nature vs nurtue, are "monsters" in our society created or is evil in us from birth?

-- damien , douglas (prospec2@mail.com), April 07, 2004

Answers

Both. Neither. It's much more complicated that this,and we don't really have a definitive answer in any case. For a wholly "nature" perspetive, see Robert Hare's _Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us_ (1993, 1999). For a more "nurture" perspective, see almost anyone else.

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), April 08, 2004.

There are many previous postings on this topic if you check the list of topics on this webpage.

-- Hendrika Vande Kemp (hendrika@earthlink.net), April 07, 2004.

Hi Douglas, This is an old, but still ongoing question that I think is very important. First,it may be a mistake to be too confident about our answer at this time, since there is still much research to be done and possibly new techniques to apply. My tentative idea is that the likelihood of extremely cruel behavior can be increased by both hereditary and environmental factors. Any behavior is due to some type of combination of the two groups of factors. However, the relative contribution of nature versus nuture may vary between individuals and for the population as a whole certain personality characteristics may be more influenced more my heredity than others. Certain hereditary factors may contribute to a brain that is particularly impulsive, easily frustrated and angered, and has little empathy for those outside of maybe family favorites. Environmental factors like brain truma, lack of social support, negative role models, reward from cruel actions, extreme competition or threats, and being the victim of severe bullying may increase the frequency or the extent of cruelty. Mice research has shown that in bullied mice, their brain changes and they are more likly to later bully other mice. It is possible that the human brain may suffer rapid, severe, and long-lasting damage from certain strong negative experiences. This complex and not well understood interaction of heredity and enviromental factors probably contributes to society's difficulty in assessing the degree of responsibility of extremely brutal criminals (or by extention any one). The complexity also increases the difficulty in predicting how dangerous they will be in the future. I hope this helps. Paul

-- Paul Kleinginna (pkleinginna@georgiasouthern.edu), April 09, 2004.

In response to part of your answer about how herediary and environmental factors can increase cruel behavior, I have something else to offer. Let me start off by telling you that i have no prior experience in counseling but am currently majoring in psychology. A persons cruel behavior can only be increased by social and environmental factors. It is whether he is taught this type of behavior in society that brings out his behavior that was inherited from his parents. An adopted child who is brought up in a solid, loving, caring family will most likely not show traits of extreme cruel behavior, whereas a child who inherited such traits and is raised in a house where violence is common place will show such traits. What i think we are looking at here is generational sin. A child is given whatever hereditary traits he will recieve at conception. His genes will not change, but the environment in which he lives could change and so the tendency for cruel behavior might not stand out, and he could learn to control such cruel behavior depending on the situation in which he was raised as a child/adolescent If i am not correct or if you see any areas where i could use some correction, do not hesitate to correct me as i am in the learing stages of psychology. Kevin

-- Kevin Cooper (kmcooper19@yahoo.com), August 31, 2004.

Kevin,

You don't offer anything (evidence, argument) in support of your opinion, so it is hard to know why you say what you do, or how to begin critiquing it. A number of things occur to me as I read. Your opinion seems to be premised primarily on your belief that "his genes will not change, but the environment in which he lives could change." This needn't mean that changes in behavior are not conditioned by genetics. We undergo many changes in our lives that are, across a wide range of environments, more or less genetically "controlled." Growth and sexual maturation come immediately to mind. Certain changes in attitude and behavior come along with these. Why not an increase (or decrease) in the tendency toward "cruelty"? (I have some trouble seen this as a basic personality trait, thus the scare quotes. The very term seems to carry a boatload of social connotations.) This is not to say that I *believe* that cruelty is genetic, only that your statement wouldn't convince me otherwise if I did.

-- Christopher Green (cgreen@chass.utoronto.ca), September 02, 2004.