theories of crime (wjec level 3 criminology)

xyy theory (jacobs)

- xyy syndrome is where men have an extra y chromosome

- xyy men are said to be more aggressive and violent

- jacobs argued that this was true as xyy men are overrepresented in prison populations (15 per 1000 in prisons, 1 per 1000 in general population)

twin studies (lange & christiansen)

- is crime a heritable trait?

- testing the concordance rates of criminal activity between mz and dz twins

- lange - mz twins had higher concordance rates than dz twins

- christiansen - concordance rates were highest in mz male twins and lowest in female dz twins

adoption studies (hutchings & mednick)

- is crime biological (parents) or nature (adopted parents)?

- hutchings and mednick - higher proportions of boys with criminal convictions had biological parents with convictions too

- mednick - no relationship between criminal activity and adoptive parents and children

atavistic features (lombroso)

- born criminal

- criminals had atavistic features (e.g. high cheekbones and large ears)

- found that 40% of criminal acts were accounted for by atavistic characteristics

somatotypes (sheldon)

- endomorphs - sociable and relaxed (fat and soft)

- ectomorphs - introverted and restrained (thin and fragile)

- mesomorphs - aggressive and adventurous (muscular and hard)

- mesomorphs most likely to commit crime

brain abnormality (raine)

- damage to the pre-frontal cortex can change an individual's behaviour

- raine studied pet scans of impulsive killers

- damage to the pre-frontal cortex was found in the criminals

neurochemicals (scerbo & raine)

- brain's chemistry can be influenced by diet

- low levels of serotonin can cause higher aggression

- scerbo and raine (found low serotonin levels in anti-social individuals)

- steroids make people violent and increase testosterone

social learning theory (bandura)

- people learn by watching others' behaviour

- bandura's bobo doll experiment

- 3 groups (one given an aggressive role model, one given a non-aggressive role model, one control group)

- observational learning can take place in the family, in subcultures and media

- james bulger case and the child's play 3 theory

psychodynamic theory (freud)

- behaviour is learnt from when we were a child

- our psyche is divided into 3 parts

- the id, the ego and the superego

- the superego causes us to commit crime

- 3 types of superego (weak, strong and deviant)

- non-criminals have a balance of all 3 psyche components

- bowlby's maternal deprivation theory (stems from oedipus complex)

- delinquents are more likely to have a separated relationship with their mothers

psychological theory (eysenck)

- certain personality types are more predisposed to being criminal

- 3 dimensions of personality

- extraversion (e), neuroticism (n) and psychotisicm (p)

- people who score highly in the epi on these categories are more likely to commit crime

marxism (althusser, chambliss, pearce & hall)

- see crime inevitable in capitalist society

- argue that white collar crimes are ignored

- believe that different social classes are policed differently

- governments fabricate stats to get public support

functionalism (durkheim & merton)

- crime is inevitable as not every member is socialised into the same values

- crime is functional and is only dysfunctional when rates are too high or low

- collectrive sentiments are too weak, anomie will happen

- crime strengths social cohesion

- deviance is a safety valve for crime

- merton's strain theory

interactionism (becker & lemert)

- becker (official stats are socially constructed)

- lemert (primary and secondary deviance)

- acts that aren't labelled as deviant (primary)

- the deviant's crime becomes their master status (secondary)(e.g. terrorist or rapist)

- media demonises these people

right realism (murray)

- murray - the failed socialisation of the underclass causes crime

- zero tolerance policing (e.g. Times Square)

left realism (lea & young)

- crime lies in inequalities in society

- people are motivated by consumerism

- broken windows theory

- disagree with military policing

xyy theory evaluation

S: Jacobs found a correlation between XYY sufferers and criminality.

S: Adler - argued that violence was partly caused by genetics.

W: Genetic abnormalities are very common and widespread so can't explain aggression.

W: Focuses too much on genetics.

