biological - williams

Subheading Physiological

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Activism- lombroso

the idea that criminals are not as evolved as normal ‘non’ criminals

Atavism summary

•Lombroso argued that criminals could be identified through general characteristics they shared with one another.

• his core idea was atavism,which means that he understood criminals to be evolutionary throwbacks who were inferior to non criminals.

Characteristic of criminals (atavism)

•enormous jaw • high cheekbones •low sloping forehead • handle shaped ears • prominent eyebrow arches • exceptionally long arms • large eye sockets •Acute eyesight •thieves had flat noses •murders has aquiline nose /10

2 strengths of atavism

•His research showed the importance of examining clinical and offending records of criminals.

• Lombroso was the first person to study criminality, scientifically using objective measurements to gather evidence.

2 weaknesses of activism

•his theory is racist he assumes white.he believed that Europeans were more ‘evolved’ than other racial groups and thought they were less likely to be criminals.

•he didn’t use a control group to see if the same features could be found in non criminals which decreases it’s validity.

•gender bias he didn’t study females only generalised to men.

Somatotypes - Sheldon

Different body types based on shape. Endomorph founded soft and fat mesomorph muscular and hard bodied and ectomorph thin, fragile and lacking muscle

Somatotypes personality

•Endomorphs social, relaxed ,comfortable and outgoing

•Ectomorphs self conscious, fragile , inward looking, emotionally restrained and thoughtful.

• mesomorphs adventurous sensation seeking, assertive and domineering and they enjoy physical activity likely to lead to violent acts due to risk taking and imposing themselves on others.

Conclusions made about Somatotypes

• Sheldon found that mesomorphs were more common among delinquents.

• to make sure findings weren’t just random Sheldon used statistical methods to look for patterns in his data.

• from his research Sheldon concluded that body type could be linked to behaviour.he believed mesomorphs were more aggressive and impulsive.

2 strengths of Somatotypes

•Sheldon used a large sample (200) and unlike lombroso he had a control group of non offenders(students) to compare his results to.

• reliability other studies have replicated Sheldon’s findings. Glueck 1956 found that 60% of the offenders in there delinquent sample were mesomorphs compared to 31% in the non delinquents.

2 weaknesses of Somatotypes

•Sheldon doesn’t account for those endomorphs and ectomorphs who commit crimes nor does he explain whether mesomorphs commit crimes other than violence.

• criminals mays build a mesomorphic body shape as a result of needing to be physically in prison to succeed. If so criminality causes Somatotypes rather than Somatotypes causing criminality.

Subheading genetic

Twin studies- Christiansen

What was it ?

Twin studies compare pairs of monozygotic twins and dizygotic twins to see if there is a concordance of criminality researchers assessed hereditary influence

concordance rate

% of related pairs in a study sample of pairs eg % of identical twins that are both criminals in a sample of 100 pairs.

Christiansens study of danish twins

•3586 pairs of twins •52% concordance rate between mz twins if one identical twin had a conviction it was 52 % likely the other twin also did.

•the dz twins 22% concordance rate

Adoptions studies -medrick et al

•Helps criminologists differentiate between environmental factors of adoptive parents and biological factors from birth parents.

Medrick study conclusion

•14000 adopted sons

• more likely to have criminals record if birth parents did.20% concordance rate.

• 14.7% if their adoptive parents had criminals record records

strengths of Family studies

Christiansens and medrick

There is reliable evidence to support genetic explanations. A number of large scale studies have found a higher concordance than for identical twins than for fraternal

Weaknesses of Family studies

Christiansens and medrick

• in early studies, there was no way of knowing for certain if the twins were genetically identical because dna testing didn’t exist

• many children are not adopted immediately after birth but remain with their biological family for some time.This early environment is the true cause of criminality

xyy super male syndrome- Jacob’s

What was it ?

Jacobs claims that men with XYY syndrome are more aggressive and potentially violent than other males they tend to be tall very well built and have lower intelligence.

Strengths of super male syndrome

• jacob et al found people with an extra Y chromosome were over represent in the prison population.

Weaknesses for super male syndrome

•not all men with xyy commit crime or act aggressively

•the theory cannot explain female criminality as it’s only a gene found in men not generalisable.

• not useful in explaining non violent crime for example white collar crimes

Raine et al

What did they do ?

Used pet scans to study the living brains of impulsive killers damage was found in the prefrontal cortex in the brains of criminals the part of the brain that controls impulsive behaviour.

