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crim > 2.1 / 3.2 biological theories > Flashcards

2.1 / 3.2 biological theories Flashcards

1
Q

What is a Biological Theory

A

criminals are biologically different from non - criminals, causing them to commit crime.

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2
Q

What is a Physiological Theory

A

physical features of criminals are different from non-criminals

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3
Q

What is a Genetic Theory

A

criminality is inborn and passed down from parent to child

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4
Q

Overall Criticisms - 3.2

Environmental Factors

A

biological theories ignore environmental factors

a persons biology may give them a potential to have criminal characteristics, but they need the environmental tigger to engage in criminal acts.

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5
Q

Overall Criticisms - 3.2

Sample Bias

A

researchers often use studies of convicted criminals, however this sample is not representative of all criminals, as many get away. therefore it is not a solid basis to generalise about all criminals.

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6
Q

Overall Criticisms - 3.2

Gender Bias

A

most biological research focus’ on males, so it doesn’t account for female criminality

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7
Q

Overall Criminality - 3.2

Crime is a Social Construct

A

what counts as a crime over cultures and time varies, so it makes little sense to look for universal explainations regarding crime

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8
Q

Genetic Theories

Cambridge Study

1961 - present

A

A londitudinal study into Delinquent Development found that out of 397 families studied, half of all criminal convictions came from just 23 families.
Osborne & West studied the data, finding sons with criminal fathers are more likely to have a criminal record.

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9
Q

Genetic Theories

XYY Study

1965

A

suggests that some crime is caused by genetic abnormality
* abnormality in the 23rd pair of chromosomes - 47 not 46
* estimated to be a 1/1000 occurance
* intelligence in the low to normal range
* higher risk of Adhd, lower risk of autism.

Subjects of the study were defined as ‘mentally subnormal’ with violent and dangerous tendencies. Jacobs found that 1/28 of the subjects were XYY, the high rate seemed to suggest XYY could be linked to violent behaviour.

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10
Q

Strengths - 3.2

XYY Theory

A
  • Jacobs research showed that XYY males are over-represented in the prison populace, showing a link to criminality
  • Adler et al (2007) indicated it is possible that aggressive and violent behaviour is at least determined by genetic factors
  • Price and Whatmore found some links between XYY and property crime
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11
Q

Weaknesses - 3.2

XYY Theory

A
  • The link between XYY and criminal behaviour is not supported by all research
    mednick concluded XYY men were no more likely to commit violent crimes than XY men, questioning Jacobs research and suggesting that we need to look elsewhere for an explaination.
  • XYY offenders are tall and well built, fitting the sterotype of violent offenders, and get labelled as such by teh justice system, mking them more likely to be labelled as a criminal. As a result XYY males are over-represented, overstating the importance of XYY and its link to criminality.
  • Not all XYY males are agressive or have violent tendencies (the concordance rate would be 100%), and not all violent criminals have XYY.
  • XYY males may be over-represented as they have low intelligence, therefore are more likely to get caught. Therefore, the samples exclude the ones that get away.
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12
Q

Genetic Theories

Twin and Adoption Studies

A

Researchers have used monozygotic twin studies to test theories of criminality, as they share the same genes, believing:
* Crime often runs in families as biological relatives share many of the same genes
* If one member of the family has criminal genes it is likely blood relatives will also
* If one monozygotic twin is criminal the other must also be.

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13
Q

What is an Monozygotic twin

A

An identical twin
(100% DNA shared)

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14
Q

What is a Dizygotic twin

A

Non - Identical twins
(50% DNA shared)

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15
Q

What is Nature

A

Refers to largely our genetics, including genes we are born with and other hereditary factors that influence the way we develop fron childhood.
If one twin displays agressive and criminal tendencies, and so does the other twin, the behaviour must be innate and due to genetic factors.

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16
Q

What is Nurture

A

Refers to the influence of the environment and upbringing that influence the way we develop rom childhood.
If one twin displays agressive and criminal tendencies, but the other does not the environment may be more responsible.

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17
Q

What is Concordance

A

The presence of the same trait in both twins, and blood relatives. The higher the concordance rate, the more genetics are responsible for criminality.
Therefore, monozygotic twins will have a higher concordance rate, as they share genetic traits.