W: Theilgaard - found that aggression wasn't associated with XYY men.

twin studies evaluation

S: Twin studies are natural experiments.

S: Christiansen - supports this view.

S: Results have helped prevent crime in vulnerable people.

W: Early twin studies lack validity as they decided if the twins were MZ or DZ from appearance not DNA.

W: Small samples mean the results aren't representative.

W: If twins are brought up in the same environment, this would support the nurture explanation.

adoption studies evaluation

S: It is easier to separate genetic and environmental factors.

S: Studies have found that there is a correlation.

W: Age of adoption can affect if the biological parent had more of an influence or not.

W: Information about biological parents isn't always available.

W: Adoption processes aren't always random.

atavistic features evaluation

S: First person to give criminology a scientific credibility.

S: Goring - found a lower intelligence among convicts.

S: Bath Spa University - less attractive people are more likely to be considered guilty.

S: Lombroso challenged the idea that criminals were evil.

S: Lombroso labelled prisons as 'criminal universities' which is supported by today's recidivism rates.

S: His work began the original ideas of profiling.

W: Didn't use a control group.

W: Lack of accuracy.

W: Not everyone with atavistic features is a criminal.

W: Goring - found no differences between criminals and non-criminals in behaviour.

W: Scientific racism.

W: Deterministic.

somatotypes evaluation

S: Number of other studies have confirmed a correlation.

S: A good-sized sample was used.

S: Glueck and Glueck - 60% of delinquents were mesomorphs.

S: Findings were accurate.

W: Can't explain criminality among endo/ectomorphs.

W: Doesn't take into account that somatotypes aren't fixed.

W: The courts may treat mesomorphs more harshly.

social learning theory evaluation

S: The experiment did show a correlation.

S: Gender as a variable was controlled.

S: The study is reliable.

W: The study has low natural validity as it is a study of imitation.

W: Unethical as it exposes children to violence.

W: Cumberbatch - children who had never played with a bobo doll before were 5x more likely to imitate the model .

psychodynamic theory evaluation

S: Just because the theory is odd, doesn't mean it is wrong.

S: Theories have contributed to research about crime.

S: The id, ego, superego all relate to parts of the brain (id=limbic system, ego = pre-frontal cortex)

W: Psychodynamic theories are no longer accredited.

W: Unscientific and unfalsifiable.

W: Lack of quantitative data.

psychological theory evaluation

S: Eysenck's predictions were correct.

S: If the theory is correct, crime will be detectable and preventable.

S: This type of personality testing has formed the basis of many modern personality tests to try to predict behaviour.

W: Lacks reliability.

W: Research relies on self-report studies.

W: Suggests that personality is genetic and cannot change.

marxism evaluation

S: Does provide an explanation of crime that covers all social classes.

S: Highlights the impact of selective law enforcement.

S: Demonstrates how the law reflects differences in power between the social classes.

W: Largely ignores other non-class inequalities such as gender.

W: Overstates working class crime.

W: There are many prosecutions for white collar crime.

interactionism evaluation

S: Shows how law is often enforced in a discriminatory way.

S: Highlights weaknesses in official statistics.

S: Highlights the role of the media (defining deviance, moral panics etc)

W: Fails to explain the origins of deviant behaviour.

W: Ignores the role of the victim.

W: Labelling doesn't always lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy.

left realism evaluation

S: Explores the role of the victim of crime.

S: Recognises multiple causes of crime.

S: Left realism avoids the worst excesses of both right and left wing approaches of the police.

W: Doesn't explain why everyone in relative deprivation fails to turn to crime.

W: Arguably just all other theories compiled together.

W: Doesn't explain white collar crime.

right realism evaluation

S: Has helped produce and shape the government's research into crime.

S: Offers a practical approach for tackling crime.

S: Flood-Page - found that males from LPFs were more likely to offend.

W: Too readily accepts crime statistics.

W: Ignores structural causes of crime.

W: Ignores the involvement of relative deprivation.