AC 2.1

Question 1

what are the 3 genetic theories of criminality?

Answer 1

twin studies
adoption studies
XYY theory

Question 2

what is the XYY theory?

Answer 2

this theory suggests some crime might be attributable to chromosomal abnormality

Question 3

what chromosomes do humans usually have?

Answer 3

they usually have 46 chromosomes, 2 of which determine sex: XX = female XY = male

Question 4

what does the XYY condition involve?

Answer 4

an extra Y chromosome

Question 5

what and when did Jacob et al say about XYY men?

Answer 5

they have been called supermales and it is suggested they are more aggressive and more inclined to be violent than other males (1968)

Question 6

what is the proportion of XYY males in prison compared to in the general population?

Answer 6

15/1000 sufferers in prison
1/1000 sufferers in population

Question 7

how does serial killer John Wayne Gacy link to XYY syndrome?

Answer 7

it is said that he had it and as a result he sexually assaulted, tortured and killed at least 33 men in the USA

Question 8

what do twin studies suggest?

Answer 8

they support the contention that a heritable trait may increase risk for criminal behaviour

Question 9

what is MZ
DZ
concordance rate?

Answer 9

monozygotic twins = identical
dizygotic twins = non-identical
concordance = when both twins share a characteristic

Question 10

what did Johannes Lange study in 1929? Twins

Answer 10

he studied twins and found that MZ twins showed a higher concordance rate than DZ criminal behaviour

Question 11

what did Johannes Lange find in 1929? Twins

Answer 11

10/13 MZ twins both served time in prison but 2/17 twins had such concordance

Question 12

what did Christiansen study in 1977?

Answer 12

3586 twins from Danish islands

Question 13

what did Christiansen find in 1977?

Answer 13

concordance rates of 35% for MZ male twins and 13% for DZ male twins
concordance rates of 21% for MZ female twins and 8% for DZ female twins

Question 14

what are adoption studies?

Answer 14

the comparison of criminals with both their biological and adoptive parents; it considers nature v nurture

Question 15

when may a genetic basis of criminality be suggested?

Answer 15

if in criminal behaviour the child is more similar to their biological parents

Question 16

what did Huthchings and Mednick study in 1975?

Answer 16

14,000 adopted children

Question 17

what did Huthchings and Mednick find in 1975?

Answer 17

a high proportion of boys with criminal convictions had biological parents with criminal convictions too, suggesting a link between aggression and genetics

Question 18

what did Mednick et al find in 1994?

Answer 18

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

Question 19

what are the 2 main physiological theories of criminality?

Answer 19

Lombroso
Sheldon

Question 20

who was Lombroso?

Answer 20

Italian psychiatrist and military doctor who developed theories about criminals, he was the father of modern criminology

Question 21

what did Lombroso argue?

Answer 21

the criminal was a separate species and a ‘born criminal’ could be determined by the shape of a head

Question 22

what did Lombroso claim?

Answer 22

criminality was heritable and those who were, had atavistic or primitive features

Question 23

what were the atavistic features Lombroso claimed criminals had?

Answer 23

large or forward projection of the jaw
high cheekbones
flattened or upturned nose
low sloping forehead
long arms relative to lower limbs
large ears

Question 24

what does atavistic mean?

Answer 24

relating to something ancient or ancestral

Question 25

what did Lombroso examine?

Answer 25

facial and cranial features of 383 dead and 3839 living criminals

Question 26

what did Lombroso conclude?

Answer 26

40% of criminal acts could be accounted for by atavistic characteristics

Question 27

what did Lombroso say?

Answer 27

you could tell the crime type by the person

Question 28

according to Lombroso what features did a murderer have?

Answer 28

curly hair and blood shot eyes

Question 29

what characteristics did Lombroso say the 'born criminal' had?

Answer 29

an insensitivity to pain and therefore tattoos

Question 30

when did Lombroso publish his theory?

Answer 30

in 2006

Question 31

what did a study from a Chinese university suggest?

Answer 31

facial features can give a criminal away

Question 32

what happened in the study at the Chinese university that supported Lombroso?

Answer 32

ID photos of 1856 Chinese men (half of whom were criminals) were entered into an AI programme

Question 33

what was the result of the AI programme in which 1856 ID photos were entered into?

Answer 33

it wrongly flagged innocent men criminal 6% of the time, but correctly identified 83% of criminals

Question 34

what did Sheldon do?

Answer 34

advanced Lombroso's theory in 1949

Question 35

what did Sheldon do before putting forward his somatotype theory?

Answer 35

examined photos showing the front, side and back of 4000 barely dressed men

Question 36

what is a somatotype?

Answer 36

body shape

Question 37

what is an endomorph?

Answer 37

fat and soft and tend to be sociable and relaxed

Question 38

what is an ectomorph?

Answer 38

thin and fragile and tend to be introverted and restrained

Question 39

what is a mesomorph?

Answer 39

hard and muscular and tend to be more aggressive and adventurous

Question 40

what did Sheldon's correlation study find?

Answer 40

many criminals prone to committing violent acts were mesomorphic and those least likely to commit were ectomorphic

Question 41

what did Sheldon use a sample of college student and delinquent photos to do?

Answer 41

rate them on a scale of their resemblance to mesomorphy 1 - 7 (low to high)

Question 42

what were the results of Sheldon's scale of mesomorphy?

Answer 42

delinquents had a higher average mesomorphy rating than college students (4.6 to 3.8)

Question 43

what inspired Sheldon?

