BIOLOGICAL THEORIES - PHYSIOLOGICAL - SHELDON Flashcards
(20 cards)
Basic idea of the theory?
William Sheldon believed that certain somatotypes are more likely to commit crimes than others
What is a somatotype?
A somatotype refers to a person’s body type/shape
What features does an endomorph have
Endomorphs are fat and soft, lacking muscle tone.
What personality do endo have ?
relaxed and socially outgoing.
what are the key features of an ectomorph?
thin and fragile
What personality does an ectomorph have?
Their personality is introverted and emotionally restrained.
what are the features of a mesomorph?
Mesomorphs are muscular and hard bodied, with very little fat and are strong.
what is a mesomorphs personality?
adventerous and agressive
what was his experiment/correaltion ?
Sheldon, using a correlation study of 4000 inmates, found that many convicts were mesomorphic and they were least likely to be ectomorphic
what traits do mesomorphs have that make them more criminal likely?
He claimed they would be attracted to the risky nature of crime and their physical advantage would be an asset when conducting crimes. They also have a high pain threshold and are more likely to be callous and ruthless.
What was the supporting evidence behind the theory?
Gluek and gluek replicated sheldons work and found 60% of criminals had mesomorph
what increased the theorys reliability?
Conducting further research with the same results
what was the big question ?
Does body shape determine criminality or does criminality determine body shape
describe its social class influence.
Criminals are more likely to be working class - manual labour jobs which leads to a mesomorph body
name a strength
the most serious offenders in the sample were the ones who had mesomorphic body shapes. This would suggest that the more mesomorphic a person’s body the more serious the crime they may commit.
name another study that backed up sheldons findings
(Putwain & Sammons, 2002). A good-sized sample (200) was used
did sheldon compare to non offenders
Yess
name a limitation.
G and G said that psychological and environmental factors should be considered too. This considers whether mesomorphs are ‘picked upon’ or dared to do illegal acts.
name a limitation that discredits mesomorph
Criminals may develop a mesomorphic build because of needing to be physically tough to succeed. - class
may labelling play a part? why
yes, mesomorphs have been labelled as a troublemaker because of their physique. As a result, they may attract more attention and focus from school and later the police.
