Biological approach to criminality Flashcards
How do physiological theories identify criminals?
by how they look
what was Lombroso known as?
the father of modern criminology
what is Lombroso’s Atavistic theory?
proposed idea they were born criminal and one could identify them by facial features.
Believed all criminals had atavistic genes (biological throwbacks who had biological characteristics from an earlier stage of human development)
What are the features of a criminal as stated by Lombroso?
large chins
fleshy lips
baldness
what are the characteristics of a criminal as stated by Lombroso?
savage
untamed
unable to follow rules of modern society
what was the research taken out by Lombroso?
in a study of 383 dead Italian criminals and 3839 living criminals, (over 4000 criminals) he found 40% of them had atavistic characteristics/features
what are the two strengths of Lombroso’s atavistic theory?
- Supporting evidence (makes theory reliable)
- Practical application (led to development of future scientific theory)
what are two weaknesses of Lombroso’s atavistic theory?
- Methodology (no control groups to compare to)
- Ethical implications ( Have to use theory with caution as atavistic features are more common in African descent)
What is a somatotype?
Body type
What are the three body types?
Mesomorphic
Ectomorphic
Endomorphic
What somatotype was known as thin and fragile?
Ectomorphic
What somatotype was described as muscular and hard?
Mesomorphic
What somatotype was described as fat and soft?
Endomorphic
What personality was linked with Mesomorphy?
Aggressive
Sensation seeking
Assertive
Adventurous
What research did sheldon do for his somatotype theory?
Collected photographs of criminals and college students.
Rated each photo on a scale from one (low mesomorph) to seven (high mesomorph).
Results showed delinquents had an average mesomorphy of 4.6 whilst college students had an average of 3.8.
What is a strength of Sheldons somatotype theory?
- supporting evidence
What are three weaknesses of Sheldons somatotype theory?
- alternative
- Implications
- Other
What is Jacobs genetic theory?
Believed an abnormality on the sex chromosome was responsible for criminality
The abnormality was an extra Y chromosome and called them super males/
What were the characteristics of a super male?
- very tall
- well built
- physically capable of committing a crime
- lacking intelligence
- highly aggressive
- mentally capable of committing a crime
What percentage of genes does a monozygotic twin share?
100%
What percentage of genes do dizygotic twins share?
50%
What are the twin studies?
Christiansen (1977) looked at 3586 twin pairs. A 52% concordance rate for criminality was found for MZ twins compared to 22% for DZ twins.
More genes are shared and so more similar in terms of criminality
What are the adoption studies?
Mednick et al (1994) examined over 140,000 adopted sons. They found the concordance rate between sons and biological parents were 20% whilst concordance rate between sons and adoptive parent was 14.7%
What is the general population ratio for the XYY gene?
1/1000
What is the prison population ratio of the XYY gene?
15/1000
What is a strength of the XYY gene theory?
- Supporting evidence
What are the four weakness with the genetic theory?
- Alternative explanations
- Methodology
- Other
-implications
What part of the brain did Phineas Gage injure?
Pre frontal cortex
What is the pre frontal cortex responsible for?
Cognitive self
Decision making and personality
What happened to Phinneas Gage after the accident?
His personality changed
What is Encephalitis lethargia?
‘Sleeping sickness’
Linked to destructiveness, impulsiveness and arson in later life.
More prone to committing crime
Who was Charles Whitman?
The Texas clock tower shooter
Where was Charles Whitmans tumour?
The Amygdala
What is the amygdala responsible for?
Controls fear and anger levels
What are the two strengths of brain injuries and disorder theories?
- supporting evidence
- Methodology
What are the two weakness between brain injuries and disorders?
- alternative explanations
- Methodology
Why does testosterone make a person more likely to commit a crime?
Causes aggression so more capable
Why does oestrogen make one more likely to commit a crime?
Impacts judgment, mood and self control so more likely to commit impulsive crimes.
What did Ellis and Coontz find about testosterone?
When production is highest, the rate of crime is the highest
What is hypoglycaemia?
Low blood sugar.
Can trigger aggressive reaction
what is hyperglycaemia?
High blood sugar
Research shows lowering daily sucrose intake of young offenders, decreases levels of anti social behaviour
Why does substance abuse cause criminality?
Impacts judgment and leads to disinhibition (cant stop themselves)
How many arrests per day does alcohol play a part in?
About 1000
What is the role of serotonin and why does low levels of it lead to crime?
Serotonin regulates mood.
Low levels mean mood cant regulate which leads to crime
What research was done into serotonin levels and criminality?
Scerbo and Raine (1993) conducted a meta analysis on 29 studies into antisocial criminals and found low serotonin in all
What are the two strengths for bio chemicals?
