Ac2.1 biological theories

Question 1

Explain Lombroso’s theory

Answer 1

he believed criminals had certain facial features and were physically different to non-criminals.

Question 2

What did Lombroso use to support his theory?

Answer 2

he examined the faces of 383 dead criminals and 3839 alive criminals.

Question 3

what are insane criminals?

Answer 3

intellectually and morally challenged or deflected individuals, such as psychopaths and habital delinquents.

Question 4

what are epilectic criminals?

Answer 4

a person who commits a crime during the course of a seizure is therefore legally insane and must be committed to a psychiatric ward.

Question 5

what are criminaloids?

Answer 5

criminality caused by environmental factors rather than biology.

Question 6

Explain Sheldon’s theory

Answer 6

he believed that criminality depended on body type. he discovered 3 body types ectomorph, mesomorph and endomorph.
he found that mesomorph are most likely to commit crimes due to adrenaline/risks.

Question 7

what did Sheldon use to support his theory?

Answer 7

he examined 4000 photographs of men from the back, side and front in very little clothing.

Question 8

what are the features of endomorphs?

Answer 8

fat, narrow shoulders, wide hips and shorter

Question 9

what are the features of mesomorphs?

Answer 9

muscular, broad shoulders, narrow hips

Question 10

what are the features of ectomorphs?

Answer 10

thin, narrow shoulders, narrow hips and taller

Question 11

what personality do endomorphs have?

Answer 11

socialable, relaxed, outgoing, comfortable

Question 12

what personality to mesomorphs have?

Answer 12

adventerous, sensation-seeking, assertive, domineering

Question 13

what personality do ectomorphs have?

Answer 13

fragile, introverted, self-conscious, emotionally restrained

Question 14

what is the XYY theory?

Answer 14

suggests that criminality may be attributed to a chromosomal abnormality which is an extra Y chromosome (sometimes referred to as the super-male disease)

Question 15

who discovered the XYY theory?

Answer 15

Patricia Jacobs

Question 16

what behaviours are displayed if someone has an extra Y chromosome? (XYY theory)

Answer 16

explosive temper, hyperactivity, impulsivity, defiant actions, lack of empathy, sometimes antisocial behaviour

Question 17

what are the statistics for XYY men?

Answer 17

15 in 1000 in prison has the condition
1 in 1000 in general population has the condition

Question 18

what are the symptoms of XYY?

Answer 18

typically being tall, well built, low intelligence (history with violence/aggression)

Question 19

what are dizygotic twins?

Answer 19

twins born at the same time but come from two separate eggs and share 50% of DNA (fraternal)

Question 20

what are monozygotic twins?

Answer 20

twins born at the same time but come from one egg and share 100% of DNA (identical)

Question 21

what are concordance rates?

Answer 21

the probability that if one twin has a characteristic then the other twin will have that characteristic

Question 22

what did Johannes Lange research/discover?

Answer 22

he investigated 13MZ twins and 17DZ twins. he found that 10 of the 13 MZ twins had both served time and only 2 out of 17 DZ twins had both served time.

Question 23

what did Christensen research/discover?

Answer 23

he investigated 3586 twin pairs born in the eastern part of Denmark between 1881 and 1910. he found a 52% concordance rate between MZ twins and only 22% concordance rate between DZ twins.

Question 24

what is adoption? (twin theory)

Answer 24

a criticism of twin studies because twins share genes but also environment so how can it be argued that behaviour is only genetic. twins look the same or similar and will be treated the same by people around them.

Question 25

what was the Medrick et Al experiment?

Answer 25

studied 14,000 adopted male children in Denmark from 1924 and 1947.
he found that the concordance rate for boys and biological parents has 20% but only a 14.7% concordance rate for boys and adoptive parents. (criminal records)
this suggests a strong link between genes and criminality.