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Northern Essex Community College

Module 4 Writing Assignment

Review the assignment overview, learning objectives, directions, and submission expectations before submitting your work.

Overview

This activity is designed to help you examine how biological factors may influence criminal behavior when viewed alongside social and environmental influences. Using the assigned reading, you will explore a specific biological factor related to criminality and summarize key findings from current research. You will then analyze how this biological factor may increase risk for criminal behavior and how it could shape an individual’s social interactions. Finally, you will connect biological explanations with criminological theory to better understand how biological predispositions and social contexts interact in the study of crime.

Student Learning Objectives

(These objectives support the assignment and are not the questions to be answered.)

  • LO1: Describe the development of criminological theories from early theories to contemporary theories.
  • LO2: Compare and contrast theoretical perspectives from the Chicago School of Criminology.
Assignment Topic

Advances in technology have allowed researchers to more thoroughly explore the relationship between biology and crime. These advances have allowed us to move beyond the early biological explanations of body type to include other biological factors. While biological factors are not necessarily causes of criminal behavior, they are thought to initiate a predisposition to criminal behavior through interactions with the social world. Explore a topic using Biological Factors for Criminality. Choose a biological factor of interest to you and summarize some of the major findings (for example, ADD, serotonin levels).

  • How do you think this biological factor put someone at risk for criminal behavior?
  • How might the biological predisposition affect social interactions?
  • Can criminological theory help explain crime and deviant behavior?
Acceptable and Ethical Use of AI
  • Use AI to help you organize and clarify key findings from the assigned reading related to your chosen biological factor, supporting your understanding before writing your summary.
  • Use AI to assist you in thinking through how a biological predisposition might interact with social environments and criminological theory, helping you frame your analysis before completing the activity.
Directions

Please read all instructions carefully before submitting your assignment.

  • Your paper should be 2-3 pages, using APA style, including 12 font and 1-inch margins.
  • A minimum of at least two (2) sources, with proper APA citations in a Reference Page and proper in-text citations.
  • Abstract NOT needed.
  • Submissions are checked against a Plagiarism Checker and AI Detector.
    • Direct quotes should not exceed 15% of the total paper.
    • AI Usage – you must use AI ethically. Papers written by an AI is cheating.
Submission Guidelines
  • Submit your assignment through the designated submission area.
  • Ensure your file is in [accepted format: Word, PDF, etc.].
  • Review the grading rubric before submitting your work.
Important Reminder

Important: All work must be your own. Follow course policies regarding academic integrity and the use of outside sources or tools.