Biological Approach Forensics Ao3

Question 1

Strengths

Answer 1

Lombrosos work has legacy
He changed the face of how crime should be studied
Moved the study of crime into a more scientific discipline rather than judging offenders as weak and wicked
His work has also been credited for the movement of offender profiling as he tried to describe why people commit different crimes

Question 2

Weaknesses

Answer 2

DeLisi 2012
Argues lombrosos legacy isn’t positive, work has racist undertones. Many features identified as atavistic (curly hair, dark skin) are more commonly found in people with African descent
Suggesting Africans were more likely to be offenders (a view that fitted 19th century eugenic attititides) maybe his work is therefore more subjective than objective

Question 3

Contradictory evidence

Answer 3

Goring 1913
Looked at 3000 offender and 3000 non offenders
He found no evidence taht offenders are a distinct group with unusual facial and cranial characteristics
Therefore, challenging the idea that criminals are sub speices

Question 4

Poor control

Answer 4

Lombrosos research was poorly controlled
He didn’t have 2 groups - offenders and non offenders
Not using scientific method

Question 5

Issues w twin studies

Answer 5

Assumption made by researchers that twins share the same environment as their brought up w eachother
But this shared environment may apply more to MZ over DZ bc MZ look alike and are trerated more similar
The concoordance rates could be due to the fact that they’re treated more similarly in MZ vs DZ

Question 6

Research support for diathesis stress

Answer 6

Mednick 1984 studied 13 000 danish adoptees
Neither biological nor adoptive parents parents had criminal convictions
The percentage of adoptees that did was 13.5% this is high
The figure rose to 20% when either biological or adoptive parents had criminal convictions
This shows that GI plays an important role in offending beh but the environment also clearly has an influence