Thursday, December 26, 2019

Is Adderall a Stimulant or a Depressant

One common drug question is whether Adderall, a drug commonly prescribed for ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), is a stimulant or a depressant. Adderall is an amphetamine, which means it is a stimulant, in the same class of chemicals that includes methamphetamine and benzedrine. Technically, Adderall consists of a mixture of amphetamines: racemic amphetamine aspartate monohydrate, racemic amphetamine sulfate, dextroamphetamine saccharide, and dextroamphetamine sulfate. The drugs effects include euphoria, increased wakefulness, increased focus, increased libido, and diminished appetite. Adderall effects blood pressure, cardiac function, respiration, muscles, and digestive function. As with other amphetamines, it is addictive and discontinuing its use may lead to withdrawal symptoms. Part of the confusion over whether the drug is a stimulant or depressant arises from the different effects people experience depending on dose and individual physiology. While one person may feel jittery and hyper after taking Adderall, another may feel more an increased sense of focus. Sources Heal DJ, Smith SL, Gosden J, Nutt DJ (June 2013). Amphetamine, past and present – a pharmacological and clinical perspective. J. Psychopharmacol. 27 (6): 479–496. doi:10.1177/0269881113482532Stahl SM (March 2017). Amphetamine (D,L). Prescribers Guide: Stahls Essential Psychopharmacology (6th ed.). Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. pp. 45–51. ISBN 9781108228749.

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Essay on The Legalization Drugs - 2187 Words

The Legalization Drugs The dawn of the twenty first century has ushered in a new age of optimism and wonder. Despite the proclamations of television, all is not in well in our part of the world. Our societies have succumbed to the modern holy war on drugs. Being fought against our own citizens and citizens abroad, an international effort to eradicate drug production and use has undoubtedly failed leaving in its wake social unrest and political chaos. Assault, property crime, racial and economic marginalization, murder, corruption and many other undesirable things are burning through society fueled by the drug wars cold and inhuman policies. In addition to these problems there are the initial problems that drug users incur on†¦show more content†¦A regulated drug market would provide drug users with consistent doses, lowering the likelihood of overdose with some drugs. Clear labeling, instructions, and warnings present in a legalized system would result in safer usage. It is known, for instance, th at other, more dangerous drugs, have caused many of the deaths linked to ecstasy. (www.csdp.org/factbook/ecstasy.htm) In the future, such scenarios can be virtually eliminated. Another safety issue surrounding drug usage is the spread of diseases, such as AIDS, through injection drug use. According to a study in 1996 Drug paraphernalia laws in 47 U.S. states make it illegal for injection drug users to posses syringes. (www.csdp.org/factbook/syringee.htm) This law effectively bans needle exchange programs (since they would be giving needles to drug users who are banned from having them). The study concluded that access to clean needles would reduce blood borne viruses in injection drug users. The legalization of drugs would also allow profitable research by pharmaceutical companies into safer drugs that produce similar psychoactive effects to the current illegal ones. New drugs could possibly decrease the negative health effects of drugs reducing the overall harm caused by current un healthy drug use. (www.opiods.com) The safety gapShow MoreRelatedThe Legalization Of Drug Legalization1310 Words   |  6 Pages Drug decriminalization is opposed by the majority of Americans. Leaders in drug prevention, education, treatment, and law enforcement are against it, as are many political leaders. However, pro-drug advocacy groups, who support the use of drugs, are making headlines. They are influencing legislation and having a significant impact on the national policy debate in the United States. Although, pro-advocacy groups claim decriminalization of drugs will lower incarceration rates and boost the economyRead MoreDrug Legalization1579 Words   |  7 Pagesget their drug, being able to get drugs for which they re sure of the quality. Isn t it a gateway drug to harder substances? The effect of criminalization is to drive people from mild drugs to strong drugs... Crack would never have existed in my opinion if you had not had drug prohibition. It was drug prohibition- why was crack created? Because cocaine was so expensive. [Cocaine was so expensive  because of drug prohibition.] But what about the morality of legalization? It sRead MoreLegalization Of Drugs911 Words   |  4 Pages The legalization of illicit drugs has been a popular topic of debate. While there is often concern about the potential toxicity and the habits that may form, drugs are not necessarily the problem. In fact, the legalization of illicit drugs may be the answer to some of society’s problems. More drugs should be legalized because the drug is not the cause of the problem, our behavior is. Also, when compared to other substances that are legal we see the same social ills arise. If drugs were legalizedRead More Drug Legalization Essay1115 Words   |  5 PagesDrug Legalization Drug legalization has become a great issue among Americans for many years, and there have also been those that try to stop that legalization. The article, â€Å"Legalizing Drugs is Not the Solution† by Gerald W. Lynch, has a good argument based on facts and incidents that have occurred from