unit two - ac3.2 (biological)

Question 1

what are the strengths of Lombroso’s ‘born criminals’ theory

Answer 1

• first person to study crime scientifically
• research showed the importance of examining clinical and historical records of criminals
• later work took some limited account of social and environmental factors
• arguing that offenders werent freely choosing to commit crime helps to focus on how we might prevent further offending rather than simply punishing

Question 2

what are the limitations of Lombroso’s ‘born criminals’ theory

Answer 2

• research since Lombroso has failed to show a link between facial features and criminality
• Lombroso failed to compare his findings on prisoners with a control group of non-criminals, may have found the same characteristics among the general population making his explanation invalid
• describing criminals as ‘primitive savages’, Lombroso equates non-western societies with criminals, form of racism

Question 3

what are the strengths of sheldon’s somatotypes theory

Answer 3

• other studies have replicated sheldon’s findings, Glueck and Glueck found 60% of the offenders in their study were mesomorphs

Question 4

what are the limitations of Sheldon’s somatotypes theory

Answer 4

• Glueck&Glueck found that criminality was best explained by a combination of biological, psychological and environmental factors
• criminals may develop a mesomorphic build as a result of needing to be physically tough to succeed
• social class may be the true cause of offending and mesomorphy, convicted offenders are mainly working-class males who are more likely to be in manual jobs where they acquire an athletic build
• labelling theory may play a part, mesomoprhs may be labelled as troublemakers as they fit ‘tough guy’ stereotype, resulting in self-fulfilling prophecy, may attract more police attention and get caught more than other somatotypes
• sheldon doesnt account for endos and ectos who do commit crimes other than violence

Question 5

what are the strengths of twin studies

Answer 5

• MZ twins are genetically identical, logical to examine whether their offending behaviour is also identical
• twin studies give some support to genetic explanations, a higher concordance rate was found for identical twins than non-identical twins

Question 6

what are the limitations of twin studies

Answer 6

• if genes were the only cause of criminality, MZ twins would show a 100% concordance rate but studies show around half or less
• higher concordance rates between MZ twins may be due to sharing the same environment, their shared environment might cause similarities in their criminal behaviour
• parents treat MZ twins more alike than they do non-identical twins, identical twins may feel closer than non-identical twins so one twin may become influenced by the other twin to become a criminal too
• it is impossible to isolate and measure the effect of genes separately from environmental effects
• in early studies, there was no way of knowing for certain if twins were in fact genetically identical, since DNA testing didnt exist

Question 7

what are the limitations of adoption studies

Answer 7

• Gottfredson and Hirshci argue that adoption studies show genes have little effect on criminality
• adopted children are often placed in environments similar to those of their birth family, which may produce similar behaviour
• many children are not adopted immediately after birth but remain with their biological family for some time, this early environment may be the true cause of their criminality

Question 7

what are the strengths of adoption studies

Answer 7

• adoption studies overcome the problem faced by twin studies, people brought up in different environments
• research design is logical, it allows us to see the relative importance ‘nature’ v ‘nurture’
• findings of adoption studies give some support to genetic explanations, show adoptees were more likely to have criminal records if their bio parents had criminal records

Question 8

what are the strengths of XYY theory

Answer 8

• jacob et al found an association between XYY syndrome and offenders imprisoned for violent behaviour
• Price and Whatmore found some links between the syndrome and property crime

Question 9

what are the limitations of XYY theory

Answer 9

• even is some violent offenders have the syndrome, this doesnt prove it is the cause of their violence
• XYY males are tall and well built, fit the stereotype of ‘violent offenders’ and get labelled as such by courts so they are more likely to get a prison sentence, become over-represented in samples drawn from prisoners, overstates the syndrome as a possible cause of crime
• XYY males may be over-represented as they often have low intelligence, meaning they are more likely to be caught, samples drawn prisoners are therefore skewed
• syndrome is very rare (only about 1 in 1,000 men have it) so it cannot explain much crime

Question 10

what are the strengths of brain injuries and disorders theory

Answer 10

• in a few extreme cases, brain injury or disease has led to major changes in an individual’s personality and behaviour including criminality ]
• there is some correlation between abnormal EEG reading and psychopathic criminality
• prisoners are more likely to have a brain injury than non-prisoners

Question 11

what are the limitations of brain injuries and disorders theory

Answer 11

• crimes cause by brain injury or disease are rare, sufferer’s original personality is more important in whether they engage in crime
• it isnt clear that abornmal brainwave activity causes psychopathic criminality, some psychopaths have normal EEG patterns and some normal people have abnormal EEG patterns
• prisoners’ higher likelihood of brain injury could be a result of their criminality, rather than a cause of it

Question 12

what are the strengths of biochemical explanations theory

Answer 12

• sexual hormones, blood sugar levels and substance abuse can affect mood, judgment and aggression
• testosterone levels and male offending both peak around the same age, suggesting hormones affect criminal behaviour
• alcohol produces disinhibition, reducing self control and leading to criminal behaviour, particularly violence, cocaine has been strongly linked to violent crime
• biochemical factors are recognised by the courts, law of infantcide states that if a mother kills her baby as a result of post-natal depression or breastfeeding, she has a partial defence to murder, PMT has been accepted as a defence is shoplifting cases

Question 13

what are the limitations of biochemical explanations theory

Answer 13

• biochemical processes may predispose some individuals to offend, but it may require an environmental ‘trigger’ to cause actual offending
• scarmella and brown found testosterone levels do not greatly affect aggression levels in most men
• schalling found high testosterone levels in young males led to verbal aggression, but not physical violence
• infantcide may be due to isolation and the responibility for caring for a newborn child rather than hormones