Nature vs Nurture

NATURE = inherited/genetic

NURTURE = environmental influences

James Bulger Case

Researching into the James Bulger case and looking at the background of the two 10 year old boys , Robert Thomson & Jon Venables, to me, i believe that their upbringing did have a lot to do with why they did what they did. I think that if they had had a different upbringing they may have had a different frame of mind and not even thought about performing such a horrific act. Both of the killers had come from broken homes, they both had difficulties with attendance/learning and behaviour at school. They would often 'bunk' off school, shoplifted, they were violent - all these things resulted in the pair living broken and empty lives. I think all this must have played a massive part in why they carried out the killing and why they wanted to do it. I believe we are products of our environment and if Thompson and Venables had been brought up differently i think there is a good chance they wouldnt have done what they did.

Lee Rigby Murder

Michael Adebolajo murder of British Soldier Lee Rigby was an act on the basis of extremist views. I believe he did carry out the murder due to the pressures of society and what he thought was 'the right thing to do' and 'making a stand' to the problems in society and he thought killing Lee Rigby (as he has killed other soldiers) ''eye for eye'' ''tooth for tooth'' - was getting his 'point' across. I think that this is yet another product of someone's environment. What is going on in the world has possessed him to execute the crime. 

9/11

Alike to Adebolajo's 'reasons' for killing Lee Rigby, I believe that Al-Qaeda did what they did due to nurture, feeling part of something e.g. a gang/a religion/a group of some sort, is really important for our human development. If you feel 'part' of something sometimes that is more important than anything else and any act you carry out can not seem as bad as you are doing it with the people you are closest with. Again, I believe this is all dependant on the world you have grown accustomed to, what you think is right or wrong because of what you have learnt on the path you have led so far.

There is no definitive way of proving whether we do the things we do because of our nature/nurture so the debate will be ongoing. On the whole, in my opinion, i am a strong believer in thinking that the decisions we make in life are heavily based on the people/environment we are surrounded by. We learn as we go along in life, and if you have learnt along the way that killing someone is okay, then surely some past experience has made made you think that. Though, we cannot possibly decide on what is the answer. Maybe it is a bit of both. Who knows.