Criminal Psychology - Nature vs Nurture

Learning Aims

To understand the nature vs nurture debate that underpins criminal psychological theories.

Nature vs Nurture

This is a debate that has raged for centuries and still gets psychologists debating today: are criminals born or made?

I want you to create a presentation for a class of Year 9 students that outlines this debate. Make sure that you explain both sides of the argument, giving evidence to support any claims, the argument should conclude with you clearly stating your personal opinion. Use your knowledge of how to write a balanced argument to structure your work. Try not to worry too much about the writing, this is your first piece of work for psychology and I am asking you to complete it with very little guidance so that you have something you can look back on towards the end of your course to see how much progress you have made. Upload the presentation to your blog.

Watch the videos below, making notes for and against, to get started, if you're here for revision just watch the videos and make your revision notes.

There are quite a few videos to watch, so do not try to do all this in one sitting. Watch a video and make notes that will help you create your presentation.

Khans Academy Nature vs Nurture Part 1

Khans AcademyNature vs Nurture Part 2

#1 Nature vs Nurture - Pysch 101 (PsychU)

The battle between nature and nurture | Irene Gallego Romero | TEDxNTU|wezrsdtf7gy8hu

A killer's genes - Are You Good or Evil? - Horizon BBC

1.7 Genes and criminal behaviour

What Causes Someone to Commit a Crime? Nature vs Nurture

Here are a few extras if you found this topic interesting.

Manipulating the Moments that Turn us into Criminals TEDx

We Are All Criminals | Emily Baxter | TEDxUNG

Now use your notes and the help sheets below to write your presentation. You could use programs such as Canva or Google Slides to create the presentation.