Understanding the Social Psychology and Criminal Behavior

Sociobiology Theory and Criminology

Criminology field has varying psychological and biological theories that explain the criminality and factors that predispose individuals to engaging in criminal behaviors. Biological theories consider criminal behavior as a product of biological abnormality or defect. The criminal cannot change their behaviors because of the variation of their biological traits, thereby, forcing them to act in a specific manner. However, biological theory is considered odd with the presence of psychological theories that try to explain the factors and reasons behind criminality. Unlike the earlier, psychological theories, consider criminality as a product of offenders due to defects of the mental functioning, adjustment to the environmental forces, and individual development (Baumeister & Vohs, 2007). Therefore, this essay analyzes the sociobiological theory that tries to explain the relationship between personality and criminality. The essay also analyzes the key elements that underpin the sociobiological theory and its philosophical basis.

Sociobiology refers to a theory that that uses evolutionary bases to create an understanding of the patterns of social behaviors that evolve through sexual selection and natural selection. Although the theory is considered to base its ideologies in the older scientific disciplines that include comparative psychology and ethology, it has grown to a distinct psychological theory that allows for the understanding of criminality. Sociobiological theory holds that genetic predispositions play a significant role in influencing behaviors such as preservation of individual offspring and territoriality that might breed undesired social behaviors such as criminality. Territoriality erupts into violence in multiple areas. For example, gangs represent territorial disputes that often erupt into violence. Similarly, significant evidence shows that the sociobiological theory holds that factors such as infidelity, vandalism, and/or larceny act as predisposing factors to criminality. Such is evidenced by various social acts such as revenge and conflict interests that have their roots to biological bases (Wainwright, 2012).

Without doubt, the above analysis points sociobiological theory to hold that individual behaviors are because of evolutionary and genetic processes. Such is apparent from Baumeister & Vohs (2007)'s text that shows that individual's behavior occurs due to the influence of inherited traits that can be affected by natural selection in action. However, the success of adaptability to the prevailing environmental conditions varies significantly across the people. As such, empirical analysis shows that most of the individuals who fail to adapt successfully to the prevailing conditions often become vulnerable to undesired social behaviors such as violence and other forms of criminality. In addition, when creating an understanding of the relationship between the sociobiological theory and one's behavior, Turner (2001) shows that the various adaptations such as morphological, behavioral and physiological adaptations interplay to influence individual's behavior. The interplay also creates categories of social behaviors such as violence and aggression that play a key role in predisposing one to criminality.

Moreover, sociobiology theory creates an understanding of the one's behavior using "intimate social interactions" that result in behaviors such as commensalism, social parasitism, and mutualism. Failure of the above-symbiotic forms of human interactions affect the existing dyadic interaction between members of society, thereby, conflicts that cause criminality. For example, a failure of the social behaviors such as mutualism results in conflict between the parties involved, hence, violence and aggression. Similarly, cooperate social interaction among individuals can breed undesired social acts that breed criminality. For example, the prolonged enmity of social interaction between different groups of people in the society results in an undesired social culture that makes them vulnerable to social aggression. Despite the theory, trying to create an understanding of the relationship between one's personality, and criminal behavior, critics from scholars such as Wainwright (2012) and Turner (2001) make the theory lose its effectiveness. For instance, Baumeister & Vohs (2007) criticize that the theory holds its bases on animal researchers while Wainwright (2012) shows that it does not address the learned behaviors effectively. The distinctive nature of human beings from animals also weakens the applicability of the theory to human beings.

Among the key elements of the sociobiological theory, include natural selection, adaptation, and sexual selection. These elements have their bases on the evolutionary principles of the Darwinian perspectives. Sexual selection refers to the ability of people from different phenotypes to compete in the environment successfully for mates. Sexual selection increases the survival chances of a species, thereby, transferability of the behaviors across all the generations. Natural selection refers to the differentials in the reproductive success of human beings that are attributed to the genotypic variation evident across individuals of the same population. Adaptation refers to the ability of the human beings to conform to the presented environmental conditions that influence their interaction and behaviors (Wainwright, 2012).