AC 3.2 (evaluation) Flashcards
Advantages of Lombroso.
First signs of offender profiling.
First person to give criminology scientific credibility.
Labelled prisons as ‘criminal universities’ as prisoners became worse the more they were in jail. This links to re offending rates.
Butcher and Taylor (2007) said less attractive criminals are more likely to be considered guilty
.Charles Goring (1913) found low intelligence in convicts. This links to genetics being responsible.
Disadvantages of Lombroso.
Outdated (1876).
Inaccurate. Not everyone with atavistic features are criminals. Possible disfigurement (eg broken nose).
Racial ideas - scientific racism (De Lisi) linking to African descent.
Charles Goring (1913) used non criminal control group and found no significant difference in behaviour.
Advantages of Sheldon’s Theory of Somatypes.
Studies confirm a small association with bodily build and criminality.
Glueck and Glueck (1956) - in a sample of delinquents 60% were mesomorphic compared to a sample of non-delinquents showing 31% were mesomorphic.
Criminal groups were more mesomorphic.
Disadvantage of Sheldon’s Theory of Somatypes.
Small differences in results of research (4.6 - 3.8). Also has a subjective scale.
Does not explain why ectomorphs and endomorphs become criminals.
Body types can change.
Mesomorphs could be encouraged to do things by their peers.
Courts might think mesomorphs are criminals too, the judicial system might treat them more harshly.`
Advantages of XYY theory.
Jacob et al (1965) found significant number of men in prison had XYY instead of XY.
Adler et al (2007) said it was possible that aggressive and violent behaviour could be linked to genetics and chromosomes.
Disadvantages of XYY theory.
Genetic abnormalities are widespread across the population.
Theilgaard (1984) compared traits of XYY men to XY men and found the characteristic of aggression was not associated with XYY men.
Advantages of twin studies.
Such studies are natural experiments, the biological relationship between twins is naturally occurring.
Christiansen (1977) supporting the view thar criminality does have a genetic component and can be linked between siblings.
The results of twin studies has helped to prevent vulnerable disorders.
Disadvantages of twin studies.
The small sample may not be representative of the general population.
If twins are brought up in the same environment, criminality could easily be related to nurture.
Early twin studies (Lange 1929) were inadequately controlled and lacked validity, MZ or DZ was based on appearance rather than genetics.
Advantages of adoption studies.
Studies concluded there is a correlation between adopted children and biological parents.
Easier to separate environmental factors - adopted children are exposed to a different environment to their biological families.
Disadvantages of adoption studies.
Information about biological families is not always available.
Age of adoption may mean children have already been influenced by their biological parents or foster environment.
Adoption process is not always random, often children are put with parents who are similar to their biological families.
Advantages of social learning theory.
The bobo doll experiment has been replicated with slight changes and had found similar results.
The experiment and variables of the bobo doll experiment, such as gender and actions of the model, were controlled allowing a greater accuracy.
The bobo doll experiment did show that the model had an effect on the child’s behaviour.
Disadvantages of social learning theory.
The child and adult are stranger to each either and modelling usually takes place within a family.
The bobo doll study is a lab study, which has low ecological validity. The situation involved a child and adult model in a very limited situation.
The experiment involved ethical issues due to exposing the children to aggression with the understanding that they would imitate it. There are issues concerning protection of the children from psychological and physical harm.
There was a novelty aspect of the bobo doll for those children who had never played with one before. This means that either were more likely to follow the adult. Cumberbatch (1997) found that children who had not played with a bobo doll before were 5x more likely to imitate a model.
Advantages of psychoanalysis.
The id, ego and superego relate to different parts of the brain. for example, the pre-frontal cortex could be class as the ego. Some scientific theory involved.
Just because Freud’s theories are odd, does not make them wrong.
Psychodynamic theories have contributed to research about crime and behaviour. In particular, the focus on childhood experiences and the importance of them on future behaviour should not be underestimated.
Disadvantages of psychoanalysis.
Psychodynamic theories of offending are no longer accredited by psychologists due to the difficulty of testing concepts such as the unconscious mind.
This theory is very unscientific and lacks objective interpretation. It is a very subjective process where different analysts may draw different conclusions.
Advantages of Eysenck.
Research on soldiers in hospitals support his theory. Most traumatised soldiers score high on neurotic.
If his theory is correct, and criminal tendencies are detectable in childhood, then it may be possible to intervene at an early stage to prevent crime.
