3.2 Flashcards
What are the Strength’s and Weaknesses of Lombroso’s theory?
Strength = first theory that was scientific not religious or moral.
Strength = used lots of evidence and was very thorough
Strength = first idea that it was caused by rejection from society
Limitation = scientific credibility questioned because nobody else has similar findings
Limitation = some saw atavism is a form of racism and non- western idea.
What are the Strength’s and limitations of Sheldon’s somatotype theory?
Strength = his work was replicated by others
Strength = conducted various studies and found most delinquent offenders had the mesomorphic build.
Limitation = people can develop physiques
Limitation = there is no direct link that shows criminality links to body type
What are the Strength’s and limitations of Twin Studies?
Strength = strong evidence to complement this theory
Limitation = not 100% of the time genetics effect criminality
Limitation = hard to separate nature and nurture of twins, twins in the same environment will experience same things.
What is the Strength’s and limitation’s of adoption studies?
Strength = back up genetic theories with more strong evidence, adoption is a good way to separate nature and nurture to see different effects.
Limitation = possible adoptive parents are like biological parents as children are often placed with similar families to help them settle.
What are the Strengths and limitations of Jacobs XYY theory
Strength = evidence to support the influence of XYY chromosomes on criminality, over representations of males with XYY is prisons.
Limitation = only occurs in 1 in 1000 males despite crime involving males is not rare so shows it is not the main cause.
what are the strengths and limitations for brain injuries and disorders?
Strength= real life examples, Phineas gage – changed personality.
Strength = ECG readings show abnormalities with some criminals, however not conclusive.
Limitation = brain disorders are caused by criminality as someone may be involved in physical confrontations
What are the strengths and limitations of biochemical explanations?
Strength= criminal legal justice system recognise criminality is caused by chemical imbalances.
Strength = 80% of all family cases of violence involve alcohol.
Limitation = not all crimes have biochemical explanations.
What are the Strengths of Frauds Psychoanalysis?
Strength = earliest theory to show importance of family structure on behaviour and development.
Strength = evidence shows that children with teachers as role models in school tackle the superego by exposing them to anti criminal attitudes.
Weakness = no actual evidence the superego exists, anomalies such as people in crime families not becoming criminal cannot be explained.
What are the strengths and limitations of Bowlby’s Maternal Deprivation Theory?
Strength = strong evidence carried out by Bowlby, has led to significant changes to help reduce the deprivation e.g. parents can Stay with children in hospitals.
Weakness = another test he carried out with TB children who were in isolation but didn’t suffer maternal deprivation.
What are the strength’s and limitations of Eysenck’s personality theory:
Strength = first theories to use scientific equipment such as an EPQ to measure personality.
Strength = research shows links between personality and crime, the E N P tests.
Limitation = many tests are self-done so they might not be accurate as some might have lied.
What are the Strengths and limitations of Differential Association theory?
Strength = studies suggest people’s exposure to crime attitudes does effect decision making.
Limitation = it’s difficult to know how much exposure leads to criminality
What are the strengths and limitations of Operant learning theory?
Strength = studies show that positive reinforcement can lead to changes in behaviour, so crime is learned through informant.
Limitation = studies have mostly been carried out on animals and that could change the results.
What are the strengths and limitaions of social learning theory?
Strength = first theory to suggest that learning wasn’t just direct, it could be indirect. Bobo doll, idea that children imitated people they saw doing something.
Limitation = anomalies like domestic violence and tax evasion can’t be explained
What are the Strengths and limitations of Durkheim’s Functionalist theory?
Strength = first theory that said crime can benefit society by reinforcing what’s right and wrong and challenging laws made.
Limitation = people disagree as it can’t be a function for victims, and to much crime takes place to deem it functional.
What are the strengths and limitations of Merton’s strain theory?
Strength = supported by official stats saying property is most attacked.
Strength = strain does occur as working place people commit more crimes showing strain.
Weakness = can’t explain why all people commit crimes
