AC 2.1-biological studies of crime Flashcards
(17 cards)
what was Lombrosso’s study?
1876, criminals were physically different to non-criminals
-measured and recorded details of heads & faces of thousands of prisoners
-some key characteristsics: Large ears, excessive wrinkles etc
-Atavistic (primitive) characteristics from early human development
-criminals=pre social, cant control impulses, reduced sensitivity
lombrossos strengths
-first person to study crime from a scientific view
-first to use measurements to gather evidence and investigate scientifically
-Garland=lombrosso was responsible for giving criminology scientific credit
lombrossos weaknesses
-no control group, didn’t compare to non criminals
-Garing=studied thousands of English prisoners physical features–> didn’t find any of Lombroso’s distinctive features
-ethical issues: people could be locked up before committing a crime
-physical features can change eg in accidents
-derministic–> criminality is akin, unable to escape destiny–>doesn’t consider social or economic factors
-modern research=no evidence supporting Lombroso
what was Sheldons study?
-body types = somatotypes –> endomorphs, ectomorphs and mesomorphs
-endo=fat and soft–>lacks muscle tone–>relaxed and socially outgoing
-ecto=thin and fragile–>introverted and emotionally restrained
-meso=muscular and hard bodied–>little fat and strong–>aggressive and adventurous
-studied 4,000 inmates. convicts were mesomorphs
-mesomorphs are more likely to engage in criminal activity
-attached to risky nature & have high pain threshold
sheldon strengths
-glueck & gleuck=60% of young offenders were mesomorphs, non delinquent=31% in a sample
-most serious offenders were mesomorphs
-Other studies confirmed small association between body and crime
sheldon weaknesses
-glueck & glueck= environment and psychological factors also causes crime
-mesomorphs are stereotyped–>judicial system may judge harshly
-need to be physically tough to succeed, crime causes stomata type
most convicted offenders=working class males–> physically strong
-bodyshape can change, mesomorphs labelled as troublemakers and attract attention. work out in free time and no diet
who are the 2 physiological studies
sheldon
Lombroso
what are the 3 genetic studies?
twin studies
jacobs XYY chromosome
adoption studies
what is twin studies?
-identical twins=monozygotic–>share 100% same DNA
-non identical twins=dizygotic
-1929=studies 30 twins. Lang= monozygotic twins served time is prison, only 2/17 dizygotic twins served prison time
-Christiansen=criminality concordance rates for monozygotic twins is 35% and 13% for dizygotic
twin studies strengths
-studies on monozygotic twins are logical for providing the existence of a “criminal gene”
-scientists can better measure the impact on monozygotic twins
twin studies weaknesses
-if genes were only cause for criminality, concordance rates could be 100% but most studies for 50% or under making it unreliable
-twins also share same house, school and life opportunities. impossible to isolate genetic & environmental factors–> less solid convictions
-earlier studies–>Lange–>inadequately controlled and lacked validity as to whether twins were monozygotic or dizygotic, solely based on appearance
what is Adoption studies
-underlying principles of studies explaining criminal behaviour is the comparison of criminals with their biological and adoptive parents
-criminal behaviour=child is more similar to adoptive parents as they share the same environment. Genetic basis may be suggested for criminality
-Mednic et al=looked at court convictions and found 14,000 adoptees among them, many of these adoptees had biological parents who are criminals
adoption studies strengths
-over comes issues that biological & environmental factors are separated
-allows to see importance of genes vs nurture (adoption family environment)
-findings show an adoptee are more likely to be criminals if parents were criminals
adoption studies weaknesses
-adoptee children are often placed in similar environments to birth families (same class, ethnicity, locality)
-adoptees arent immediately adopted so spend more time with biological parents “learning from that environment”
-sociological theories= high importance on early years ages 0-5
what is jacobs XYY study?
-men with XYY syndrome were more aggressive than XY men and are overrepresented in prison. 15X more likely (15/1000)
-studies=imprisoned criminals (secure hospitals)
-Prince and whatmore= XYY males tend to be more immature and unstable with a tendency to commit motiveless property crimes
XYY strengths
-found an association with XYY syndrome and offenders imprisoned for violent behaviour
-Alder et al=suggests its possible that aggressive and violent behaviour is partly determined by genes
XYY limitations
-XYY males=tall and well built–> fits stereotypes + labelled as criminals by court & police so more likely to be imprisoned and over represented
-often low in intelligence–>more likely to be caught so overrepresented and shouldn’t be relied upon too heavily
-studies = genetic abnormalities are wide spread in general population so doesn’t explain aggression
-Theildgaard=researched traits of XYY men and compared to XY men, found characteristics of aggression wasn’t associated in XYY men
