strengths and limitations of physiological theories

What is a strength of lombroso theory?

He was the first to offer a scientific and objective approach to understanding criminality. Before his research, criminality was considered to be a moral or religious problem and so his study was the first to set up a new outlook on reasons why people commit crime

What is a limitation of lombroso theory?

It could be considered as racist. Some of his stigmatas he identified in criminals included dark skin, features of people from ethnic backgrounds

He also failed to compare his results to a control group and only looked at the physical makeup of-up of criminals

Strength of Sheldon’s theory

It has been replicated by Gluecks study, they found that 60% of offenders were mesomorphic which mean Sheldon’s explanation can be considered reliable

One weakness of Sheldon’s theory

There is a gender bias as they often focus on male offenders. Sheldon’s theory focuses on men and therefore doesn’t explain criminal behaviour in women

Strength of Brain disorders theory

Phineas gage adds validity to the theory that damage to the brain causes criminality

What is another weakness of lombroso?

Later studies never found a link between facial features and criminality. Therefore the work of lombroso could be considered as lacking in both reliability and validity