AC4.1 Biological theories informing crime policies

Question 1

Biochemical and diet

Answer 1

Diet can be used to change an individual’s behaviour. Virkkunen et al suggested that aggressive prisoners held lower serotonin levels. Therefore, encouraged the introduction of foods like oily fish ,which contain serotonin, into the prison diet. In the UK it is good practice for prisoners to have a healthy balanced diet. Research has also shown that a reduced sugar diet can reduce anti-social behaviour by 48%.

Question 2

biochemical and diet linked theories

Answer 2

this policy links to the biochemical explanation as the overproduction or underproduction of hormones may cause emotional disturbances that lead to criminal behaviour

Question 3

how effective is biochemical and diet

Answer 3

effective because…
- by changing diets there has been a positive response to aggressive behaviour.
- when taking vitamin supplements there was a 37% reduction in violent incidents and a 35% reduction in disciplinary incidents.

Question 4

eugenics

Answer 4

Eugenicists feared that the human race was at risk of ‘degenerating’ as the poor were breeding at a faster rate than the upper classes. The poor were passing on ‘inferior’ genes such as low intelligence, insanity and criminality. There have been many policies about this over time. For example, the Nazi sterilisation programme in which 400,000 people were sterilised against their will and those deemed as unfit were eliminated. The idea is that reproduction for upper classes with more desirable traits is encouraged and sterilisation for lower classes with less desirable traits is encouraged. It reinforces the idea of biological determinism.

Question 5

eugenics linked theories

Answer 5

eugenics links to the gene theory as they found that there was a significant correlation between the number of criminal convictions of the biological parents and their offspring

Question 6

how effective is eugenics

Answer 6

ineffective because…
- most people see it as immoral and ethically wrong for us to determine who can and cant reproduce based on who we believe has inferior traits.
- the idea that a single gene determines an aspect of our personality has been scientifically discredited and the development of our personality is a lot more complex than we originally thought.

Question 7

death penalty/ capital punishment

Answer 7

The death penalty is possibly the most extreme way to deal with people who are genetically driven to commit crime. Capital punishment was abolished in 1969 and many studies have shown that the death penalty actually doesn’t reduce crime rates.

Question 8

death penalty linked theories

Answer 8

This policy links to the gene theory and the fact that criminality is inherited.

Question 9

how effective is death penalty

Answer 9

ineffective because…
- statistics from the USA show that murder rates were 25% higher in states with the death penalty than states without the death penalty suggesting that the death penalty isn’t a deterrent.
- Furthermore, most murders are committed in the heat of the murder under the influence of alcohol or drugs without much thought for the consequences of their actions