Nature vrs Nurture

Criminal Behavior
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Institutional Affiliation
Audio Review on Criminal Behavior
For this audio review, I selected an audio podcast that was aired by Air Hustle. The audio is a recording of Mr. Ross, a convict at San Quentin (Woods & Williams, 2017). Mr. Ross grew up in Los Angeles and had been serving 30 years in San Quentin prison by the time his testimony was taken in 2017. Ross was 19 years old in 1985 when he was arrested and later convicted. Ross joined a local gang when he was barely a teenager. The gang made him feel like he was part of something big. He was influenced by his peers and was frequently arrested for initiating fights, stealing cars, and purses. He later progressed to harder crimes which got him arrested and convicted.
The discussion on nature vs. nurture in criminal behavior is concerned with the degree to which certain factors, genetic or learned, influence criminal activity. According to the interview, the person in question was brought up in a decent family, which indicates a lack of genetic influence on his criminal behavior. However, Ross indicates that his social environment had a significant impact on his attitudes and behavior. A person’s social environment is capable of influencing behavior. The social environment consists of social interactions, physical surroundings, and culture. The factors have the potential to mold personal behavior (Glenn, & Raine, 2014). According to the interview, Ross joined a local gang at 13 years of age so that he could identify with something rebellious.

His rebellion was fueled by his distaste for authority, an attitude that he developed from having a strained relationship with his father. Development of criminal behavior is heavily reliant on the social environment. The impact of biological factors on criminal behavior, if present, is low.
References
Glenn, A. L., & Raine, A. (2014). Neurocriminology: implications for the punishment, prediction, and prevention of criminal behaviour. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 15(1), 54.
Woods, E. & Williams, A. (Producers). (2017, June 28). Misguided Loyalty [Audio podcast]. Retrieved from https://www.earhustlesq.com/episodes/2017/6/28/misguided-loyalty