Answer 43

watching his father breed poultry and dogs competitively, observing the correlation of genetics combined with his wish to breed a better species

Question 44

where were Sheldon's findings linking body shape to delinquents produced?

Answer 44

in his book Atlas of Men in 1954

Question 45

what have several research studies suggested about damage to the pre-frontal cortex?

Answer 45

that it may cause an altered behaviour pattern, making them more immature, having an increased loss of self-control and having an inability to modify behaviour

Question 46

what did Raine et al do in 1994?

Answer 46

use PET scans to study brains of living killers

Question 47

what was found by Raine et al in the brains of criminals?

Answer 47

damage in the pre-frontal cortex, which controls impulsive behaviour

Question 48

who was Phineas Gage?

Answer 48

a railroad worker, who survived a large iron rod through his head, which destroyed much of the left frontal lobe

Question 49

what happened to Gage's personality and behaviour after the accident?

Answer 49

it was affected and he became extravagant, anti-social, used bad language, had bad manners and became a liar

Question 50

what was the part of the brain that Gage lost associated with?

Answer 50

mental and environmental functions

Question 51

what did Gage's doctor say?

Answer 51

that the balance between his intellectual faculties and animalistic behaviour was destroyed in the accident

Question 52

what did McIsaac et al find in 2016?

Answer 52

people who had suffered head injuries are twice as likely to end up in prison

Question 53

relating to McIsaac et al what were female prisoners more likely to have survived?

Answer 53

traumatic brain injuries

Question 54

what is the risk of women with brain injuries ending up in a Canadian federal prison according to McIssac et al?

Answer 54

2.76 times higher than it was for women that were uninjured

Question 55

what have some brain diseases been linked to?

Answer 55

criminal/anti-social behaviour

Question 56

what epidemic was there in children in the 1920s?

Answer 56

encephalitis lethargica

Question 57

what did the epidemic amongst children in the 1920s link to?

Answer 57

destructiveness impulsiveness arson abnormal sexual behaviour

Question 58

what has been linked to various forms of deviant/anti-social behaviour?

Answer 58

senile dementia Huntington's chorea brain tumours

Question 59

what do biological theories argue?

Answer 59

that criminality is caused by some physical abnormality within the individual

Question 60

what have biological theories led to?

Answer 60

crime control and punishment policies that aim to change the working of the criminal's brain or body and cure the condition causing it

Question 61

what treatment programmes are there to reduce offending?

Answer 61

use of drug, diet and surgery

Question 62

what can diets be modified to change?

Answer 62

anti-social behaviour

Question 63

what can prisoners be supplemented with to reduce anti-social behaviour and who said this?

Answer 63

vitamins, minerals and fatty acids Gesch et al

Question 64

what has vitamin B3 been used to treat?

Answer 64

some forms of schizophrenia, sometimes associated with violent behaviour

Question 65

give an example of how dietary changes have been used to try to control hyperactivity.

Answer 65

removing foods containing artificial colouring from children's diets

Question 66

what else has been used to control groups apart from individualised treatments?

Answer 66

chemical substances

Question 67

give an example of a chemical substance treatment.

Answer 67

teargas to control crowds or disperse rioters

Question 68

how does tear gas work?

Answer 68

by causing uncomfortable or distressing sensations

Question 69

what sensations can tear gas cause?

Answer 69

vomiting breathing difficulties disorientation lung damage death

Question 70

what is used to treat heroin addicts?

Answer 70

methadone, which works as a long term alternative and helps to prevent withdrawal symptoms

Question 71

give an example of a form of chemical castration.

Answer 71

stilbestrol

Question 72

what is stilbestrol?

Answer 72

a female hormone that suppresses testosterone as a way of reducing men's sex drive

Question 73

what are the side effects of stilbestrol?

Answer 73

breast development feminisation psychiatric disorders

Question 74

give an example of an aversion therapy to treat alcoholism.

Answer 74

Antabuse

Question 75

what does Antabuse do?

Answer 75

prevent the body from breaking down alcohol, immediately causing hangover symptoms if the user consumes any alcohol

Question 76

what has been used to keep potentially violent prisoners calm?

Answer 76

sedatives and tranquillisers e.g. valium

Question 77

what can the brain's chemistry be influenced by?

Answer 77

diet, e.g. food additives, pollution or hypoglycaemia

Question 78

what is hypoglycaemia?

Answer 78

low blood sugar levels associated with forms of diabetes

Question 79

what have some studies shown in regards to biochemical criminality?

Answer 79

low levels of serotonin are linked with higher aggression

Question 80

what does serotonin regulate?

Answer 80

signals between neurone and is said to control a person's mood

Question 81

who conducted a meta-analysis on 29 students into anti-social adults and children?

Answer 81

Scerbo and Raine in 1993

Question 82

what did Scerbo and Raine find in 1993?

Answer 82

low levels of serotonin in all anti-social adults and children

Question 83

what food can help to raise serotonin levels?

Answer 83

dark chocolate cheese nuts salmon turkey chicken

Question 84

what is roid rage?

Answer 84

people who take large amounts of steroids and as a result become extremely violent

Question 85

why are steroids taken?

Answer 85

to increase muscle growth, but do also increase testosterone levels

Question 86

who was Horace Williams and what did he do?

Answer 86

an American body builder who beat a man to death after taking 2000 times the recommended dosage of steroids