AC 2.1 Flashcards
what are the 3 genetic theories of criminality?
twin studies
adoption studies
XYY theory
what is the XYY theory?
this theory suggests some crime might be attributable to chromosomal abnormality
what chromosomes do humans usually have?
they usually have 46 chromosomes, 2 of which determine sex: XX = female XY = male
what does the XYY condition involve?
an extra Y chromosome
what and when did Jacob et al say about XYY men?
they have been called supermales and it is suggested they are more aggressive and more inclined to be violent than other males (1968)
what is the proportion of XYY males in prison compared to in the general population?
15/1000 sufferers in prison
1/1000 sufferers in population
how does serial killer John Wayne Gacy link to XYY syndrome?
it is said that he had it and as a result he sexually assaulted, tortured and killed at least 33 men in the USA
what do twin studies suggest?
they support the contention that a heritable trait may increase risk for criminal behaviour
what is MZ
DZ
concordance rate?
monozygotic twins = identical
dizygotic twins = non-identical
concordance = when both twins share a characteristic
what did Johannes Large study in 1929?
he studied twins and found that MZ twins showed a higher concordance rate than DZ criminal behaviour
what did Johannes Large find in 1929?
10/13 MZ twins both served time in prison but 2/17 twins had such concordance
what did Christiansen study in 1977?
3586 twins from Danish islands
what did Christiansen find in 1977?
concordance rates of 35% for MZ male twins and 13% for DZ male twins
concordance rates of 21% for MZ female twins and 8% for DZ female twins
what are adoption studies?
the comparison of criminals with both their biological and adoptive parents; it considers nature v nurture
when may a genetic basis of criminality be suggested?
if in criminal behaviour the child is more similar to their biological parents
what did Huthchings and Mednick study in 1975?
14,000 adopted children
what did Huthchings and Mednick find in 1975?
a high proportion of boys with criminal convictions had biological parents with criminal convictions too, suggesting a link between aggression and genetics
what did Mednick et al find in 1994?
no relationship between the number of criminal convictions of adoptive parents and their adopted children, but did find a significant correlation between the number of criminal convictions of the biological parents and their offspring
what are the 2 main physiological theories of criminality?
Lombroso
Sheldon
who was Lombroso?
Italian psychiatrist and military doctor who developed theories about criminals, he was the father of modern criminology
what did Lombroso argue?
the criminal was a separate species and a ‘born criminal’ could be determined by the shape of a head
what did Lombroso claim?
criminality was heritable and those who were, had atavistic or primitive features
what were the atavistic features Lombroso claimed criminals had?
large or forward projection of the jaw
high cheekbones
flattened or upturned nose
low sloping forehead
long arms relative to lower limbs
large ears
what does atavistic mean?
relating to something ancient or ancestral
what did Lombroso examine?
facial and cranial features of 383 dead and 3839 living criminals
what did Lombroso conclude?
40% of criminal acts could be accounted for by atavistic characteristics
what did Lombroso say?
you could tell the crime type by the person
according to Lombroso what features did a murderer have?
curly hair and blood shot eyes
what characteristics did Lombroso say the ‘born criminal’ had?
an insensitivity to pain and therefore tattoos
when did Lombroso publish his theory?
in 2006
what did a study from a Chinese university suggest?
facial features can give a criminal away
what happened in the study at the Chinese university that supported Lombroso?
ID photos of 1856 Chinese men (half of whom were criminals) were entered into an AI programme
what was the result of the AI programme in which 1856 ID photos were entered into?
it wrongly flagged innocent men criminal 6% of the time, but correctly identified 83% of criminals
what did Sheldon do?
advanced Lombroso’s theory in 1949
what did Sheldon do before putting forward his somatotype theory?
examined photos showing the front, side and back of 4000 barely dressed men
what is a somatotype?
body shape
what is an endomorph?
fat and soft and tend to be sociable and relaxed
what is an ectomorph?
thin and fragile and tend to be introverted and restrained
what is a mesomorph?
hard and muscular and tend to be more aggressive and adventurous
what did Sheldon’s correlation study find?
many criminals prone to committing violent acts were mesomorphic and those least likely to commit were ectomorphic
what did he use a sample of college student and delinquent photos to do?
rate them on a scale of their resemblance to mesomorphy 1 - 7 (low to high)
what were the results of Sheldon’s scale of mesomorphy?