drug use. In this article a person thinks twice about what they are really doing when they use drugs, and it is clear as to why legalizing drugs would not be a logical solution As spokenRead MoreThe Benefits Of Drug Legalization853 Words   |  4 PagesIllicit Drugs Should Be Legalized Historically, legalization of drugs has been an ongoing debate for years. Drug legalization is a controversial issue in North America because of its potential effects on society. Permitting the use of drugs can undoubtedly have a significant impact on current socio-economic policies. It is essential to note that there are many benefits and consequences associated with legalizing drugs. However, the direct economic and social benefits of drug legalization clearlyRead MoreThe Legalization Of Hard Drugs1036 Words   |  5 PagesCase for the Legalization of Hard Drugs in the U.S. The issue of drug abuse is a sad reality in every community, and drug prohibition is present across the globe. Whether it is under the guise of protection of family values, or public safety, prohibition disrupts more than it maintains. Many people view drugs as a problem but they can also be viewed as a problem solver. This essay will address the socioeconomic issues with prohibition of hard drugs, and argue for their legalization. ProhibitionRead MoreDiscussing Drug Legalization1821 Words   |  7 Pages â€Å"Drugs are bad, mkay.† That’s what we’ve come to learn from Mr. Mackey in South Park (Ike’s Wee Wee). While that is known, what is the best way to combat drug use in society today? It is true the government is spending billions of dollars on the â€Å"War on Drugs,† but if they were to be legalized would that be replaced with money being spent on healthcare due to drug related incidents, or drug treatment programs? It is true that a large amount of crime and the prison population are drug related offendersRead MoreLegalization Of Ilicit Drugs1236 Words   |  5 PagesLegalization of Illicit Drugs The debate of the legalization of illicit drugs has been around for some time. It is a fairly wide spectrum, with two varying opinions. While one side argues that illicit drugs should be legal, the other side stick to the more conservative side of the spectrum and argues that illicit drugs should remain illegal and have no place in our modern society. This paper will attempt to side with the legalization of illicit drugs for various reasons. It will make the communityRead MoreLegalization of Drugs Essay1305 Words   |  6 Pages The current hot-topic debate about the legalization of marijuana for medical exposes the long lasting debate about the economic viability of prohibiting certain kind of drugs considered illicit. Many social costs to society are attributable to illicit drugs, along with tobacco, alcohol, and guns. In fact, each of these vices is allegedly responsible for $200 billion annual expenditure in social costs of the USA (Donohue, 2010). Interestingly, all these commo dities mentioned above have common characteristics:Read MoreAgainst The Legalization Of Drugs1671 Words   |  7 PagesAgainst the Legalization of Drugs Legalization of drugs is an increasingly hot topic in today’s society. It is one of that needs vast advancements in research and treatment for addicts to prevent the moral and legal obligations, as well as the severe health ramifications that come along with addiction of these powerful drugs. To legalize drugs would be detrimental to the family unit as well as our youth and have serious health consequences at an alarming rate. James Q. Wilson, author of, â€Å"Against

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Strategic Information System for Digitalization - MyAssignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theStrategic Information System for Digitalization. Answer: Report Overview, Introduction Background As the world is moving towards the age of globalization and digitalization, the complexity of the business processes keeps on increasing, with pressure of automating the business processes and cost cutting, it becomes impossible for the organizations to run their business without using IT systems. Emerson electric whose case is discussed in this report is one of such organizations which are now considering switching to modern ERP systems from traditional legacy systems. A lot of investment is needed in the ERP projects due to its complexity. Moreover, there are many case studies consisting of FoxMeyer Drug, Hersheys and Nike that how their ERP implementation project proved to be a nightmare and make them on verge of bankruptcy (Hustad, Olsen, 2014). It is important to study the product before choosing the ERP vendor as often, multiple stakeholders are involved. In order to ensure the success of the project risk analysis and risk mitigation techniques are also quite important. This r eport aims at discussing the various steps required for selection of the ERP vendor and this will help in making the informed decision and also ensure that the investments would reap the benefits and also throw the light on common challenges for selecting ERP systems by traditional organizations like Emerson electric. Analysis Discussion Emerson Electric has offices in more than 200 countries. It is a global manufacturing conglomerate. Various products like density measurement equipment, pressure measurement equipment, valves, Water treatment systems are manufactured by Emerson Electric and it competes with the worlds major business giants like Schneider, Honeywell, ABB, General electric, Agilent to name a few (Hung Ho, 2012). The organizations business processes and other important aspects that will be helpful in making a correct decision about selection of appropriate ERP