AC 3.2 - evaluate the effectiveness of biological theories to explain the causes of criminality

Question 1

strengths of Lombroso’s Atavistic Form

Answer 1

• scientific credibility: positivist approach using measurable criteria & testable hypothesis
• contributed to the development of offender profiling

Question 2

support for Lombroso - Goring (1913)

Answer 2

agrees that offenders have lower than average intelligence

Question 3

weaknesses of Lombroso’s Atavistic Form

Answer 3

• methodological problems : no control group
• some ppts had learning difficulties which may have skewed the results
• biological/racial determinism
• disproved by Goring (1913) - compared 3000 criminals & control group , finding no evidence that offenders are a distinct with unusual characteristics

Question 4

strengths of Sheldon’s Somatotypes

Answer 4

• scientific credibility: positivist approach using measurable criteria & testable hypothesis
• good sample size (200+) control group of students

Question 5

support for Sheldon - Glueck & Glueck (1956) & Putwain & Sammons (2002)

Answer 5

correlation between body shape and criminality

Question 6

weaknesses of Sheldon’s Somatotypes

Answer 6

• body shape is not fixed
• ignores influence of social factors on behaviour (manual workers more likely to be mesomorphic)

Question 7

strengths of XYY theory

Answer 7

• scientific credibility: positivist approach using measurable criteria & testable hypothesis

Question 8

support for XYY - Adler et al (2007)

Answer 8

concluded that aggressive / violent behaviour partly determined by genetics

Question 9

weaknesses of XYY theory

Answer 9

• other studies found genetic abnormalities to be widespread
  -disproved by Theilgaard (1984) : np correlation between XYY syndrome & disease
• ignores other factors (SLT)

Question 10

strengths of twin studies

Answer 10

• scientific credibility: positivist approach using measurable criteria & testable hypothesis
• are natural experiments : no manipulation of the independent variable

Question 11

support for XYY - Christiansen (1977)

Question 12

weaknesses of twin studies

Answer 12

• methodological issues: Lange’s study was improperly controlled = selection of MZ & DZ based on appearance
  
  • means it lacks validity
• small sample size
• ignores influence of nurture from twins environment

Question 13

strengths of adoption studies

Answer 13

• scientific credibility: positivist approach using measurable criteria & testable hypothesis
• easier to distinguish between impact of nurture vs nature

Question 14

weaknesses of adoption studies

Answer 14

• age at which an individual is adopted may be relevant to criminality
• information about biological parents is not always available which makes correlations difficult

Question 15

strengths of neurological explanations

Answer 15

• scientific credibility: positivist approach using measurable criteria & testable hypothesis

Question 16

weaknesses of neurological explanations

Answer 16

• Raine et al’s study established a correlation but not a cause and effect