Biological Theories Flashcards
(32 cards)
What is Lombrosos theory?
Criminals had distinctive physical features
‘Atavistic’ = primitive / compared to apes
Unsocial and unable to control impulses
What are the strengths of lombrosos theory?
✔ Challenged view that criminals choose criminality
✔ He was credited the first to establish criminology as a science
What are weaknesses of lombrosos theory?
✘ Racial discrimination features described were linked to African descent
✘ Further research failed to show link between features and criminality
✘ Failed to compare findings to control group of non-criminals
Overview of lombrosos theory
Criminals had distinctive physical features
‘Atavistic’ = primitive / compared to apes
Unsocial and unable to control impulses
✔ First to establish criminology as a science
✔ Challenged view that criminals choose criminality
✘ Racial discrimination — features linked to African descent
✘ Further research failed to show link between features and criminality
✘ Failed to compare findings to control group of non-criminals
What is Sheldon’s somatotype theory?
Criminals had certain body types, mesomorph most likely to be criminal
Ectomorph (thin) = introverted
Endomorph (fat) = sociable and relaxed
Mesomorph (muscular) = aggressive & adventurous
What are the strengths of Sheldon’s somatotype theory?
✔ Studies have confirmed link, Glueck + Glueck found 60% of offenders were meso
✔ Most serious criminals in Sheldon’s sample were meso
What are the weaknesses of Sheldon’s theory?
✘ Does not consider changes to the body throughout life
✘ Labelling may play a role as meso fit ‘tough guy’ stereotype so get more police attention
Overview of Sheldon’s somatotype theory
Criminals had certain body types, mesomorph most likely to be criminal
✔ Studies have confirmed link, Glueck + Glueck found 60% of offenders were meso
✔ Most serious criminals in Sheldon’s sample were meso
✘ Does not consider changes to the body throughout life
✘ Labelling may play a role as meso fit ‘tough guy’ stereotype so get more police attention
What are the two PHYSIOLOGICAL theories?
Lombroso
Sheldon somatotype
What are the three GENETIC theories?
Jacob’s XYY
Twin Studies
Adoption Studies
What does Jacob’s XYY theory say?
Criminality is caused by an extra Y chromosome in males ‘supermale’ which made men more aggressive
He found 1 in 1000 men were XYY
and 15 in 1000 prisoners were XYY
What did Jacob find?
He found 1 in 1000 men were XYY
and 15 in 1000 prisoners were XYY
What are the strengths of Jacob’s XYY theory?
✔ 15 in 1000 gives credibility to the theory
✔ further studies by Adler emphasised the link giving it validity
What are weaknesses of Jacob’s XYY theory?
✘ The syndrome is rare so cannot account for much crime
✘ Correlation but no cause and effect, the syndrome may not be the cause of their violence
Overview of Jacob’s XYY theory
Criminality is caused by an extra Y chromosome in males ‘supermale’ which made men more aggressive
He found 1 in 1000 men were XYY
and 15 in 1000 prisoners were XYY
✔ 15 in 1000 gives credibility to the theory
✔ further studies by Adler emphasised the link giving it validity
✘ The syndrome is rare so cannot account for much crime
✘ Correlation but no cause and effect, the syndrome may not be the cause of their violence
What does the twin studies theory say?
Since monozygotic twins share the same DNA, if one twin is criminal the other should be aswell
Who researched twin studies?
Christiansen
Studied 3586 twins and found MZ twins had 52% concordance rate of criminal behaviour
and DZ twins has 22%
What are the strengths on Twin studies?
✔ As identical twins share 100% genetic, it is logical to suggest their offending behaviour is also identical
✔ Other studies have found higher concordance rates for identical than non-identical twins
What are the weaknesses of twin studies?
✘ If genes were the only cause of criminality, identical twins should show 100% concordance, but most studies show
around 50% or less
✘ Ignores environmental factors that may be the cause as twins are often raised in the same environment
Overview of twin studies
if one twin is criminal the other should be aswell
Christiansen studied 3586 twins and found MZ twins had 52% concordance rate of criminal behaviour and DZ twins has 22%
✔ As identical twins share 100% genetic, it is logical to suggest their offending behaviour is also identical
✔ Other studies have found higher concordance rates for identical than non-identical twins
✘ If genes were the only cause of criminality, identical twins should show 100% concordance, but most studies show
around 50% or less
✘ Ignores environmental factors that may be the cause as twins are often raised in the same environment
What did the adoption studies say?
Compared adopted children to bio and adoptive parents
More similar to bio - genetic cause
More similar to adoptive - environmental cause
Who researched adoption studies?
Mednick
Studied 14,000 adopted sons and found that 20% were more likely to have a criminal record if their birth parents did compared to 14% with adoptive
What are the strengths of adoption studies?
✔ Theory has scientific validity as finding give support
✔ Considers nature vs nurture
What are the weaknesses of adoption studies?
Adopted children often remain with bio parents before adoption so their early environment may be the cause of their criminality
Adopted children often placed in environments similar to those of their birth family (same ethnicity, class etc.) so
similar environments may produce similar behaviour