vendor are discussed in detail as follows: Definition of Existing Business Processes There are numerous suppliers worldwide providing raw materials to Emerson electric which buys raw materials from them and converts them into finished goods after carrying out various manufacturing operations like drilling, cutting and assembling. It operates in Business to Business segment as its final products are used in other industries. Some of the common business processes of the company are as follows: It requests for quotations from suppliers and procures to pay business process which consists of floating requirements. It places order once quotations are received, based on the cost and other parameters, like lead time, quality and freight conditions, it can finalize the contract with the selected suppliers. The quality department inspects the material received once the order is placed and accepted by the supplier. Invoice is processes and payment is made to the suppliers, once accepted. This entire transaction is posted to general ledger in the end (Esteves, 2014). Make to order and Make to stock: Emerson Electric manufactures some of the products having standard specifications based on the forecast of the demand. They are then stored in the warehouse and customer orders are replenished from the warehouses. While some of the products are confirmed products which means each customer specifies their own requirements and specifications while placing order. Therefore, such orders will be manufactured only when the customer sales order is booked and processed. There are various sub processes involved in this process are carrying out of sequence of operations, issuing materials, scheduling of various jobs, detailed routing and BOM preparation, creation of discrete jobs (Teittinen Pellinen, 2013). Order to cash process: This process involves the processing of customer orders and booking the orders. Customer shipping date is promised once booking date is confirmed, these orders will be manufactured or directly replenish from the available quantity. When the final invoice is received, entire transaction is paid to the general ledger of the company, once material is shipped to the customers and account receivables are updated. Quality process: When material is received from the supplier, it is measured against the quality standards as quality processes are also very important. Also, to make sure that quality is maintained throughout during the work order creation and processing, their qualities are measured after critical operation (Huang, Handfield, 2015). Warehouse processes: Various warehouses processes like put away, picking also needs to be performed. When material is received from the supplier, it also has to be placed in the warehouse and also the finished goods that have been manufactured are placed in the warehouses. The integrated view of customer ERP business process for Emerson can be shown as: Develop Business Requirements Emerson electric has filtered its requirement lists which are must to be supported by the selected ERP products based on the above business processes It should have financial capability and accounts reconciliation features It should also have serial tracking, ABC analysis of inventory, Cycle counting ERP system must support e-procurement where purchase orders are placed with suppliers in real time ERP systems must have supplier collaboration tool where forecasts can be shared with suppliers It also has the sales order processing system that can calculate the appropriate promising date by taking into account the various make and buy lead times of the product and where appropriate sales order is booked and special instructions are captured (Brown, Xu, Stevenson, 2015). Software should also have the ability to scale in case the company wishes to apply it for other sites. It should have routing capturing information, ability to track which material is issued for which job and used in which finished good assembly. Ability to rollup costs for calculating the cost of the goods. Reporting and dashboard features that could capture the key performance indicators and also helps management in decision making Ability to enter quality results Determine the Systems Requirements Most important thing is that customizations are not advisable in ERP systems as they are quite expensive to maintain and also lost during upgrades. Thus, standard business requirements should be directly fit into the system without customizing any aspect of it. There are various other system requirements too. Also, there should be functional security in the systems so that appropriate role should access only the appropriate functions (Shukla, Mishra, Jain, Yadav, 2016). One more crucial thing is that system should be secure and also supports data backup functions. Also, system should be easy to use, easy to maintain, cost effective and user friendly. Apart from it, there are two important things, on the premise and cloud. This is the age of cloud computing. As on the premise version is quite expensive and took time to implement, ERP vendor must have its product confirm to the latest standards which is also available on the cloud. System should also have the cross functional view of the business processes and supports integrative approach in the processes. It means Emerson does not have to buy the server, storage or perform backup activities, it just wants subscription based system on cloud which is easy to scale up as well as scale down (Ahmad, Cuenca, 2013). Software and Vendor Selection Lets discuss some of the most popular and seasoned product, from numerous ERP/AIS systems. XERO: Xero is the biggest beneficiary of advent of cloud computing and thus challenging