Are criminals born or made?

1.

Are criminals
born or made?
Presented by students of group 40.03.01-22
Paul Chernyshev
(email: [email protected])
Polina Kolodkina
(email: [email protected])

2. Outline

I. Theories of born/made
criminals
II. Arguments for and against

3. Theories

ST
PART
Theories

4. Why criminals are born?

Theory of Cesare Lombroso
Cesare Lombroso
Born criminal has some biological traits:
● unusual size or shape of the head
● strange eyes
● too big or too small ears
● abnormal teeth
● too long, too small chin
● too long arms
IF YOU HAVE 5 OR MORE TRAITS – YOU ARE BORN CRIMINAL!

5. Why criminals are born?

«Murder gene» theory
2009 - scientists discovered MAO-A gene («Murder gene»)
The gene regulates impulse control of behavior
Male population
70%
Have the gene
30%
Don't have the gene

6.

Why criminals are made?
Durkheim's Anomie theory
Émile Durkheim
Earlier, people had common rules
Industrial revolution and immigration wave
caused the emergence of new rules
Imbalance between the previous rules and the new ones.
This imbalance = «anomie» = lack of social norms
Anomie motivates people to commit a crime in search for a
stable

7.

Why criminals are made?
Social learning theory
People commit crimes because they associate
themselves with criminals
The theory includes 3 mechanisms:
I.
Reinforcement of crime - individuals teach others to
commit crimes
II. Beliefs - individuals make believe a person that
crimes are favorable
III. The imitation of criminal models – people imitate
the behavior of criminals

8. Arguments

nd
PART
Arguments

9. Why criminals are born?

«Murder gene case»
2006 - Bradley Waldroup killed his wife
by a machete and shot her friend
First degree murder and death penalty
He had the high-risk version
of the MAOA gene («Murder gene»)
The judge allowed to use this evidence
Voluntary manslaughter and 32 years in prison

10. Why criminals are born?

Mental illness of criminal
Human psyche influence making decision
Not all people have a healthy psyche:
KILL YOU
There are people with mental disorder
(mental illness)
Mental illness is usually inborn
Unhealthy psyche influences making decision to commit
a crime

11.

Why criminals are made?
Social factors of crime
Crime is the result of social factors
There are factors of crime, operating in the 4 spheres of
society:
I. Economical sphere
The cost of living is below the level of physiological survival
Unemployment
II. Political sphere
• The instability of the political regime
• Corruption in the public service

12.

Why criminals are made?
Social factors of crime
III. Spiritual-moral and socio-psychological
Ethic and religious intolerance
Drug addiction and alcoholism
Legal nihilism
IV. Sphere of social relations
Contradictions in the situation of youth
Domestic problems
Contradictions in the conditions of upbringing and
education

13.

14.

Please
Turn over your sheet
of paper
Make a choice

15.

Are criminals
born or made?
Presented by students of group 40.03.01-22
Paul Chernyshev
(email: [email protected])
Polina Kolodkina
(email: [email protected])