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18
Q

Strengths - 3.2

Twin Studies

A
  • Because monozygotic twins are genetically identical, it is logical to examine wheter criminal behaviour is also identical
  • Twin studies ive some support for genetic explainations. Ishikawa and Raine found a higher concordance rate for monozygotic twins in comparison to dizygotic twins.
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19
Q

Weaknesses - 3.2

Twin Studies

A
  • If genetics were the only cause of criminality, identical twins would have a !00% concordance rate, but studies only show a roughly 50% concordance.
  • Higher concordance rates between monozygotic twins may alo be due to sharing the same environment, and the sghared environment may be the cause of criminality rather than genetics.
  • Parents often treat identical twins more similarly Than non-identical twins. Also identical twins may feel closer than non-identical twins, so one twin may feel influenced by the others criminality, and may become criminal too. (environmental factors may cause similarities in behaviour.)
  • It is impossible to isolate and measure the effects of genes seperately from the environmental effects.
  • In early studies there was no way of knowing that twins were genetically identical, as DNA testing was not developed.
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20
Q

Examples of studies

Twin Studies

Lange - 1930

A

Studied 30 prisoners
findings
* 77% of Monozygotic twins both offend
* 12% of Dizygotic twins both offend

Low sample size = Less reliable

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21
Q

Examples of studies

Twin Studies

Christiansen - 1977

A

Studied 3586 twins
findings
* 52% concordance rate between Monozygotic twins
* 22% concordance rate between Dizygotic twins

Large sample size = More reliable

22
Q

Genetic Theories

Adoption Studies

A
  • If a child shares a trait with the biological parent it is genetic
  • If a child shares a trait with an adoptive parent it is due to environment.

A key criticism of the Genetic theorys are that the influence of the environment cannot be ruled out as a cause of criminality.However, adoption studies attempt to rule out the environmental factor, as there is no genetic similarity between the parent and child.

The idea behind the adoption studies is that the child shares the environment witgh the adoptive parents and the genetics of the biological parent, and if the child’s behaviour is more like the birth parents it supports a genetic factor.

23
Q

Strengths - 3.2

Adoption Studies

A
  • Adoption studies overcome the problem faced by twin studies where monozygotic twins are brought up in thye same household, making it impossible to separate the influence of environment and genetics.
  • The research is logical, allowing us to see the relative importance of nature vs nurture
  • The findings of adoption studies give some support to genetic explainations, they show that adoptees are more likely to have a criminal record if their biological parent does also.
24
Q

Weaknesses - 3.2

Adoption Studies

A
  • Gottfredson and Hirachi argued that adoption studies show genes have little effect on criminality
  • Adopted children are often placed in similar environments to the birth family (class, ethnicity, location). similar environments may produce similar behaviours.
  • Many children are not adopted immedietly after birth, remailing with the biological parents for a while. The early environment may be the true cause of criminality.
25
Q

Examples of studies

Adoption Studies

Hutchins and Mednick

A

Studied 14,000 adopted children, and found a high proportion of boys with criminal convictions also have a biological parent with a criminal conviction.

26
Q

Examples of studies

Adoption Studies

Mednick et al

A

Studies 14,000 adoptees
findings
* No criminal convictions (both A&B - 14% conviction rate
* Adopted parent is a criminal (not B) - 15% conviction rate
* Biological parent is a criminal (not A) - 20% conviction rate
* Both A&B parent is criminal - 25% conviction rate

Found no relationship between the number of convictions of adopyted parents and their adopted children, but did find a significant correlation between the number of criminal convictions between biological parents and their children.

A - adopted / B - biological

27
Q

Examples of studies

Adoption Studies

Crowe

A

Compared a group of adopted children whose mother had a criminal conviction to a control group opf children whose mothers did not have a criminal conviction

It was found that the biological mother had a record, 50% of the children did by the time they were 18.
In the control group only 5% of children had a criminal record by the time they were 18.

28
Q

Physiological theories

Lombroso - Atavism

A

Using data collected from 4000 photographs of criminals Lombroso concluded 40% of criminal acts are comitted by people with atavistic features. He believed:
* Criminality was born / inherited
* Offenders are more primative than non-offenders
* Criminals can be identified by their features

He believed that physical traits could determine whether a person was prone to criminality, with men needing 5 traits and women needing only 3. some traits include:
* pronounced jaw
* beaky nose
* sloping brow
* tattoos
* extra nipples / fingers / toes

29
Q

Atavism

What is a Born Criminal

A

Criminality is inherited (no control over criminal behaviour), and that born criminals could be determined by the shape of the head and face of a criminal, as Lombros considered criminals to be pre-social, unable to control impulses and has low pain sensitivity (why they oftyen had tattoos).

