The Role of Nature vs Nurture in Violent Behavior free essay sample

Renee Gurley It can be argued that Bobby Boucher was aggressive because of an overbearing mother. However, in another way, it can also be argued that he showed such aggression because of the abandoning father and the criticizing students at his school. Although a silly and maybe even dull-minded movie, 1998’s â€Å"The Waterboy† does shed a bit of light on the argument of nature vs. nurture in relation to violent behavior. A debate that has been a hot topic for decades; there are two highly popular theories: Violence is a natural phenomenon that should be treated, or violence is a learned behavior that children should be taught to avoid. Before making an assumption or decision, onlookers of the debate should consider how genetics may come into play in the behaviors of individuals, how environment may affect an individual’s behaviors, and how they both may interact to create violence as a whole. In order to understand the amount of effect that serotonin has on violent behavior, it is important to break it all down â€Å"to a science. Serotonin is a natural hormone that acts as an aid in transporting impulses throughout the nervous system. Mood is highly affected by this hormone, depending on the levels present within the body. For example, there are different reactions amongst different people to things such as traffic violations. One who has an adequate amount of serotonin in his or her body will react with a bit of annoyance, but no yelling. One who has an irregularly high amount of serotonin in the blood may react by yelling and even starting a fight with other drivers. Reif, Rosler, et ad. (2007) explain that abnormal levels of serotonin in the nervous system can result in misinterpretations of in everyday difficulties and situations, thus producing opportunities for individuals to react violently. Natural instincts are heightened to an illogical level. Defensive and offensive nature will be challenged by any negative stimuli. Although this may be described as a direct result of environment, it is the abnormalities within the neurotransmitters that cause the individual to over-react. As mentioned, abnormalities in neurotransmitters can mean that nerve impulses are received too fast or too slow by the brain. When this happens, individuals begin to react illogically, sometimes even violent. This is the moment when serotonin abnormalities become serious, thus making it a necessity to attempt to monitor these levels in any way possible. For example, pills are manufactured to regulate serotonin levels in order to monitor a variety of mood differences, including depression or violent tendencies. Although it is a common argument that either environment or genetic factors are responsible for violent behavior, the truth is that both are responsible in different ways. For instance, ability to handle difficult situations with ease and a calm disposition may come as a natural aspect of one person while another person with a similar lifestyle may be able to handle situations totally differently. Stress and anger management, though both can be taught to some degree, come naturally. However, environmental factors are responsible for different aspects of behavior. Much like genetic factors contribute to an individual’s ability to handle situations without succumbing to violence, environmental factors will inevitably give individuals the opportunity to learn malevolent behavior. Whether it is simply a learned activity, such as a family prone to violence, or an act to communicate bitterness toward the outside world, environmental hardships are a brutal attack on any person’s ego and behavioral patterns. However, it is often disregarded exactly how much of an effect the environment has on a growing child’s behavior, attitude, and disposition. According to â€Å"Environmental Causes of Violence† (2009), â€Å"The role of exposure to environmental contaminants has received little attention as a factor predisposing to violent behavior. † This is a regular problem because parents tend to want to deny that they must suppress violence or bad behaviors in front of their children. They want to keep old habits and, in order to justify this, they refuse to believe that young children pick up on what their children are seeing. They believe that any malicious or negative behavior that they are taking place in while their children are young can easily be changed as the child grows. However, these behaviors often go unchanged and the children grow up to adopt them. Even though people tend to close their eyes and minds to painful past events, it is crucial to understand that these events are those that build up every person’s personality, whether or not he or she remembers them. No matter what happened, it will inevitably give birth to future problems that are particular to that one event. For example, sexually abused children will grow up with trust issues and issues with sex. Children with criminal parents will grow up predisposed to participating in criminal activity. Children that have been abused or even grew up in a violent environment will either come to adopt these activities or come to expect them out of life. This factor alone is one that contributes to ever-increasing amounts of violent activity or even murders in today’s society. However, witnesses of violent behavior are not the only ones who adopt such tendencies. Simply an environment with a negative reputation can lead to children growing up to learn that there is no better. They learn to accept this life that they are unhappy with, and proceed to act out because of their frustrations. Although violent behavior should be the focal point when attempting to better the environmental of children and teenagers, changing these factors at a young enough age can also stop the production of certain psychological problems before they are produced. Depression, with its ever-growing victim count, is hugely dependent on the environment that the victim has been forced to live with. Whether it be an unaccepting family or an abusive environment altogether, indifference or loss of hope can lead a person to a severely depressed sort of life. In addition to depression, lower IQ or shorter attention span are two unfortunate results of growing up in an environment that is indifferent or discouraging. Despite the numerous debates attempting to give credit to one or the other, both â€Å"nature† and â€Å"nurture† have sufficient evidence to support themselves, thus leading to the conclusion that both share responsibility in violent or criminal behavior. As mentioned, both affect every individual in different ways. For example, S. A. Mednick conducted experiments amongst children and their adoptive and biological parents. The Lancet,1995) In these experiments, Mednick found that adoptive children shared certain tendencies with their biological parents. He found that parents who had a criminal record always had children with at least one conviction, although rarely violent crimes. This experiment is a shining example of how, even though children inevitably gain certain behavioral aspects from their parents, they are in no way predisposed to become violent. It is simply easier for children with criminal or violent people in their gene pools to succumb to violent impulses. However, it is largely the environment that gives way to these impulses. A negative atmosphere just may send one with the right â€Å"genetic code† over the edge, thus resulting in one of the heinous crimes that are often on television and headlines. Although the amount both environmental factors and genetic factors affect the mental tendencies of each individual, it cannot be denied that both share responsibility for behavior in some way. Genetic factors may affect an individual’s predisposition to violence while environmental factors may affect a person’s actions. However, if the conditions are just right, both can be combined to create the violence that is ever-present in today’s society. Environtal Causes of Violence. (2009). Retrieved from http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmed/19758571 Is it all in the genes?. (1995). The Lancet, 345(8948), 466. Reif, A. , Rosler, M. , Freitag, C. M. , Schneider, M. , Eujen, A. , Kissling, C. , . . . Retz, W. (2007). Nature and nurture predispose to violent behavior: Serotonergic genes and adverse childhood environment. Neuropsychopharmacology, 32(11), 2375-83. doi: http://dx. doi. org/10. 1038/sj. npp. 1301359