Biological explanations of criminality

Question 1

Biological explanations of criminality

Answer 1

1. Biological explanations of criminality do not take learning experiences into account
2. instead, they explain criminality as a result of our biological systems, such as our brain and nervous system, genes and hormones
3. Biological explanations have been used to explain criminality throughout the history of psychology
4. Early theorists believed that criminals had certain body types and facial characteristics that indicated whether they were criminal and what type of crime they would be likely to commit.

Question 2

Genetic explanations for criminality

Answer 2

1. Studies have found that criminality runs in families
2. However, such evidence is undermined by the possibility that upbringing might account for these finds or that a social factor, such as poverty, may explain the tendency for criminality to run in families

Question 3

Twin studies for criminality

Answer 3

1. If monozygotic twins are both more likely to be criminals compared to dizygotic twins then there could be some evidence that criminality has a genetic basis
2. Karl Christiansen (1977) found that 35% of identical male twins recorded in Denmark were both criminals compared to 13% of non-identical male twins
3. For female twins, the figures were 21% of identical twins and 8% of non-identical twins
4. However, identical twins are likely to be raised in a more similar way than non-identical twins (especially if they are a different sex)
5. This shared upbringing could explain the slightly higher percentage of identical twins who are both criminals compared to non-identical twins.

Question 4

Adoption studies for criminality

Answer 4

1. One way to rule out the potential influence of upbringing is to use evidence from adoption studies
2. Here, the biological and adoptive parents are compared to the child in terms of whether they have criminal records
3. Assuming that the child has been adopted at an early age, we can then assume that any similarity between the biological parent and child is inherited
4. Barry Hutchings and Sarnoff Mednick (1975) found that 21% of adopted children who went on to commit a crime had a biological father who was convicted of a crime
5. This was compared to 10% of children whose biological father was not convicted of a criminal offence but the adoptive father had a criminal record
6. However we should be wary of interpreting this as a biological basis for criminality because it could be some other tendency or attribute that has been inherited, which may explain why some adopted children turn to crime.

Question 5

Personality Theory

Answer 5

1. Our personality is the set of characteristics that determine what we are like
2. Characteristics and qualities that make up someone’s individual character
3. Some personality theories believe that our personality is a temperament, which has a biological basis
4. These theories can explain how some personalities are associated with being a criminal, while others are not
5. They suggest that a criminal personality trait is caused by internal, biological factors

Question 6

Hans Eysenck

Answer 6

1. Developed a personality theory and studied different personality traits and suggested that certain characteristic could be more prone to criminality
2. 1964

Question 7

Eysenck’s personality traits

Answer 7

1. extraversion/introversion
2. Neuroticism
3. psychoticism

Question 8

extraversion/introversion

Answer 8

1. two extreme ends of one dimension of personality
2. extraversion is being outgoing and sociable and is at one end of the dimension
3. On the other end is introversion which is being reserved and quiet

Question 9

neuroticism

Answer 9

1. this refers to the nervous disposition of someone
2. If they are stable, then they are calm and do not over-react in situations
3. If they are unstable they tend to be highly emotional and quick to over-react

Question 10

psychoticism

Answer 10

1. this is a personality trait that shows a lack of empathy towards others

Question 11

Measuring personality

Answer 11

1. Each personality trait can be measured using a questionnaire devised by Eysenck.
2. Its called the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ)
3. Each question in the EPQ measures the specific trains of extraversion/introversion (E), neuroticism : Stable/unstable (N), and psychoticism (P) which gives them a PEN score

Question 12

The biological basis of personality

Answer 12

1. People with a high E score on the EPQ are believed to have a nervous system that has a low arousal level, so they seek external stimulation to raise their biological arousal level
2. They do this by being outgoing and sensation-seeking.
3. People with low E scores are believed to have a nervous system characterised by high arousal, so they avoid thrill and excitement in order to dampen their biological arousal level
4. Unstable neurotics have a high N score and are believed to have a nervous system that responds very quickly under stressful conditions; they tend to over-react quickly
5. In contrast, people with low N scores have an unreactive nervous sytem, meaning they are calm under stressful conditions
6. Although Eysenck was less clear about the biological basis for psychoticism, he believed it was also linked to our biological make-up
7. Having a high P score means that a person is cold, lacks compassion, and can be antisocial

Question 13

Monozygotic twins

Answer 13

1. twins developed from one fertilised egg that has split into two
2. genetically identical twins

Question 14

Dizygotic

Answer 14

1. twins developed from two different eggs fertilised during the same pregnancy
2. dizygotic twins are not genetically identical

Question 15

Temperament

Answer 15

the nature someone is born with, which affects their behaviour

Question 16

Extraversion

Answer 16

behaviour that is outgoing, sensation-seeking, and sociable

Question 17

Introversion

Answer 17

behaviour that is reserved, calm, and quiet

Question 18

Unstable neuroticism

Answer 18

a personality trait associated with being over-reactive in stressful situations, over-emotional, and anxious

Question 19

Stable neuroticism

Answer 19

a personality trait associated with being unreactive in stressful situations and emotionally unaffected

Question 20

Psychoticism

Answer 20

a personality trait that is cold, lacks empathy, is antisocial, and can be aggressive

Question 21

EPQ

Answer 21

1. Eysenck’s personality questionnaire

2. a questionnaire to measure extraversion, introversion, stable and unstable neuroticism, and psychoticism

Question 22

The criminal personality

Answer 22

1. Most people have moderate PEN scores
2. This means that they score moderately on psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism
3. High PEN scores are relatively uncommon and have been used to explain criminality
4. However this theory is not completely about our biological make-up. It also explains how the PEN personality traits interact with how we are raised
5. This is called the process of socialisation. As we grow up, we are punished for antisocial behaviour so we learn to associate misbehaving with the anxiety of being punished
6. The theory also explains that people with a high PEN So have a biological nervous sytem that is more difficult to socialise because they do not associate their antisocial behaviour with the anxiety of being punished.
7. These personalities are quick to react, sensation-seeking, and lack empathy for others so antisocial behaviour is exciting for them because they do not consider other people’s feelings. So punishing them is not effective

Question 23

Socialisation

Answer 23

the way you are raised and taught how to behave

Question 24

Holism

Answer 24

the theory of explaining something as a whole

Question 25

Sociologist

Answer 25

a type of researcher interested in the effects of social conditions on behaviour and societies

Question 26

Strengths of Eysenck’s theory

Answer 26

1. There is evidence that people with these personality traits are associated with criminal behaviour. If we compare the PEN scores of convected criminals to non-criminals, criminals have a higher PEN score. David Farrington et al. (1982) found that there was a relationship between high P and N scores and criminal behaviour but none between high E scores and criminality. This provides some support for the theory
2. It combines biological (genetics), psychological (traits), and social (upbringing) factors into one theory making it more holistic as it integrates all levels of explanation

Question 27

Weaknesses of Eysenck’s theory

Answer 27

1. It tends to assume that personality traits are fixed and stable and unchanging through out life. However it is possible that we change our behaviour according to the situation we are in. Criminality can therefore be considered to be more about environmental conditions than personality traits. Sociologists would agree that social conditions such as poverty are more likely to cause criminal behaviour than the type of nervous system we possess
2. Much of the evidence used is based on self-report questionnaires which can be flawed because people can be bias in answering them. Hence the data can be unreliable
3. The evidence that comes from offenders only re[presents offenders who have been caught and convicted, not the successful ones.