Human nature might be regarded as certain qualities, emotions, and behaviors that are common to all human beings. There is considerable debate as to whether human nature exists. Those who do believe that there is a human nature tend to believe one of three different conceptions of human nature: original sin, tabula rasa, or social cooperative. The original sin view of human nature regards people as "born in sin," as having fundamental moral defects at birth. They are born with a disposition towards anti-social behavior. The tabula rasa view regards people as born like a "blank slate," with no predisposition towards acting in a pro-social manner or an anti-social manner. The social cooperative view of human nature regards people as starting out with a predisposition towards cooperating with others.

These views of human nature affect what kinds of theories about deviance and crime we are likely to regard as credible or as incredible. They affect our receptivity of one theory or another. We require less empirical evidence to accept those theories consistent with our view of human nature. We are skeptical of theories inconsistent with our views. We require stronger evidence for such theories before we are willing to accept them.

The policies we favor towards crime and deviance are influenced by these conceptions. Those with an original sin view tend to support policies based on retribution--controlling, punishing, or incapacitating criminals and deviants. Those with a tabula rasa view tend to support a mixture of policies, some of which are based on punishment and some of which are based on rehabilitation. Those with a social cooperative view tend to support policies based on restorative justice and rehabilitation.

© 2003 William Holmes