30
Q

Strengths - 3.2

Lombroso - Atavism

A
  • He was the first person to study crime scientifically, using objective measures to gather evidence as crime was previously seen as a moral or religious issue.
  • His research showed the importance of using both clinical and historical records of criminals.
  • His later work took limited social and environmental factors into consideration
  • Helped focus on preventing further offending - arguing that offenders were not consciously choosing to commit crime.
  • Challenged ideas that criminals choose to be criminal and evil
  • Labelled prisons ‘criminal universities’ and suggested those who go to prison come out worse that before.
  • His work lead to the begginnings of criminal profiling.
31
Q

Weaknesses - 3.2

Lombroso - Atavism

A
  • Lacked a control gorup, therefore the research is invalid
  • his research failed to show a link between facial features and criminality
  • By describing criminals as ‘primitive’ it equates non-western cultures with criminals (racist)
  • Charles Goring used a non-criminal control group and found no significant difference in terms of behaviour in 1913
  • Lombroso’s theory is extremely deterministic and assumes that people are incapable of changing
  • Physiological theories completely ignore the upbringing and environment
32
Q

Sheldon - Somatotypes

A

Sheldon used a correlation study, finding that many criminals prone to committing violent crime were likely to be mesomorphic.
He used a sample of photos from criminals and a control group of college students rating them on a scale of 1-7 dependent on how mesomorphic their appearance was. The criminals (4.6) had a higher mesomorphic rating than the college students (3.8). Later reanalysis of the study by Heart et al (1982) found that the most seriously delinquient of Sheldons sample had a mesomorphic rating of 5.

33
Q

Somatotypes

What is a Mesomorph

Body Type & Personality

A

Body Type
* Broad shoulders and narrow waist
* Muscular and hard bodied
* Little body fat
* Strong limbs

Personality
* Agressive
* Adventurous
* Assertive
* Domineering

34
Q

Somatotypes

What is a Endomorph

Body Type & Personality

A

Body Type
* Wide hips and narrower shoulders
* Round face and body shape
* High body fat
* Fat and soft

Personality
* Sociable
* Relaxed
* Even - tempered
* Extroverted

35
Q

Somatotypes

What is a Ectomorph

Body Type & Personality

A

Body Type
* Narrow shoulders and hips
* Thin, narrow face with a high forehead
* Very little body fat
* Thin and fragile

Personality
* Introverted
* Restrained
* Thoughtful
* Sensitive

36
Q

Strengths - 3.2

Sheldon - Somatotypes

A
  • Other evidence (Putwain and Sammons) show small associations with body type and criminality.
  • 1956 - Glueck & Glue found that in a sample of criminals 60% displayed a mesomorphic body type in comparison to only 31% in a non-criminal sample.
  • A larger sample size is used, as well as a control group to compare results.
  • The most serious delinquents in Sheldons sample carried the most mesomorphic body types.
37
Q

Weaknesses - 3.2

Sheldon - Somatotypes

A
  • Glueck & Glueck found that criminality is not basedon biology alone, but by a combination of psychological and environmental factors.
  • Not all criminals have mesomorphic body types, and does not explain how endo and extomorphs become criminals
  • Does not consider the possibility of bodyshapes changing over time.
  • Criminals may develop mesomorphic builds as a result of needing to be physically tough to succeed. (Criminality causes Somatotypes).
  • Social class may have an impact, as most offenders are typically working class men, whom are more likely to have physically tough builds due to working manual jobs.
  • People should not be labelled as criminals based on their body types, as it can increase prejudice and result in harsh treatment for no reason.
38
Q

Brain injury / disorders

Brain injury

A

An Oxford team lead by psychiatrist Seena Fazel conducted a 35 year study regarding the concordance between criminality and childhood brain injury.
The results showed that swedes;
* have a 2.5% chance of becoming an offender normally
* 9% chance of becoming an offender if a head injury is found on record
* 4.5% chance of becoming an offender if a sibling has brain damage (accounting for the fact brain injury may be a result of upbringing)

The research shows that people have double the risk of offending if they have experienced negative factorss in;
* Genetics
* Upbringing
* Environment
With a brain injury the risk of criminality is doubled again.

39
Q

Brain injury / disorders

Brain Disease

A

Brain diseases have been linked to criminal or anti-social behaviour. Diseases such as
* Encephalitis Lethargica
* Senile Dementia
* Huntingtons Disease
* Brain Tumours

Psychopaths and Sociopaths show abnormal electroencephalograph (EEG) readings in comparison to ‘sane’ idividuals, therefore prooving that something in the brain is causing criminality.

40
Q

Brain injury / disorders - case study

Phineas Gage

A

An American construction foreman who had survived an accident that drove a large iron rod through his head, destroying most of his brains left frontal lobe.
The injury affected his personality and behaviour over the remaining 12 years of his life – with his friends and doctors describing him as ‘no longer Gage’ due to the significant personality shift.

41
Q

Brain injurys / disorders - case study

Charles Whitman

A

An American man who on August 1, 1966, Whitman killed his mother and wife using knives, then climbed the tower in the University of Texas, and began randomly shooting at people for an hour and half, killing 14 and injuring 31 before being shot down, branding him the ‘Texas Tower Sniper’.
During his autopsy, doctors found a tumor on his amygdala, and it is possible that the tumour may be the reason for his violent outburst.