Raine eat al

case study’s

Charles Whitman murdered several people, upon post-mortem was found to have a brain tumour pressing on his amygdala the part of the brain which regulates aggression and impulses.

Raime et al

Case study

Phineas Gage survived an accident in which an iron rod destroyed most of his prefrontal cortex. His personality and behaviour were greatly affected friends and colleagues reported that he became extra extravagant antisocial used bad language and had bad manners and became a liar.

Biochemical

Examinations of crime

The brain’s chemistry is influenced by diet hypoglycaemia, sexual hormones and substance abuse.

Biochemical explanations

Substance abuse research found 80% of family violence crimes involves the misuse of alcohol.

blood sugar levels are linked to aggression especially in combination with alcohol consumption.

sex hormones high levels of testosterone are linked to aggression in men and crimes such as rape and murder after child birth and menopause have been linked to women criminality for example post nail depression e.g. infanticide

Eugenics -

What is it?

The controversial belief that human population can be improved through the selective breeding aimed at decreasing the occurrence of undesirable heritable characteristics such as criminal.

Operant learning theory -skinner

what is it ?

Learning processes in which behaviour is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher.

Operant learning theory - skinner

Explain

The behaviour including criminal behaviour is learned through experiences the idea that all behaviour is a result of reinforcement and punishments (behaviourism) .

Social learning theory - bandura

What is it ?

Learning theories argue criminal behaviour is something that people learn from their immediate social environment and significantly influenced by families and peer group.

Social learning- bandura

Bobo doll exp

Argues reinforcement is a key factor in behaviour but focuses on how behaviour is learned from observing and imitating others such as role models.

SLT -strengths

•The first theory to suggest learning doesn’t have to come from direct experiences, it can come from watching others

•the theory’s supported by badness bobo doll experiment

SLT-limitations

Differential association theory- Sutherland

What does it suggest?

Individuals learn deviant behaviour from those close to them who provide models of and opportunities for deviance.

differential association theory -Sutherland

Argues

Argued criminal behaviour is largely learned in families and peer groups people imitate and normalise the criminal act skills and techniques. They are also socialised into attitudes and values about the law and criminality.

Psychodynamic theory - Freud

What is it ?

psychodynamic theories assumes that are experiences in early childhood shape the development of our personality. This determines our behaviour and development into adulthood Freud focused on the development of the unconscious mind.

Psychodynamic theory- Freud

Ways it causes criminality

A weakly developed super ego would cause someone to feel less guilt about antisocial actions and would be less inhibited about acting on the ID’s selfish or aggressive urge’s.

A too harsh and unforgiving super ego causes deep-seated feelings of guilt causing individuals to crave punishment as a relief for those feelings the person may engage in repeat offending in order to be punished.

A deviant super ego is when the child has been successfully socialised but into a deviant moral code by a criminal parent. As a result they wouldn’t feel any guilty feelings when contemplating committing a crime.

Strength of Freud psychodynamic theory

Psychoanalytical theories have been influential in shaping policies for dealing with crime and deviance

2 Weakness for frauds psychodynamic theory

•his theory cannot be tested. We don’t know what happens in the unconscious mind. How can we know about something that is unconscious

• psychodynamic theory is very unscientific and subjective.different psychoanalysis can come to different conclusions about why a person engages in criminal behaviour

Maternal deprivation theory -Bowlby

Explanation of criminality ?

Bowlby argues that children need this bond (with their mother) in order to develop normal personality

> he argues there’s a link between maternal deprivation and deviant or antisocial behaviour

> believes separation can leave a child unable to have meaningful emotional relationships

# Bowlby describes this as “affection less psychopathy” in some cases this can lead to criminal behaviour

maternal deprivation

Evidence:

•Bowlby based his theory on a study of 44 juvenile thieves who had been referred to a child guidance clinic.

•he found that 39% of them had suffered maternal deprivation before the age of 5, compared with only 5% of a control group of non delinquents

Strength of maternal deprivation theory

• Bowlbys study of 44 thieves, provides evidence to show a link between maternal deprivation in early childhoods and criminality later in life

2 weaknesses of maternal deprivation theory

•Bowlby’s study shows that maternal deprivation was a factor in criminality 39% of thieves. However it doesn’t explain why the 61% turned to crime

• Bowlby overestimates how much early childhood experiences have a permanent effect on later behaviour