2.1 Flashcards
Biological theories
what are the 4 biological theories?
physiclogical theory
genetics
brain injuries
biochemical
what is lombroso’s atavism theory?
they physical features of criminals have been subjected to investigations
criminals are physically different to other people
what is the research for lomboso’s theory?
he examined skulls on dead criminals and then studied facial features of prisoners and created this ‘picture of a criminal’
what are the 8 characteristics of a criminals according to Lomboso’s theory?
enormous jaw
wide eyes
prominent eyebrows
high cheekbones
handle shaped ears
long arms
flat nose- thief
pointed nose= murder
what does atavistic mean?
those who have these facial features are said to not be as developed and they were not able to control impulses and have reduced sensitivity to pain
what is sheldon’s theory of somatotypes?
that different body types can be linked to criminals
what is the 3 body types according to Sheldon?
ectomorphes, endomorphes, mesomorphs
what are the mesomorphs?
most likely to commit crimes and are more likely to take risks, assertiveness
what was sheldon’s research?
examined photos of 4000 men that were the 3 body types of his theory, he then sampled photographs of college students and then delinquents, he then compared the body types and found that the criminals have a higher mesomorph body type
what does reductionist mean?
reducing complex crime theory’s to its most basic parts
what does determinism mean?
free will is an illusion and our behaviour is governed by internal and external factors
what does generalisable mean?
can the theory be applied to the public or other situations
what does validity mean?
accuracy
what does reliability?
consistency
what does usefulness mean?
practically applicate the findings
what does real life applications mean?
implementation of a concept, theory in everyday life situations
what does credible mean?
abled to believed/ convincing
what does scientific mean?
based on the method and principles of science
what is the Cambridge study of genetics?
into delinquent development found that out of 397 families half of all criminal convictions came from 23 families
what are dizygotic twins?
not 100% identical
(non-identical twins)
what are monozygotic twins?
100% genetically identical
(identical twins)
what are the results of the Christiansen study
males= 23% monozygotic and 13% dizygotic
females=21% monozygotic and 8% dizygotic
what is the research on adoption study’s for genetics?
used adoption studies to test whether crime is genetic or not and compares children with their biological parents
what is the mednick et al study according to genetics?
studied 14,000 adopted sons in Denmark he found that sons had a criminal records it was more likely to be that the biological parents had criminal records (20%)
however, (14%) had criminal records if their adoptive parents had one too