42
Q

Strengths - 3.2

Brain injurys / disease

A
  • In a few cases brain injury and diesese has clearly lead to dramatic changes in the personality and behaviour of a person, also influencing criminality
  • There is some correlation between abnormal EEG readings and psychopathic criminality
  • Prisoners are more likely to have brain injury than non-prisoners
43
Q

Weaknesses - 3.2

Brain injurys / disease

A
  • Crimes caused by brain injury or disease are rare, and the sufferer’s otriginal personality needs to be taken into account whether they engage in crime.
  • it is not clear that abnormal EEG activity causes psychopathic criminality. Some psychopaths have normal EEG activity and some normal people have abnormal EEG activity.
  • Prisoners are more susceptible to brain injury as it might be a result of their criminality (getting into fights) rather than the cause.
44
Q

Biochemical Explainations

Biochemical substances

A

Biochemical substances and processes have been suggested as a possible cause of criminality as they affect the chemistrey of the brain , and the way thoughts are processed.
For example;
* Sex hormones
* Blood sugar
* Substance abuse
* Seratonin

45
Q

Biochemical Explainations

Sex Hormones

A

Testosterone
The male sex hormone, that causes males of most species to act more agressively than women and has been linked with crimes such as murder and rape.
Ellis & Coonts point out that the testosterone levels peak at the end of puberty and early 20’s in direct concordance with the most common age of men in prison.

PMT / PMS
A female homomne that has been used as a partial defence for shoplifting, as its affects have been proved to affect the brain, reducing cognitive ability and causing agression.
Post-Natal Depression has also been used as a partial defence, as when left untreated it impacts the neurological pathways linked to socio-emotional regulatiom as well as causing behavioural inhibition and violent behaviour.

46
Q

Biochemical Explainations

Blood Sugar Levels

A

Hypoglycaemia can trigger an agressive reaction, studies show a link between low blood sugar and alcohol abuse, as exessive drinking can cause hypoglycaemia and therefore increase agression. Alcohol consumption is closely related to crimes of violence.

S.J Schoenthaler claims that lowering the daily sucrose intake in young offenders can reduce the level of antisocial behaviour.

47
Q

Biochemical Explainations

Serotonin Levels

A

Serotonin is a hormone that regulates signals between neurons and helps to control a person’s mood.

Some studies show a link between low serotonin levels and increased agression.

Scerbo and Rain did a meta-analysis of 29 studies into anti-social adults and children, finding that all of them had low serotonin levels

48
Q

Biochemical Explainations

Substance Abuse

A

Alcohol
Saunders calculates that alcohol is a ignificant factor in around 1000 arrests per day. Flanzer estimates that in the USA 80% of family violence and abuse cases involve alcohol.

Steroids
Steroids are often associated with extreme muscle growth and increased testosterone levels, however people who take large amounts of steroids can become extremely violent and experience periouds of agression called ‘roid rage’

Drugs
Crack and cocaine are linked with violent crimes, wheras heroin, DMT and cannabis are often associated with reduced aggression.

49
Q

Biochemical Explainations

Other Substances

A

Other ingested substances that can be linked to anti-social behaviour due to their effect on the biochemical processes in the body include;
* Food additives
* Diets
* Allergens
* Vitamin deficency
* Lead pollution

Both lead and tartrazine (a yellow food colouring) have been linked with hyperactivity.

Vitamin B deficency has been linked to eratic and aggressive behaviour.

50
Q

Strengths - 3.2

Biochemical Explainations

A
  • Sex hormones, blood sugar, and substance abuse are all known to affect mood, judgement and agression.
  • Testosterone levels and male offending peak at the same age, suggesting the hormones affect criminal behaviour.
  • Alcohol produces disinhicbition, reduced self control and can lead to criminal behaviour , particularly violence.
  • Crack cocaine is particularly linked with violent crime.
  • Biochemical facors are accepted as defence in courts. the law of infanticide states that if the mother is suffering from post-natal depression of breastrfeeding, she has a partial murder defence.
  • PMT /PMS has alo been used as a partial defence for shoplifting.
51
Q

Weaknesses - 3.2

Biochemical Explainations

A
  • Biochemical processes may predispose some individuals to offend, however it is likely to also require an environmental ‘trigger’ to cause offending.
  • Scarmella & Brown found that testosterone levels do not greatly affect agression levels in most men.
  • Schalling found that high testosterone levels in young males leads to verbal aggression, not physical violence.
  • Infantacide may be due to the isolation and responsibility of caring for a newborn, rather than hormones.

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