the leadership position of MYOB, it is a popular software and it has the largest cloud provider company in Australia. It is growing very fast and has the inventory, procurement and finance features but it is also mainly an accounting systems and not complete ERP systems. It requires to be integrated to other tools and third party bolt on systems for achieving the complete equivalent ERP functionality. In this sense, it may be expensive and also required dealing with multiple vendors and finalizing deals. As Emerson is looking for single ERP package to fulfill its requirements, Xero will not be able to fulfill that as it is not a complete ERP system. MYOB: MYOB began to lose its leadership status to Xero, although it is one of the oldest accounting software in Australia which is having a largest markets share but with the advent of the cloud, it is facing downside. Not only this, its approach is quite confused in Cloud. Apart from it, it is primarily accounting system which provides taxation features, account reconciliation; e-procurement features but lacks features in manufacturing operation like ability to maintain Bills of material and routing operation. Though its good software, it does not entirely fulfill the business requirement of Emerson Electric and thus is not recommended because of just being an accounting system. Oracle ERP: Oracle ERP includes all the functionalities of these products in its ERP program and is very famous ERP and it acquired worlds best product like Siebel, People soft, Demantra. It has Account payables, account receivables, general ledger, manufacturing, Procurement, customer services and many other modules. Emerson can buy any number of modules based on its business requirements. It also has a cloud based subscription and thus easy to scale up. Though it fulfills all the business requirements, its expensive pricing is the only downside. It will be easy to implement and easy to maintain however due to licensing being quite expensive, it is not recommended to Emerson Electric. SAP Systems: For SAP systems it makes sense for the company to shortlist the SAP and invite vendor to showcase its features as they are very popular ERP packages and it has been used by the competitors of Emerson like Honeywell, Agilent, GE systems. Moreover, SAP like oracle have all the supply chain, services, manufacturing and finance modules and company can buy any based on its requirements. It also has subscription based billing on the cloud. Its global currency support make it very useful for the global company like Emerson that have plants in different locations as well as buy materials from suppliers located in different geographies and it is cheaper than oracle. In conclusion, SAP is the recommended software which can fulfill the needs of the Emerson Electric and aligns with its business processes as well. It can be said that all the above software is good for the company. However, there are numerous benefits of SAP over other software. SAP is a reputed company and the sales support from SAP is also good. Therefore, it is recommended that Emerson Electric should use the services of SAP. It is also recommended that Emerson should get the standard SAP suite customized to match its internal requirements. SAP has standard products and these products would be utilized with maximum efficiency only when the core product is customized to meet the local needs of Emerson Electric. Determine at least three ways which companies or organizations utilize such technologies to improve business efficiency Currently, each department is looking to satisfy his own department performance indicators without worrying about the overall performance indicators as business processes are operating in silos. But with ERP, cross functional have their indicators which mean each department has to contribute its bests so that the overall process is efficient. This will reduce redundancy and ability to handle multiple times in multiple systems (Haddara, 2014). With ERP implementation, there will be only one instance of customer data that will be maintained unlike currently where customer data is maintained by the sales team as well as account receivables team. News systems will improve the velocity, adaptability and visibility of the entire supply chain of the company. Less quantity of inventory means less shrinkage costs, less obsolescence costs, less storage costs. With e-procurement, lead time of procurement to pay cycle will reduce which means company can also reduce the inventory that it keeps. In order to improve on time order fulfillment rate with proper inventory quantity in place, organization will able to fulfill more customer order on time. Manufacturing processes like cost rollup helps the company to understand the cost it is incurring on various products and thus helps in better pricing strategies. Evaluate the Level of Efficiency of the Technology Implementation Organization also needs to evaluate the implementation partner after finalizing the software. There are many organizations which implements the ERP software for organizations like Deloitte, Accenture. Thus, the proposals should be invited from both of them with clear cut mention of goals, requirements, expectations and the better proposal should be evaluated. For the efficient technology implementation as they are actually the product experts who know the intricacies of the product, the implementation partner is very important. Accenture has respectable reviews and has huge experience and has served numerous manufacturing clients in SAP worldwide. Efficiency of implementation can be measure if various milestones are on time, budget is under controlled and users are satisfied with the