We’re going to pretend to place you in an extreme environment. Imagine for a moment, that society has
collapsed and there is no governmental structure or laws in place to address human behavior—theft and
violent crime are not going to be addressed unless you address it.
Describe how you think the general population would react. For example, do you think people will come
together and cooperatively help everyone out? Or do you think there would be more violence/crime? Describe
how you think most people would respond to this environmental shift.
Describe how you think you would respond to the environmental shift and people’s changing behaviors. Would
you be more or less aggressive than in the first scenario? Would you be more or less okay with the idea of
stealing from someone in this alternative reality than in the first part? What about other crimes?
This shift in how aggressive you are demonstrates how your phenotype changes based on your environmental
input even though your genes/genotype remain exactly the same.
Finally, consider how this exercise relates to crime and criminal behavior. How does this help you understand
the potential biosocial explanations for crime/criminality?
Sample Solution
