Question

Steve is the primary suspect in a case involving the sale and distribution of methamphetamine. He is a 21-year-old Caucasian male who has never been in a committed relationship. He has no children and is the youngest of three brothers, all of whom live at home with their mother, who works two full-time jobs to support the family. He was born and raised in a rural community with close access to a larger city. His father and both uncles are incarcerated for sale and distribution of cocaine. He looks up to his father and has regular contact with him. His older brother is transient, often absent from the home for weeks at a time. His younger brother is in high school—they are close. He goes to Catholic Mass about once a month and is close with the parish priest, who has been a mentor for the past 10 years.

Steve does not use drugs, preferring to sell them. He is a heavy consumer of alcohol, which caused early-stage liver dysfunction. He maintains a social media account, open for public view, where he posts about being frequently angry. He has both a juvenile and adult arrest record for minor crimes such as shoplifting and possession of a controlled substance for personal use. He is suspected of sales with intent to distribute because he was photographed at a known drop house on 12 occasions, staying for several hours each time. His fingerprints were found on meth lab equipment after a search warrant was served at that house.

After reading the Module One Discussion Scenario, address the following: What influences a person’s motivation to commit a crime? Think about developmental, biological, and situational factors that contribute to the person’s behavior.

Answer 1

Various factors influences a person's motivation to commit crime.

Nature vs nurture : Nature is individual s innate qualities,they are determined by Gene's or genetics. Physical and personality traits that are determined by Gene's which can lead an individual to innately develop aggression and tendency to create violence or commit crime.

Nature also encorporates biological and familial factors.

On the other hand nurture includes various personal, environmental and social factors.

Individual can either have aggressive instincts or can learn behaviour to commit crime by observing others in the society around him.

Circumstances can compel an individual to commit crime as in poverty, unemployment,to meet his daily needs to meet a living.

Having a mental illness and lack of judgement can influence a person to commit crime.

Developmental , biological and social factors contributing to person's behaviour are :

Developmental : Age and maturation- with age and maturity gained behaviour is altered.

Cognitive function changes with development that contribute to person's behaviour.

Biological factors: Genetics- personality traits

Hereditary- Famil history,familial tendencies

Hormones- determine if individual will be alert or sleepy or aggressive or timid.

Personal factors :

Age- behavior alters with age and maturation

Attention - behavior alters with attention being paid on particular factors.

Motivation- motivation to behave in particular manner.

Attitude and moral values determine ones behavior to great extent.

Social and environmental factors:

Family and family Dynamics - good happy integrated family has less chances of development of crime mind but disturbed ,seper sep and conflictual family environment can lead to disruptive behavior.

Peer influence- plays important role in individual s behavior.

Learning through media and technology also contribute s to individual behaviour.

Culture and cultural variations play an important role in ones behavior.