performance (Nwankpa, 2015). There has been failure of SAP implementation project at FoxMeyer which completely blames its implementation partner. Examine Potential Security Risks, Data Breaches The key potential risks ERP are data theft and data leakage. ERPs systems contain huge set of data comprising of personnel, confidential information of suppliers, customers and employees. Moreover, there is payment information, various contracts information is stored which makes With cloud, data is often stored in servers which have multiple backups in various geographies so as to handle any calamity and emergency (Dixit Prakash, 2011). ERPs systems quite susceptible for the data theft and data attack. Also, there are certain rules related to law that the confidential data in few of the countries should not be stored in the server which is not in the physical location of the country i.e. in a server situated in a foreign country. Ability to make changes in the key data by super users is also a big threat and must be taken care by the company. Thus, such cases need to be evaluated so as to save from a penalty. Provide Guidelines on how These Risks could be Mitigated. Biggest risk is the risk of exposing confidential information to someone who is not supposed to do so. This can be protected by the functional security. For instance, person who is a receiver will able to see only that information in the systems, i.e. open purchase orders and quantity that is due for receiving. Thus, appropriate rights will help the company to protect such risks. There are various ways to handle these risks and most of them are inbuilt in the ERP systems and nothing extra is required (Dezdar Ainin, 2011). The company needs to mention the important business laws and conditions with the cloud provider and ensure that key terms that will be responsible for what to protect itself from any miscarriage of data (Momoh Roy, 2010). Moreover, ERP systems have proper workflows built in so as to take care of various approvals. Workflows will take care of any unauthorized approval and thus provide the added benefit. For example, purchase orders often flows through various steps before it is approved and placed with suppliers. Conclusion The various aspects of the selection of ERP or Accounting systems are discussed in this case. Emerson electric is a manufacturing conglomerate that is planning to replace its existing systems by modern ERP systems. Thus, company has treaded itself on the path of exploring the correct software which aligns with its business processes. This case discusses what the important things are and attribute that should be looked into the EPR vendor and its product and the very first thing which is feasibility study of the business processes. After these decisions are made, risk analysis should be required along with clear timelines and milestones to achieve the same. As conclusion, Emerson electric has been advised to use the SAP ERP to move from its traditional system to highly automated ERP system as this ERP is a proven software and has used by the business giants in the world of manufacturing like Honeywell, GE, ABB. Moreover, it fulfills all the business requirements for Emerson electric and aligns with its business processes. References Alaqeel, K., Shakkah, M. S., Rahmat, R. F., Alfageeh, A., Budiarto, R. (2017, April). Organization Readiness and ERP Implementation in Albaha University. InIOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering(Vol. 190, No. 1, p. 012049). IOP Publishing. Dezdar, S. and Ainin, S., 2011. The influence of organizational factors on successful ERP implementation.Management Decision,49(6), pp.911-926. Denolf, J. M., Trienekens, J. H., Wognum, P. N., van der Vorst, J. G., Omta, S. O. (2015). Towards a framework of critical success factors for implementing supply chain information systems.Computers in Industry,68, 16-26. Dixit, A.K. and Prakash, O., 2011. A study of issues affecting ERP implementation in SMEs.Researchers World,2(2), p.77. Esteves, J. M. (2014). An empirical identification and categorisation of training best practices for ERP implementation projects.Enterprise Information Systems,8(6), 665-683. Greasley, A., Greasley, A., Wang, Y., Wang, Y. (2017). Integrating ERP and enterprise social software.Business Process Management Journal,23(1), 2-15. Haddara, M. (2014). ERP Selection: The SMART Way.Procedia Technology,16, 394-403. Heinzelmann, R. (2017). Accounting logics as a challenge for ERP system implementation: A field study of SAP.Journal of Accounting Organizational Change,13(2). Hung, W.H., Ho, C.F., Jou, J.J. and Kung, K.H., 2012. Relationship bonding for a better knowledge transfer climate: An ERP implementation research.Decision Support Systems,52(2), pp.406-414. Huang, Y. Y., Handfield, R. B. (2015). Measuring the benefits of ERP on supply management maturity model: a big data method.International Journal of Operations Production Management,35(1), 2-25. Hustad, E., Olsen, D. H. (2014). ERP Implementation in an SME: a Failure Case. InInformation Systems for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises(pp. 213-228). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Momoh, A., Roy, R. and Shehab, E., 2010. Challenges in enterprise resource planning implementation: state-of-the-art.Business Process Management Journal,16(4), pp.537-565. Parhizkar, M., Comuzzi, M. (2017). Impact analysis of ERP post-implementation modifications: Design, tool support and evaluation.Computers in Industry,84, 25-38. Teittinen, H., Pellinen, J. and Jrvenp, M., 2013. ERP in actionChallenges and benefits for management control in SME context.International Journal of Accounting Information Systems,14(4), pp.278-296.

