Nature vs Nurture
...AIDS complications, and 6 women dead of various causes were drawn. When sectioned and traced blind (which means that the researcher did not know which subject the sample was from), the homosexual men turned out to have an INAH 3 nuclei the same size as those of women, heterosexual men having larger (LeVay 1035). The size of the INAH 3 nucleus is a product of the expression of the genes that causes the expression of a homosexual orientation. The fact that they are smaller in gay men than heterosexual would point to some kind of linkage of the cause for a sexual orientation (LeVay 1036). The problem with LeVay's study is that all the homosexual men died after a long period of being infected with HIV, which could have affected the size of the INAH 3 nucleus. Statistical comparisons of data also showed significant differences even with the extremely small sample sizes that LeVay worked with. Defining sexuality was difficult, as the heterosexual brains could only be presumed so, and one brain known to be from a bisexual was simply added to the sample of homosexual (Allen 7200). Another study of Allen &Gorski's 1992 anterior commissure (AC) found similar results; in this case gay men and women (all presumed heterosexual) having a larger AC than heterosexual men. The anterior commissure can be defined as a small bundle of fibers in the brain, which are beneath and behind the rostrum of the corpus callosum. (Allen 7201). Their study did not have the same problem with sample size because they had more people to work with. They also this time had homosexual subjects who did not die from AIDS related causes. The fact that this study was able to address much better many of the possible confounding factors LeVay faced would point to there being some kind of correlation between structure of the AC and sexual orientation, whether or not the size of the INAH 3 nucleus of the hypothalamus correlates as well. A scientist named Dean Hamer proposed a linkage analysis. A linkage analysis is the practice of linking the genes found during the Human Genome Project to a definite gene linked to sexual orientation. He did two studies on the hypothesis he held. In the first analysis, seventy-six gay men were recruited from the Washington, D.C. area. In the second pedigree analysis, thirty-eight families were subjects. He also showed that the mother carries on the “gay gene” because people receive the X chromosome from the mother and the Y chromosome from the father (Stein 158). He obtained DNA samples from the two brothers and one from their mother and father. Linkage analysis is used to decrease the location area of a gene for a certain trait. Using this process, Hamer observed that the pairs of gay brothers had the same genetic sequences in the q28 portion of the X chromosome. This means that the brothers were more likely to share similarities in this region of the genetic sequence than any other area. Hamer believes that this is where the "gay gene" is inscribed. This study simply shows that the gay gene genetic sequence is the same in one region of the X chromosome (Stein 159). Hamer's study did offered a solid genetic proposal. He determined a definite "gay gene" that affects sexual orientation. LeVay associated the neuroanatomical correlation with the determinacy of male sexual orientation. Hamer on the other hand isolated a genetic region linked to homosexuality and could actually provide a biological explanation of sexual orientation that made sense (Stein 160). Psychologists consider that different things contribute to a person becoming homosexual. They believe that people become homosexual because of confused gender roles and confused gender identity at an early age or through adolescence. Most homosexuals are raised to be straight but may realize that they are different in their early teens (Hockingbury 226). In most Christian churches children learn from early age that being homosexual is a sin and you will go to hell if you are gay. For fear of rejection from parents, friends, and the world, most gay people “stay in the closet”. This term is used for people that are homosexual but do not let people know their sexual preference and act like they are straight. Despite all the research done on this question psychologists cannot say with any type of certainty what makes people be homosexual or bisexual. A psychologist names Alan Bell and a few colleagues did a study with 1000 homosexual men and women and a group of 500 heterosexual men and women. The study made them come to the conclusion that homosexuality is not caused by early homosexual experiences and abnormalities in early childhood and adolescence (Hockingbury 226). Due to Bell’s study psychologist do recognize that homosexuality is not due to an unpleasant early heterosexual experience, such as being abused by an adult of the opposite sex, and that homosexuality is not the result of an inadequate parental role models (Hockingbury 227). Also they found that homosexual people knew that they were gay before the first sexual experience and years before adolescence. Scientists who study the brain say that the work of an enzyme called monoamine oxidase A (MAO A) controls the manner of criminal violence in us all. All brains produce some sort of MAO A. In most people, the brain produces enough MAO A to break down excess amounts of the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. Some studies have shown that an excess of this MAO A makes people into violent criminals (Wilson 1). To show that violent expressiveness is a gene and that it is passed on from family member to family member a French scientist named Olivier Cases constructed an experiment to test the idea. He studied the behavior of mice in which the MAO A encoding gene had been turned off. The animals exhibited fearless, impulsive behavior. And when their brains were examined, it was discovered that the serotonin levels were nine times the normal amount. The sequence of evidence linking the genes, brain chemistry and criminal behavior was complete. There was only one weak link and that was the fact that most people with abnormal MAO A levels lead completely nonviolent lives. Clearly, something else was involved in tipping the scale of those with this genetic flaw toward criminality so that’s where scientists said where someone’s environment comes into play (Wilson 1). Psychologists have made several theories on violence and how it is clearly an environmental occurrence. Albert Bandura is a psychologist that made the observational learning theory. He had a famous experiment that was called the “BoBo-doll experiment”. In this experiment he put a group of four year olds in a room along with some large inflatable dolls and showed a video of adults playing aggressively violent with them. All of the children watched as the adult hit, kicked, and punched the bobo doll in the film. There were three different endin...