Biological theories of human behavior and criminality can be controversial topics to discuss, for it has some unclear moments. Although the researches and pieces of evidence on the biological influence on the predisposition to crimes may sound convincing and weighty, it is not enough to fully explain the criminal behavior. I support those theories but still have a little bit different outlook on the genetic hypothesis.
One of the theories assumes that if parents can pass their behavioral and phycological patterns through genes to their child, therefore, if they have any criminal or anti-social tendencies, then the child is more likely to gain it (Hegger, 2015). I agree on that part that parents can pass bad genes, but at the same time, I disagree with the fact that it increases the possibility of a child to becoming an offender. Those genes can show no effect on the personality of a human; still, the toxic environment and risk factors can.
First of all, even with the genes that do not have any criminal tendency, under specific circumstances, people can become criminals. According to Hegger, there are six traits that influence human criminal behavior: anti-social values, criminal peers, anti-social personality, dysfunctional family, low self-control, substance abuse (2015). The primary one can be a dysfunctional family that might seem socially accepted and decent but does not have a warm and supportive environment. The child can develop low self-esteem and continuously get into the questionable company of peers and experiment with substances to feel relief. However, there are still chances that criminogenic genes will not push the person to the criminal path, significantly if he or she was growing in the ecological atmosphere with accepting family and high moral values.
Reference
Hegger, J. (2015). “6 Traits that lead to criminal behavior”. Police 1.