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Nature VS Nurture †Are Criminals Born or Made free essay sample

By submitting this work, I am declaring that I am the originator of this work and that all other original sources used in this work have been appropriately acknowledged. I understand that plagiarism is the act of taking and using the whole or any part of another person’s work and presenting it as my own without proper acknowledgement. I also understand that plagiarism is an academic offence and that disciplinary action will be taken for plagiarism. Intro The search for causes of crime forms the basis of most criminological studies. There are numerous explanations for crime: psychological, evolutionary, genetical, sociological, economical and a mix of factors; and many have debated over the primary influence of criminal behaviour—whether criminals are born or made. Truth is, in the constitution of criminal behaviour, it is the amalgam of both nature and nurture. And this paper will present how crime behaviours can be hereditary but are influenced by the society. We will write a custom essay sample on Nature VS Nurture – Are Criminals Born or Made? or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Nature The first theory that will demonstrate that criminals are made is Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of crime (1961), which posits that all humans have natural basic biological needs and urges such as hunger and sex repressed in the unconscious called Id which is irrationally expressed to derive satisfaction. More importantly he also claims that all humans have criminal tendencies. Typically, we can curb these urges and tendencies and express them appropriately according to social norms through socialisation (Eysenck, 1996); where we learn to develop conscious inner controls called SuperEgo—which is our moral conscience repressing the Id and Ego— which mediates the expression of Id. However, when faced with the lack of basic need, the unconscious Id is stimulated, and the improperly socialised child who has failed to acquire and develop the Ego and SuperEgo, will then direct antisocial impulses outwardly as harmful criminalistic tendencies (Freud, 1923). Besides Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory, the Evolutionary theory also serves to explain for the nature of a criminal. Aggression in the animal kingdom helps animals to obtain food, compete for access to a mate, and protect territory. These forms of aggressive behaviours have been favoured by a process called natural selection because they facilitate the reproduction of genes in the aggressive animals, either directly or indirectly, by aiding survival so that an animal or its close kin can reproduce later (Quinsey, 2002). According to Darwin’s evolutionary theory, we evolved from animals and aggressive tendencies humans have are considered adaptive (Darwin, 1859). In this sense extreme violence may be synonymous with melanism in the English pepper moth (Steward, 1977). Melanism, an extreme colouring variation was rare before the darkening of England’s trees by domestic soot pollution as it contrasts against the tree bark and alerts predators to prey on them but shot up during which as it became adaptive. Once the pollution was cleaned, the frequencies of melanism reversed yet again. Similarly, although extreme violence is not currently adaptive, relatively small numbers of humans may be born with gene variations leading to inefficient aggression restraint that place them at high risk for extreme violent behaviours. Last but not least, there were researchers who believed that genes were fully responsible for criminal activity. There have been numerous studies carried out on twins to determine whether genetic influences play a part in criminal behaviour. Christiansen (1977) reported on the criminality of a total population of 3,586 twin pairs from Denmark. He found that 52% of the twins were concordant for criminal behaviour for identical twin pairs, whilst 22% of the twins were concordant for fraternal twin pairs. These results suggest that identical twins carry some form of biological characteristic that increases their risk of becoming involved in criminal behaviour (McLaughlin, Muncie, Hughes, 2003). Adoption studies have also been conducted to test for the criminal behaviours of the adopted-away children, if their biological parents had also been involved with criminal activity. In Iowa, the first adoption study was conducted that looked at the genetics of criminal behaviour. The researchers found that as compared to the control group, the adopted individuals, which were born to incarcerated female offenders, had a higher rate of criminal convictions as adults. Another study in Sweden also showed that if a biological background existed for criminality, then there was an increased risk of criminal behaviours in the adopted children. These evidences support the existence of a heritable component to antisocial or criminal behavior (Tehrani Mednick, 2000). However, while the overstimulation of the Id and the failure to acquire and develop the the Ego and SuperEgo leads to criminal