Conducting research on the root causes of violent crimes interests me since I am currently going to this university in hopes of becoming a psychologist. Most of the research will help me further learn more about my future career and potentially gain knowledge that would put me in an advantage in my later classes. This research question affects my desire to continue a career path in psychology as well as the greater good of society. I'm interested in psychology because i think the way the brain works and why people do what they do is absolutely fascinating. I do not have much personal experience with violent crimes or violent behavior, but the type of research I will be conducting is the same form of research that I will be doing for the rest of my life if I decide to pursue a career in psychology. I have been attending a PSYC 101 course at this university which gives me a good base to start this research from. 

My primary source for my research question is an informative essay written by Patrick F. Fagan entitled, "The Real Root Cause of Violent Crime: The Breakdown of Marriage, Family, and Community." In this informative essay, Patrick F. Fagan explains how having a single-parent and/or a broken family can cause a child to develop aggressive behavior, especially if this occurs during the crucial young development ages. He also includes the possible effects on a child, if that child grows up having a non-loving family and seeing aggressive behavior between the family. Fagan also explains how the community in which a child is raised in plays a vital role in later violent behavior. (Fagan) His main interest in writing this informative essay was to inform adult americans the importance of a stable marriage and a safe loving home environment for the children of today because it affects more than just that child, in the long run it affects the american society as a whole. The author is credible for he is has his Ph.D. in psychology and is the director of the Marriage and Religion Research Institute (MARRI). He may be biased in the nature versus nurture argument, but all of his claims are backed by research and evidence. 

The second source I will be using is a scholarly article written by a team of psychologists specialized in the many different branches of psychology, named "Nature and Nurture Predispose to Violent Behavior: Serotonergic Genes and Adverse Childhood Environment." These scientists conducted an experiment testing the serotonergic neurotransmission (release of the serotonin neurotransmitter) in relation to adverse childhood environments. They put 184 adult males into either a violent group or a  non-violent group, they then tested these males for low MAOA (and enzyme that breaks down serotonin in the brain) levels  with interaction of childhood environments. (Nature) Their results were about forty-five percent of the violent males had low MAOA levels and only around thirty percent of the non-violent males possessed this trait. (Nature) The results prove that having low MAOA levels is not the cause to violent behavior because thirty percent of the non-violent males still possessed this trait. The scientists main goal was to find what genes have interactions with adverse childhood environments later leading to violent behavior in adult males. The authors seem to be credible due to their many degrees in psychology and all hold positions at important universities throughout the world. There seems to be no bias in this scholarly article. 

The third source is an article written by the violence prevention institute with no author listed, entitled "Why Young People Join Gangs and What You Can Do."  In this article the author explains the importance of raising your children in safe environments where the child feels loved and accepted, because often times the kids who lack this could end up joining a violent gang. This article also agrees with the argument that a mistreated child leads to violence and not genetics. He also talks about the characteristics and recruiting tactics of common violent gangs. The author gives a call to action about what we can do as a community and what parents can do to help prevent our future children from becoming a gang member. (violence prevention) The author's main interest is to prevent children from feeling as if they should join a violent gang. This article came from the violence prevention institute, which seems to be a credible source. There could be a slight bias coming from the point of view of a person who is on the law's side. 

Most of the sources that I have checked seem to agree that violent behavior in adults is directly linked to poor childhood environments. However, there are so many different point of views on what could have happened in these violent adults childhoods. Also there are studies about the genetic connection to violent behavior as well, but nothing seems to be forsure. In my own research I will try to make the connection between bad childhood environments as well as the genes that a violent person possesses. I will also try and find another source that has a counter argument towards this issue. Maybe I could revise my research question to focus on what happens to children to become violent as adults. 

