019)

2. Do you ascribe to the idea that criminal behavior is in some part or as a whole deterministic? I do think it is some part deterministic. While I do think we do have some form of free will, my thoughts have changed some after viewing the video and researching free will and determinism. Before this, I thought free will is the way we choose everything that happens to us. After researching determinism, I see how internal and external influences affect our lives even if we do not realize it.

3. If so, please elaborate and explain your perspective.  While I do see how we think free will plays a part in our decisions. However, I can see how determinism plays a role in our decisions. When a person commits a crime, I am sure many thoughts run through their mind. For example, a person who commits the crime of robbery might be doing it because they are having problems with money in other parts of their life. If a person has depression, it might affect why they commit a crime.

4. How do the following presuppositions relate to human behavior and the development of our perspectives on nature and nurture, and criminal behavior? Nature and nurture fall under external and internal influences. Nature is the events and people who are around us. They affect the way that we think and respond to events. Nurture is the way we are raised. It can fall under internal influences. This is the way you were raised and the way you were brought up to think about things. If you were brought up in a lifestyle where crime was normal to your parents, then you might not think about crime the same as others.

References:

McLeod, S (2019)  Freewill vs Determinism Retrieved from URL: https://www.simplypsychology.org/freewill-determinism.html#:~:text=The%20determinist%20approach%20proposes%20that,which%20we%20have%20no%20control.

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Discuss your view of determinism and free will.  Provide a brief description and definition of each. 

According to video, determinism is defined as “the belief that all events are caused by past events such that nothing other than what does occur could occur”; whereas “free will” was defined as “the belief that some human actions are freely chosen”. In other words, free will is what human beings choose to do, and determinism is our action involves the caused. The difference between free will and determinism is that free will requires options; whereas determinism does not allow options.     

Do you ascribe to the idea that criminal behavior is in some part or as a whole deterministic? 

Criminal behavior is in some part deterministic. In other words, criminal behavior is primarily free will, or self-determined.  

If so, please elaborate and explain your perspective.  

The reason criminal behavior is primarily free will is because criminals have a choice to commit crimes or not. Yes, internal (psychological) or external (social) factors can influence the criminals to commit a crime; however, the choice to commit a crime is on the individual. Even with our daily lives, we choose what to do, what to eat, what to wear and prioritize what needs to get done.          

How do the following presuppositions relate to human behavior and the development of our perspectives on nature and nurture, and criminal behavior? 

Like the above, internal and/or external factors can influence our lives, from childhood through adulthood. However, humans know what good and bad is, but still people choose to do bad things such as commit a crime. Also, when people choose to do bad things, they know there are consequences which will come with it. For example, criminals know that committing crimes will result in them going to jail or prison or can be put on strict probation depending on the crimes which the criminals committed and severity impact on victims and the public.