Week 2 Response

Response 1 Arceo

The study of crime is often related to Biological and Psychological Perspectives. From a biological perspective, offenders are viewed through the behavior of the person and the brain's functionality in regards to crime. A study based in India found environmental factors such as pollution and toxins played an essential role in attention disorders and antisocial disorders. With that being said, industries' waste products based in residential communities led to aggression, frustration, antisocial behavior, and crime. The idea behind statistics of crime happening more in low-income societies was based on the fact that many low-income residential areas are in the proximity of the waste site(CHONG & FRANCIS, 2017).  Psychological Perspectives is based on Greg Walter's lifestyle theory on how criminals are formed based on free will and the environment we are surrounded with(CHONG & FRANCIS, 2017).With that being said, I believe criminal behavior relates most to the psychological perspective.

The Nature-Based Factors is the most interesting to me as it is the most rational in criminal behavior, in my opinion. Nature-based factors consist of five stages; acquaintances, friends, and family followed by a transition period, then a route continued with a life event and ending with a turning point. I strongly agree with this theory beginning with the quote, "We are the average of the five people we spend the most time with"- Jim Rohn. The people you surround yourself with will help mold you into the person you are becoming. Surrounding yourself with good influences and bad influences can genuinely change your life, and your life decisions can impact the outcome of your choices you can control. In the military, new Sailors often come to the ship, never been away from their family, never having the freedom of their own choices and responsibilities as they do when they are away from family. When a Sailor first reports to a ship, he chooses to befriend the fantastic group of kids or the wrong group of kids who are always getting in trouble. Often, they fall into peer pressure wanting to fit in so wrong with a group, and they end up making bad decisions getting them in trouble. When a Sailor gets in trouble, it can often lead to Non-Judicial Punishment where the Captain can decide to keep them in the military or separate them. That moment in their lives is what I refer to as their turning point in life where they have chosen their pay is not worth fitting in, delaying their career advancement. I believe you are responsible for your actions, and you have a decision to make when something happens in your life to turn it into a good experience or let it define you and your future.

Response 2 Bennet

This week we learned about two different perspectives in criminal behavior, biological and psychological. The Biological perspective states that criminals are born, meaning that from the moment of birth they are wired to instinctively commit crimes. The Psychological  perspective states that criminals are made by their environment, meaning that what they're exposed to in life ends up playing a role in the crimes they commit. In my opinion, I tend to agree more with the idea that criminal behavior comes about, along the lines of psychological rather than biological. I feel that people in general are not born, or wired for that matter, with any straight path dictating how they turn out. I believe that whatever they are exposed to from a young age and then on whilst maturing, will inevitably lead to what they decide to become ie functioning member in society or criminal.

One theory explored upon in this week's lesson was the life-course theory. The life-course theory uses the relationship of time and behavior as the foundation in that the factors of age, relationships, changes, and society all in respect to the passage of time are believed to be potent influences of behavior (APUS 2020). In a nutshell, the theory explains that a dramatic event held in one's life can have a major effect on one's behavior for years if not an entire lifetime. The example given in the reading was an example of a school shooting and how it affected survivors of said shooting. The research showed that it impacted how they viewed education and also played a role in their later employment choices. I feel that yes the life-course theory could be a sound theory in regards to criminal behavior as well. Often times criminal behaviors are driven by events in one's life leading up to the crime they commit thus also tying in the psychological perspective.

Another theory talked about in this weeks lesson was the ENA Theory. The basic premise of the theory is that criminal activity is learned from being exposed to and having it modeled by others (APUS 2020). This theory straddles the biological perspective in regards to the fact that theorists believe it is a behavior developed at the time of birth rather than acquired overtime. ENA theorists maintain that the urge or desire to continue in criminal activity is not learned, but innately infused within the person’s biological make-up and evolution is at the root of this (APUS 2020). I do not agree with this criminal behavioral theory. In my opinion, one is not born with the urge to do wrong and break laws. As mentioned by Gottfredson and Hirschi, "the general theory of crime uses two key variables to explain criminal activity: low self-control and opportunity." (Caufmann, 2005). When someone makes the conscious decision to commit a crime, often times it is due to what's immediately available to them at the time and also the determination on if they can get away with committing the crime or not.