tendencies, while aggression may be out of adaptive values, and while genetic studies have pointed towards the influence of genes and criminal behaviour, these theories alone are insufficient to account for crime. Evolutionary theory does not explain or predict for the extreme degrees of aggression in individuals nor has the genetic theory proven for 100% heritability; which raises the need for us to examine the Nurture camp of crime theories as well. Nurture Behavioural psychology posits that a persons behaviour is learned and maintained by its consequences, or reward value (Bandura, 1973). Eysenck (1964) postulated that by way of classical conditioning—the learning process that occurs as a result of pairing a reliable stimulus with a response, operant conditioning— learning that occurs due to the manipulation of the possible consequences, and modelling of others’ behaviours through familial interactions, environmental experiences and the mass media, people learn moral preferences. Based on behavioural psychology, Sutherland (1939), a prominent social learning theorist, then put forth the theory of Differential Association where criminal behaviours are learned through interaction with intimate personal groups in a process of communication. When criminal behaviours are learned, the learning includes techniques of committing the crime, and the specific direction of motives, drives, rationalizations, and attitudes. The specific direction of motives and drives is learned from definitions of the legal codes as favourable or unfavourable and a person becomes delinquent when there is an excess of definitions favourable to violation of law over definitions unfavourable to violation of the law. Differential associations may vary in frequency, duration, priority, and intensity. Another sociological theory in the Nurture camp of thought is the Social Reaction Theory. It could be said that a person’s environment depends to a certain extent on their own choice (Horwitz, Christiansen, 1983). However, there are also some individuals within certain areas who are drawn into crime (McGuire, Mason, O’Kane, 2000). A case in which the latter apply is institutional upbringing. Be it by choice or not, when society brands a certain social group as social deviants, delinquency rates tend to be on the rise for them. This is because once a person is stigmatised by a label, the response is often to accept and fulfil the label given and commit further acts of deviance. For example, when a child is disruptive during lessons, teachers may label a child as a troublemaker and suggest that he only have classes with other troubled students. This leads him to seek out other outcasts and reinforce his identity. Parents may accept this and further reinforce this stereotype. As such, stigmatism takes places and social deviance is not only accepted by the potential offender but also perpetrated by society’s reactions (Siegel Welsh, 2008). Another theory explaining for the causation of crime is the General Strain Theory. Strain theorists believe that crime is a function of the conflict between people’s goals and the means they can use to obtain them. Although social and economic goals are common to people in all economic strata, the ability to obtain these goals is class dependent, thus crime is narrowed down as a direct result of frustration among the lower socioeconomic classes (O Grady, 2007). However, this does not explain for the consistent criminal rate in the community despite attempts to increase aspirations and standards of living. As such, Agnew (1992) proposed the General Strain Theory where multiple sources of strain such as the failure to achieve goals, disjunction of expectations and achievements removal of positive stimuli such as the loss of a loved one and presentation of negative stimuli such as punishment or bully, interact with an individual’s emotional traits and responses to produce criminality in attempt to reduce strain. And perhaps one of the more interesting social perspective of crime causation is centering the social construction of crime. Mcguire (2000) points out, there are no acts that can be called crime—crime is not a distinct type of behaviour. What is criminal in one country may not be criminal in another country; the purchasing of marijuana is legal in Amsterdam whilst illegal in many other countries. Also, what is a crime at one time may not be a crime at another time, just like how stalkers could not be prosecuted until stalking was made an offence in some jurisdictions. While social constructionism as an explanation for crime may be weak without knowing by whom it was constructed and for what ends it served, elite social constructionism however, wields great power and the knowledge produced, disseminated and advocated by social groups of some status affects the law and the convicted. For example, during the early twentieth century, the medical profession is highly esteemed and under their influence, the knowledge of the effects of drugs and its misuse became a key guide in the formation of laws to do with substance abuse. In light that the very definition of crime is socially constructed