- supporting evidence
- practical application
What are two weaknesses of biochemical?
- methodology
- alternatives
What is eugenics?
The selective breeding of humans.
The idea if someone has ‘bad genes’ they should not be able to reproduce which should eventually erase the genes out of the gene pool
What is compulsory sterilisation?
Policies aimed for this to prevent the passing of defective genes by sterilising the criminals so they could not have children.
What year did the US Supreme Court rule compulsory sterilisation legal?
1927
Why is the death penalty a policy linking to genetics?
Kills criminals which immediately removes genes
In 2016, how many people worldwide were executed via the death penalty
1032
What are the three polices linking to genetic theories?
- compulsory sterilisation
- death penalty
- Genocide
What are three policies linking to biochemical theories of criminality?
- Drug treatment
- Diet for prisoners
- Crowd control
What treatment is used for alcohol abuse and how does this decrease criminality?
Antabuse- causes unpleasant symptoms when alcohol is consumed.
Means there is less disinhibition due to no alcohol intake and so a decrease in rate of impulsive crimes
What is the treatments for heroin abuse and why does it reduce crime rates?
Methadone- prevents withdrawal symptoms.
Reduces crime rates as no addiction means no crime committed in order to get heroin
What is the treatment used for sex offenders and how does this decrease rate of crime?
Stilbestron which is a female hormone used to suppress testosterone production. This reduces the sex drive and therefore reduces sex crimes.
What treatment is used to manage prisoners and how does this reduce anti social behaviour?
Sedatives and tranquillisers are used which calms prisoners and therefore repents anti social behaviour in prisons.
How is the idea of blood sugar incorporated into policies?
- diet for prisoners
Geschet et al found if you add vitamins, minerals and fatty acids to a prisoners diet anti social behaviour can be reduced by 37%
To control hyperactivity, dietary changes are made in prison such as removing food with artificial colouring which reduces anti social behaviour.
How do police crowd control and how does this work?
Tear gas
Causes uncomfortable, distressing symptoms such as sickness and breathing difficulties.
This disperses rioters or helps control arrests
Why is supporting evidence strong for Lombroso’s atavistic reform?
Research shows there is a relationship between atavistic and crime so makes theory reliable.
Why is practical application a strength for Lombroso?
Has contributed to criminology as he was known as the father of modern criminology and made it scientific. He led to the development of future scientific theories.
Why is methodology a weakness of Lombroso?
Oly research Italian criminals so facial features may be distinct to Italy. Theory may not apply to other countries as there are no control groups to compare to.
Why are ethical implications a weakness of Lombroso?
Scientific racism. Atavistic features are more common in African descent. Stereotyping African descent as criminals so has to use with caution.
Why is supporting evidence strength for Sheldon?
Found criminals had higher mesomorphy.Shows the relationship between mesomorphy and crime so makes the theory reliable.
Why is alternative a weakness for Sheldon?
Only a relationship is shown; does not mean mesomorphy causes crime as there could be a third variable such as being working class. research does not look at every variable
Why is other a weakness for Sheldon?
Assumes somatotype is fixed. can gain weight. the theory then suggests personality is not fixed and so is impossible to identify a criminal mind.
Why is supporting evidence strength for genetic theories?
Christiansen and Mednick- 15/1000 and 1/1000. theory is reliable
why is alternatives a weakness of genetic theories?
Even though MZ share 100% genes, they do not have 100% concordance rate so environment must play a role. incomplete explanation
why is methodology a weakness for genetic theories?
MZ looks more similar than DZ. research shows because MZ twins look like eachother they will be treated the same so higher concordance can be explained by environment. cant distinguish genes from environment.
Why is implications a weakness for genetic theory?
is someone’s parent is a criminal, the child will be labeled and discriminated against, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy. Must be used with caution.
Why is other a weakness for genetic theory?
Can’t explain criminality in women (XYY)explanation is incomplete
Why is supporting evidence a strength for brain injuries/disorders?
Case studies show relationship between the brain and crime so makes theory reliable.
Why is methodology a strength for brain injuries/disorders?
Case studies are in-depth and in detail providing a better understanding. Brain scans are scientific and so are not open for interpretation. reliable.
Why is alternative explanations a weakness of brain injuries/ disorders?
Data shows relationship but not cause. Could be a third variable, for example, Charles Whitman was abused as a child which may have caused the tumor or led to his anger. incomplete explanation.
Why is methodology a weakness for brain injuries/ disorders?
Case studies only look at one person so they cant apply to all. Not everyone with a tumor is a criminal. Incomplete explanation.
