ac2.1 - biological theories of criminality

Question 1

define the xyy theory

Answer 1

chromosome abnormality where a male has an extra y chromosome

Question 2

why are xyy males of interest to criminologists

Answer 2

suggested that they are more aggressive and more inclined to be violent than males with a single y chromosome

Question 3

who did a study on xyy syndrome

Answer 3

jacob et al

Question 4

what did jacob et al find about xyy syndrome

Answer 4

men with xyy syndrome were more aggressive than xy men

Question 5

how are xyy men over-represented in the prison population

Answer 5

15 sufferers per 1000 in prison whereas 1 per 1000 in the general population

Question 6

who is a famous example of xyy syndrome and what did he do

Answer 6

john wayne gacy, sexually assaulted and killed at least 33 men in the usa

Question 7

what two types of twins are there

Answer 7

monozygotic (identical) and dizygotic (non identical fraternal)

Question 8

what does concordance rate mean in terms of twin studies

Answer 8

when both twins share a characteristic

Question 9

what type of twins have a higher concordance rate for crime

Answer 9

mz

Question 10

what did lange find about concordance rate between mz and dz twins

Answer 10

found that mz twins showed a much higher degree of concordance than dz twins for criminal behaviour. 10/13 mz twins both served time wheres 2/17 dz twins had such concordance

Question 11

what did christiansen find about concordance rate between male and female dz and mz twins

Answer 11

male mz was 35% and male dz was 13%
female mz was 21% and female dz was 8%

Question 12

how many pairs of twins did christiansen study

Answer 12

3500

Question 13

it is implied that what explanation of criminality may be suggested if an adopted child is more similar to their biological parents than their adoptive parents

Answer 13

genetic

Question 14

how many adopted children did hutchings and mednick study

Answer 14

14000

Question 15

what did hutchings and mednick find that suggested a link between aggression and genetics

Answer 15

high proportion of boys with criminal convictions had biological parents with criminal convictions too, suggesting a link between aggression and genetics

Question 16

what did mednick et al find about the correlation between criminal convictions between biological and adoptive parents

Answer 16

no relationship between the number of criminal convictions of adoptive parents and their adopted children but a significant correlation between the number of criminal convictions of biological parents and their offspring

Question 17

what did lombroso pioneer

Answer 17

the use of scientific methods in criminology

Question 18

what did lombroso argue caused criminality

Answer 18

argued that the criminal is a separate species between modern and primitive humans, determined by the physical shape of the head and face

Question 19

what type of features did lombroso argue that criminals had

Answer 19

atavistic or primitive features inherited from their ancestors

Question 20

lombroso argued that atavistic features are throwbacks to what earlier stage of human development

Answer 20

earlier stage of human development that manifested as a tendency to commit crimes

Question 21

give examples of atavistic features as defined by lombroso

Answer 21

large jaw, high cheekbones, flattened nose, low sloping forehead, long arms, large ears

Question 22

how many living and dead criminals did lombroso examine the facial and cranial features of

Answer 22

4000

Question 23

lombroso concluded that what percent of criminal acts could be accounted for by atavistic features in his analysis

Answer 23

40%

Question 24

lombroso claimed that murderers had what features

Answer 24

bloodshot eyes and curly hair

Question 25

what non physical traits did lombroso say that criminals had

Answer 25

insensitivity to pain, use of criminal slang, tattoos and unemployment

Question 26

what has a study in china suggested that helps lombrosos theory

Answer 26

suggests facial features can give a criminal away

Question 27

a study in china studied id photos of how many men

Answer 27

1800

Question 28

how many of the chinese men had criminal convictions

Answer 28

half

Question 29

what was done with the id photos of the chinese men

Answer 29

entered into AI programme

Question 30

what was the results of the chinese id photo AI study

Answer 30

found it wrongly flagged innocent men as criminal 6% of the time but correctly identified 83% of the real criminals

Question 31

how did sheldon form his theory of somatotypes

Answer 31

meticulous examinations of photographs of 4000 men

Question 32

what are sheldons 3 somatotypes

Answer 32

endomorphic - fat and soft, tend to be sociable and relaxed ectomorphic - thin and fragile, introverted and restrained mesomorphic - muscular and hard, more aggressive and adventurous

Question 33

how did sheldon conclude criminality based on somatotype

Answer 33

using a correlation study of photographs of college students and delinquents rated on a scale of 1-7 based on mesomorphy. delinquents had a higher average mesomorphy rating than the college students (4.6-3.8)

Question 34

what somatotype did sheldon find was more prone to criminality including violent and aggressive acts

Answer 34

mesomorphs

Question 35

damage to what area of the brain may cause individuals to have an altered behaviour pattern

Answer 35

the pre-frontal cortex

Question 36

what can damage to the pre-frontal cortex lead to

Answer 36

immaturity, loss of self control, inability to modify behaviour

Question 37

who used pet scans to study the living brains of impulsive killers

Answer 37

raine et al

Question 38

what did raine et al find

Answer 38

damage was found in the pre-frontal cortex in the brains of the criminals (the part that controls impulsive behaviour)

Question 39

what did phineas gage's doctor believe was destroyed in the accident

Answer 39

the balance between his intellectual faculties and animalistic behaviour

Question 40

what did mcisaac et al find about the correlation between head injuries and serving time

Answer 40

people who have suffered serious head injuries are twice as likely to end up in prison (0.5% compared to 0.2%)

Question 41

mcisaac et al found that women with head injuries were what times more likely to end up in prison than uninjured women

Answer 41

2.76 times more likely

Question 42

what can the brain's chemistry be influenced by

Answer 42

diet

Question 43

some studies show that low levels of serotonin are linked with what

Answer 43

higher aggression

Question 44

serotonin regulates signals between neurons and is said to control a person's what

Answer 44

mood

Question 45

who conducted a meta analysis of anti social adults and children

Answer 45

scerbo and raine

Question 46

how many studies of anti social adults and children did scerbo and raine meta-analyse

Answer 46

29

Question 47

what did scerbo and raine find about the serotonin levels of all of the studies into anti social adults and children

Answer 47

low levels

Question 48

what foods can raise serotonin levels

Answer 48

dark chocolate, cheese, nuts, salmon, chicken

Question 49

people who take large amounts of steroids can become extremely what and what is this known as

Answer 49

violent, 'roid rage'

Question 50

why can taking steroids increase violence levels

Answer 50

increase muscle growth but also testosterone males

Question 51

who beat a man to death after taking 2000 times the recommended dose of steroids

Answer 51

horace williams (american body builder)