Free «Sexual Selection and the Evolution of Human Violence and Crime» Essay Paper

The theory of the sexual selection proves the necessity of the evolutional process according to a sex differences. Males would not be excellent fighters, if they did not have appropriate sexual parameters. They must have a substantial physical structure and shape to win and lead, thus to fit females demands. One of the prime instincts is sexual reproduction that obligates males to be strong and protective. Could it be the main reason of men’s aggressiveness? Probably not, because the nature of species is so complex that it stays only in a range of a wide amount of different obstacles and reasons. Some primates show no aggression at all when other males have sex with the females and just wait for their turn. They just have a different way to dominate; it is a sperm competition, so they are fighters in their own way. Sexual selection is still one of the reasons that design aggression. The main sign is human’s body. Human’s and male’s body develops by the same schema - both produce sex hormones. Their arms, legs, hips, breast get bigger and gain more power to a certain age. It is a clear sign of a sexual selection for fighting.

 

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20th century is not only the most educated century but also the most murderous over the history of mankind. Whence people get this propensity to harm each other? Perhaps, we remind semi people and semi animals? What circumstances provoke animosities flashes? Whether we are capable to control aggression? To different people, as well as different primates, aggression is peculiar in different degree, and it is quite natural. We also can react emotionally and aggressive to different situations, but we can control and plan people's violent actions because we have a developed intelligence that can restrain such reactions.  Humans have such qualities as primates do not have – is a will-power and a will to work on it, kindness to fight with evil emotions. After all, some tests prove that not only instincts could be a guide of chimpanzee’s behavior. For instance, it was an experiment when a researcher rolled a shiny can in front of the chimpanzee members and was rising in his status, in the primate’s eyes. For both humans and chimpanzees emotion is the dominant in their action, but the human being intend to reason things more often, while primates do not  analyze so deeply as they do not  have a need and a variety  of reasons as human beings have. Both human and chimpanzee want to prove their status what becomes a reason for a great number of wars and aggressiveness (Wrangham and Peterson, 1996).

The division of chimpanzee branches and Great apes was about 5, 5 million years ago, and bonobos were developing more slowly than ordinary chimpanzees and have kept more archaic lines, common for the human and chimpanzee. According to this some scientists demand to revise family tree. Besides, the set of genes bonobo coincides with a set of genes of the human on 98 %.

A 10 year practice of supervision for bonobos shows that they unlike chimpanzee walk on two extremities more often than chimpanzee males. They are less aggressive, than chimpanzee. The social hierarchy in their communities is not so cruel, and relations among sex are devoid of a strong man's dominant. Unlike other monkeys bonobo males stay the longest under their parent guardianship that decreased a lot male’s aggression. When chimpanzee finds food, males will take it no matter if the first who found it was a female which differs chimpanzee from bonobo (Wrangham and Peterson, 1996). Another reason of bonobo’s weak aggressiveness is that every female entering the community has a sexual relationship with the older female; they groom each other more often and have a romance in their daily lives what suppresses their aggressiveness. It is not a significant difference for bonobo males who copulates with females, because females do not have a particular smell as chimpanzee females do. That is why they do not fight with each other in the way chimpanzee males do, what diminishes a reason to attack.  If to believe that human beings appeared after a long and strict animal selection according to Darwin’s theory, the implications of chimpanzee violence are similar to the nature of men’s violence. Men and primates want to challenge, it is not necessarily a wish to conquer lands or to possess a women, but to frighten (Wrangham and Peterson, 1996).

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Men were always eager to prove their status and they had to demonstrate aggression. Conflicts appear often because of reproductive competition.  Those men who meet failure become more violent. It happens mostly with males, and it is logical. Being at the age of reproductive growth, they need to fight to get a better status to provide themselves and their females with all necessary for leaving and even for survival. However, if they fail at the very beginning while their hormones go-off scale, they become demonic. Social status is the purpose of aggression, in accordance with the evolutional point of view is more applicable to a man than, to a women. It happens because human's ancestors, females, were inclined to form a union with those men who prevailed above the competitors, due to the sexual selection theory. In Detroit, there are more than 682 cases of homicide caused by young men who are single or unemployed (Wilson, 1985). 339 cases were social conflicts, in 129 cases victim and offender were relatives, about 58 crimes concerned sexual jealousy (Wilson, 1985). There are many cases when a young man tried to show –off in front of a women, and it finally caused a victim. Besides the readiness to fight, males look for an adventure and taking risks. Even successful men are willing competing and taking risk raising their chances to a better success, which is quite attractive for a female.  Young men with a high testosterone level constantly looking for sexual contacts.  It is necessary to persuade women. Man who has got no success to persuade a woman, more frequently becomes spiteful and irritable. Successful risk brings women’s admiration. Another sort of risk is a drug usage, which is more spread among males than females. It is all about showing male’s peculiarity but, unfortunately, in such a destructive way. Violence and crime caused by young men is more like a challenge and competition than just a meaningless action.

The Evolution of human violence and crime has many factors. It would be a mistake to say that sexual selection and a thirst to dominate or to attain a better status are the only and the main reason that leads to a human violence. Nevertheless, it is still one of the basic points that open a little a heavy curtain to a many-sided and such a complex human essence. Prime human instincts do help us to understand better human violence but do not show us the whole picture of it.

At the very beginning of the civilization people received a much harder role to play then animals, it was like a special task for human beings to evaluate and to obtain high intelligence, build a civilization with all theories, prognosis, religions, rules, laws and so on. Primates do not still have such possibility. Primates and other animals did not get such a chance and still stay at the same level. We had other aims. If human’s soul and mind were pure set of instincts, we would never build a civilization, such a complex world full of cruelty and repentance. If we start coping primates way of leaving, we will no longer survive. Thus, all rules, morality, laws that people created to suppress instincts and aggression which is natural for the evaluation process to survive. We have a different destination than to have sex 11 times a day like bonobos do for instance, or to kill for a piece of meat when even they have no other choice. That is why human beings have such qualities as contribution, sacrifice, compassion, patience and readiness to sacrifice lives if necessary, share with poorer people. Where would we see a tiger sharing food with his enemy? People contain much more than just a set of instincts. It is always easier to harm or to injure, because this way people liberate their prime instincts, forgetting that human being can do much more for to work on its thoughts. Animals probably analyze their actions, but they do not understand why they have to become better and work on their behavior while we DO have such a gift! Only person has the power to decide (that’s why it is a person!!) whether he liberates his prime instincts or will make a hard work  stop or control affection, emotions, hormones, sex thirst etc.  That is differs us from animals – we have the power to choose and learn to control it. This possibly can help prevent crime and violence. In many cases young people just want to be rebellious and not follow all this rules, morality. The funny thing happens – by this total freedom they appear in the cage and finally suffer, it is a paradox that brings a balance into a human world! We have a self education. If a young man frees his instincts and harms other people the reality will punish him soon, because he ruins the system. Punishment is another notable lever to educate and control emotions. Ones he did it, next time he will think, and maybe one day sympathize with others in their sorrow.