and not up to the perpetrators at all, there is a very real sense in which criminals are made. And just as how stating that criminals are born without choice is difficult to accept, positing that criminals are made does not explain for why people who live in a shared or similar environment does not act out criminal behaviours. Given that both camps lack in the ability to fully account for criminal behaviour, researchers have then formulated theories of the interplay of nature and nurture to explain crime causation. Interplay of Nature and Nurture The first of such theory is the Rational Choice Theory which posits that crime is a function of a decision-making process in which the potential offender examines his options, consequences and benefits. When the benefits of the crime is attractive and is a sufficient motivator, the offender then plans the crime by consciously picking the type of crime, location of the crime and target of the crime, and executes the crime with awareness that it is wrong and control to choose otherwise. To the potential offender, there are two types of crimes: offender-specific where the offender evaluates their resources, skills, motives, needs and fears and commits a crime when they can and offense-specific where offenders react selectively to characteristics of a particular criminal act such as the methodology and opportunity to escape. These push and pull factors of a crime and the offender is what makes a criminal—it is not just a personal innate choice but also dependent on the conceptualisation of an opportunity presented by the environment (Beccaria, 1963). Following which, there is the Contemporary Trait Theory. Contemporary trait theorists today recognise that no single biological or psychological attribute is thought to adequately explain all criminality. Rather, each offender is considered unique, physically and mentally; consequently, there must be different explanations for each person’s behaviours. Some may have inherited criminal tendencies, others may be suffering from nervous system (neurological) problems, and still others may have a blood chemistry disorder that heightens their antisocial activity. Criminologists who focus on the individual see many explanations for crime, because, in fact, there are many differences among criminal offenders. Ultimately, Contemporary Trait Theory postulates that crime-producing interactions involve both personal traits—such as intelligence, personality, and chemical and genetic makeup—and environmental factors, such as family life, educational attainment, economic factors and neighbourhood conditions. Physical or mental traits are, therefore, but one part of a large pool of environmental, social, and personal factors that account for criminality. Some people may have a predisposition toward aggression, but environmental stimuli can either suppress or trigger antisocial acts (Siegel, 2011). And last but not least, a theory that demonstrates the interplay of Nature and Nurture factors is Eysenck’s Biosocial Theory of Crime (Eysenck, 1996). Eysenck believes that genetic factors contribute enormously to human behaviour but they have their effects under the influence of environmental or social factors (Howitt, 2011). Under the genetic and biological branch, he created a personality model based on three factors known as psychoticism, extraversion, and neuroticism (PEN) that could be used as predictors of criminal behaviour; these factors and the personality traits associated with them are found to be heritable (Miles Carey, 1997). Research has shown that just like PEN, criminality is strongly correlated with low arousal levels in the brain leading to their active seeking out of stimulation to increase their arousal—proper stimulation includes high-risk activities associated with antisocial behaviours, which consists of sexual promiscuity, substance abuse, and crime. However, not all with higher levels of PEN or lower brain arousal levels act out their need for stimulation; Eysenck’s argument is that only when there is a failure of socialisation through rewards and punishment, that these genetic factors are expressed. Conclusion This essay has only just begun to skim over the causes of criminal behaviour. As it can be seen it would be difficult to credit one theory for the explanation of crime, but what we do know and can confirm, is that there is a continual interaction between both genetic an environmental factors; they are functionally interdependent. No one study carried out can be said to provide conclusive evidence for either genetic factors or environmental factors (Horwitz, Christiansen, 1983). Thus my position as to whether criminals are born or made, is that criminal tendencies may be innate and inherited, but the determination of crime in itself is social and so are the influences guarding the choice to express these tendencies, hence it is only right to say that criminals are both born and made. And if we were to really examine the specifics, in fact, I would posit that the environmental factors take a higher weightage in crime causation, simply due to the fact that crime in itself is socially constructed.