Stereotypes on criminal famlies

The public assumes that criminal acts are related to genes and would be passed on within a family. The argument between nature and nurture in terms of criminology has lasted for decades. In the 19th century, nature theories were dominant over environmental influences. Nature theory states that crimes are associated with structures of people’s brains and genetic inheritance (Coyne & Wright,2013). Studies among twins and adopted children prove that the connection between biology and criminology exists. Research shows that identical twins who have very similar genes are more likely to behave similarly towards crime than fraternal twins (Bernard & Mannheim, 2019). Studies on adopted children find that children whose birth parents are criminals have higher risks of committing a crime than those whose adopted parents are criminals and biological parents are not (Bernard & Mannheim, 2019). These studies suggest that we cannot ignore genetic influences on criminal actions and can inherit family actions within a family.