AC 2.1 Biological theories of crime + policy developments

Question 1

Who is Lombroso?

Answer 1

• Italian doctor
• first physiological theorist of criminality
• argued that criminals were atavistic

Question 2

define atavistic

Answer 2

where people are less developed by evolution
means that criminals were a throwback to a primitive stage of evolution in terms of appearance and behaviour

Question 3

What are the features of an atavistic form?

Answer 3

• enormous jaw
• high cheek bones
• handle shaped ears
• prominent eyebrow arches
• exceptionally long arms
• large eye sockets
• good eyesight
• asymmetrical face

Question 4

How does Lombroso’s theory link to criminality?

Answer 4

• primitive features leads to them having primitive behaviour

Question 5

Give 3 strengths of Lombroso’s theory?

Answer 5

• first person to study scientifically
• first people to suggest a biological reason for crime
• first person to suggest that criminals could benefit from rehabilitation

Question 6

Give 3 weaknesses of Lombroso’s theory?

Answer 6

• not everyone with atavistic features commits crime and people without also do commit crime.
• He did not use a control group, so there is no way of knowing if the friends are spread universally.
• He has been accused of scientific racism, the features he disclosed are those from an african descent. This further perpetuates the stereotypes about the criminality of black people.

Question 7

What is Sheldon’s theory?

Answer 7

-Criminality is a result of physical form.
-He studied 400 scantily clothed men.
-Those with a mesomorphic (muscular and hard) somatotype are more aggressive, sensation-seeking, assertive. They have higher levels of testosterone.

Question 8

What are the three somatotypes that Sheldon discusses in his theory?

Answer 8

• Endomorphic (fat and soft) tend to be more relaxed and sociable
• Ectomorphic (thin and fragile) tend to be introverted and restrained.
• Mesomorphic (muscular and hard) tend to be more aggressive and assertive.

Question 9

Give 2 strengths of Sheldon’s theory?

Answer 9

• He uses a control group which gave credibility to the study, we can say that mesomorphs are more likely to be found in the criminal population.
• Glueck and Glueck found that 60% of offenders in their study were mesomorphs

Question 10

Give 2 weaknesses of Sheldon’s theory?

Answer 10

• not every mesomorph commits crime, there are also eco and endomorph criminals
• Somatotypes are not fixed, a person could become a mesomorph through diet and exercise.

Question 11

What is the genetic theory that criminality is genetically inherited?

Answer 11

• Theory that criminality can be genetically inherited.
• Tested using a twin study, with monozygotic and dizygotic.

Question 12

What is the twin study that was used to test if criminality is
genetically inherited?

Answer 12

Monozygotic twins share 100% of the same genes, if criminality is genetically inherited, the gene would be present in both twins.
- Johannes Lange conducted the study of 13 monozygotic and 17 dizygotic twins, where one spent time in prison.
- Found 10 of monozygotic twins and 2 of the dizygotic twins had a co twin who was also in prison.

Question 13

Give 2 strengths of the genetically inherited theory?

Answer 13

• Christiansen studied 3586 pairs of twins and found a 58% concordance rate between MZ twins but in DZ it was only 22% - proves the theory correct
• Ishikawa and Raine found a higher concordance for criminal behaviour in MZ twins compared to DZ

Question 14

Give 2 weaknesses of the genetically inherit theory?

Answer 14

• the concordance rate for Christiansen’s study is only 52% if it was purely genetic, we would expect 100% as they share 100% genes
• cannot rule out environment as MZ twins are treated more similarly than DZ twins - non identical twins tend to take their own identities

Question 15

What is Jacob’s XYY theory?

Answer 15

• Abnormality of sex chromosomes is a cause of criminality.
• One abnormality is an extra Y chromosome, known as ‘super male syndrome’.
• he claims that men with XYY are more aggressive and violent

Question 16

According to Jacob’s theory, what attributes do men with an XYY have?

Answer 16

• tall and well built
• low intelligence
• difficulty reading
• poor ability to function interpersonally in social situations

Question 17

What studies prove Jacob’s XYY theory?

Answer 17

There are 15 XYY males per 1000 in prisons and one per 1000 in the general population.

Question 18

Give 2 strengths to Jacob’s XYY theory?

Answer 18

• Jacob et al found a significant number of men in prison have XYY.
• Stockholm found that the incidence of sexual abuse, burglary and arson to be significantly higher in XYY men than controls.

Question 19

Give 2 weaknesses to Jacob’s XYY theory?

Answer 19

• The over representation of XYY men in prison could link to their low intelligence as they get caught more.
• The syndrome is very rare (1 in 1000) so cannot explain all crime.

Question 20

Give 2 overall evaluation points that can be used for any biological theory?

Answer 20

• Biological explanations ignore environmental factors. A person’s biology may give them the vulnerability for criminality but they may need an environmental factor to trigger the biological vulnerability.
• Biological theories are deterministic, they suggest a criminal has no free will in their actions.

Question 21

What are the biological treatments to help control crime?

Answer 21

• chemical castration - forced upon an offender to ‘cure’ their offending (non permanent)
• surgical castration - permanent version
• methane drug treatment
• emetic drug treatment
• dietary changes

Question 22

What is the methadone drug treatment?

Answer 22

• gets drug addicts off drugs
• offenders get referred to a methadone treatment programme whilst in prison or on community order
• methadone causes feelings of relaxation and reduce pain but will not give the euphoric feeling of heroin
• reduces withdrawal symptoms and cravings
• cheaper than heroin (95$ a week, heroin is 100$ a day)

Question 23

How does the methadone drug treatment reduce offending?

Answer 23

• if the person is no longer addicted to heroin, the person will no longer commit crime to fund their habit
• they won’t be high so will be more able to engage in rehab

Question 24

Does the methadone drug treatment work?

Answer 24

• Comprehensive cochrane review 2009 compared it to a control group given a placebo and found methadone was effective in reducing both opioid use and associated crime.
• However, they might then become addicted to methadone, which is free to them

Question 25

What is chemical castration?

Answer 25

• Stilbestrol (female hormone) that suppress production of testosterone to suppress the male libido is given to sex offenders to reduce sex drive and reduce motivation to commit crimes of a sexual nature
• not permanent

Question 26

Does chemical castration work?

Answer 26

• has been found to reduce offending but only alongside psychological therapy
• Losel and Schmuker found hormonal medication showed larger effects than psychological intervention for reducing sex offending
• hormones will return if they stop taking them
• has side effects like breast growth - may cause sex offenders to not take drug - most will have to pay
• sex offending is often about power and control - just because their libido isn’t there, doesn’t mean they aren’t going to commit crime