delinquents had a higher average mesomorphy rating than college students (4.6 to 3.8)
what inspired Sheldon?
watching his father breed poultry and dogs competitively, observing the correlation of genetics combined with his wish to breed a better species
where were Sheldon’s findings linking body shape to delinquents produced?
in his book Atlas of Men in 1954
what have several research studies suggested about damage to the pre-frontal cortex?
that it may cause an altered behaviour pattern, making them more immature, having an increased loss of self-control and having an inability to modify behaviour
what did Raine et al do in 1994?
use PET scans to study brains of living killers
what was found by Raine et al in the brains of criminals?
damage in the pre-frontal cortex, which controls impulsive behaviour
who was Phineas Gage?
a railroad worker, who survived a large iron rod through his head, which destroyed much of the left frontal lobe
what happened to Gage’s personality and behaviour after the accident?
it was affected and he became extravagant, anti-social, used bad language, had bad manners and became a liar
what was the part of the brain that Gage lost associated with?
mental and environmental functions
what did Gage’s doctor say?
that the balance between his intellectual faculties and animalistic behaviour was destroyed in the accident
what did McIsaac et al find in 2016?
people who had suffered head injuries are twice as likely to end up in prison
relating to McIsaac et al what were female prisoners more likely to have survived?
traumatic brain injuries
what is the risk of women with brain injuries ending up in a Canadian federal prison according to McIssac et al?
2.76 times higher than it was for women that were uninjured
what have some brain diseases been linked to?
criminal/anti-social behaviour
what epidemic was there in children in the 1920s?
encephalitis lethargica
what did the epidemic amongst children in the 1920s link to?
destructiveness
impulsiveness
arson
abnormal sexual behaviour
what has been linked to various forms of deviant/anti-social behaviour?
senile dementia
Huntington’s chorea
brain tumours
what do biological theories argue?
that criminality is caused by some physical abnormality within the individual
what have biological theories led to?
crime control and punishment policies that aim to change the working of the criminal’s brain or body and cure the condition causing it
what treatment programmes are there to reduce offending?
use of drug, diet and surgery
what can diets be modified to change?
anti-social behaviour
what can prisoners be supplemented with to reduce anti-social behaviour and who said this?
vitamins, minerals and fatty acids
Gesch et al
what has vitamin B3 been used to treat?
some forms of schizophrenia, sometimes associated with violent behaviour
give an example of how dietary changes have been used to try to control hyperactivity.
removing foods containing artificial colouring from children’s diets
what else has been used to control groups apart from individualised treatments?
chemical substances
give an example of a chemical substance treatment.
teargas to control crowds or disperse rioters
how does tear gas work?
by causing uncomfortable or distressing sensations
what sensations can tear gas cause?
vomiting
breathing difficulties
disorientation
lung damage
death
what is used to treat heroin addicts?
methadone, which works as a long term alternative and helps to prevent withdrawal symptoms
give an example of a form of chemical castration.
stilbestrol
what is stilbestrol?
a female hormone that suppresses testosterone as a way of reducing men’s sex drive
what are the side effects of stilbestrol?
breast development
feminisation
psychiatric disorders
give an example of an aversion therapy to treat alcoholism.
Antabuse
what does Antabuse do?
prevent the body from breaking down alcohol, immediately causing hangover symptoms if the user consumes any alcohol
what has been used to keep potentially violent prisoners calm?
sedatives and tranquillisers e.g. valium
what can the brain’s chemistry be influenced by?
diet, e.g. food additives, pollution or hypoglycaemia
what is hypoglycaemia?
low blood sugar levels associated with forms of diabetes
what have some studies shown?
low levels of serotonin are linked with higher aggression
what does serotonin regulate?
signals between neurone and is said to control a person’s mood
who conducted a meta-analysis on 29 students into anti-social adults and children?
Scerbo and Raine in 1993
what did Scerbo and Raine find in 1993?
low levels of serotonin in all anti-social adults and children
what food can help to raise serotonin levels?
dark chocolate
cheese
nuts
salmon
turkey
chicken
what is roid rage?
people who take large amounts of steroids and as a result become extremely violent
why are steroids taken?
to increase muscle growth, but do also increase testosterone levels
who was Horace Williams and what did he do?
an American body builder who beat a man to death after taking 2000 times the recommended dosage of steroids
