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Understanding the Criminal

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Running head: UNDERSTANDING THE CRIMINAL

Understanding the Criminal

Understanding the Criminal
Crime is an activity that societies around the globe have had to experience from close to the beginning of manhood. Crime is nothing new to us but the extent of criminal behavior has evolved over the centuries. We will probably never live in a world that is free of crime, but learning more about the criminal aspects in our society may one day make our world a much better place to live. To help resolve criminal behavior becoming more familiar with the biological and psychological explanations of crime, the way criminals learn to commit crimes and the criminal justice system in place to deal with criminals must be understood.
Understanding the explanations of crime is a controversial issue by many researchers. What is understood is that the crime rate over the last century has increased and that this is largely due to the criminals in our society. If the criminal could be understood then perhaps that would be a large step in the combat against crime. Criminologists study factors to explain why and individual would commit crimes. Although one explanation does not supersede the other when considering the causes of crime, research has shown evidence of biological and psychological factors resulting in the criminal characteristics. Often people experience both contributing factors that drive them into the world of criminal behavior.
Biological causation of crimes used to be an instrumental tool for criminologists interested in the structure of a criminal. Biological theories of crime were a way that physiognomists and phrenologist differentiated criminals and prospective criminals by their physical and inherited traits. Biological theories are not conclusive to the causation of crime and are often discredited because of their lack of scientific evidence. However,

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