Biological explanations for offending

Question 1

what are the three biological explanations for offending

Answer 1

historical approach (atavistic form)
genetic explanation
neural explanation

Question 2

what is the historical approach

Answer 2

lombroso believed criminals were born rather than made
coined term ‘atavism’ to describe how criminals are seen as a primitive sub-species with particular physical characteristics
offenders seen as lacking evolutionary development and their savage nature meant they could not adjust to the demands of a civilised society and therefore turned to crime

Question 3

what are examples of atavistic characteristics

Answer 3

lombroso argued distinct physical characteristics marked criminality:
strong prominent jaw
asymmetrical face
large ears, nose, lips

Question 4

what were the criminal subtypes within atavistic characteristics

Answer 4

murderers - blood shot eyes, curly hair, prominent jaw
robbers - high forehead, broad face, short eyes
sexual deviant - glinting eyes, swollen lips, projecting ears
lombroso stated criminals are most likely to have dark skin

Question 5

describe lombrosos research

Answer 5

lombroso examined the facial and cranial features of hundreds of italian convicts
concluded an ‘atavistic form’ which supported his key physical characteristics of criminals
sample of around 4100 convicts
concluded 40% of criminal acts are committed by people with criminal characteristics

Question 6

how did lombrosos research change the face of the study of crime (strength)

Answer 6

lombroso shifted the emphasis in crime research away from focusing on moral behaviour and towards a more scientific position of evolutionary influences
also ignited the beginning of offender profiling
suggests lombroso made major contribution to criminology

Question 7

what are the negative implications of lombrosos research (limitation)

Answer 7

attention has been drawn to the racist undertones within lombrosos research
many atavistic features are that of people of african descent
suggesting black people are more likely to be offenders, in line with 19th century eugenic attitudes
highly subjective and influenced by racial prejudices

Question 8

how does evidence contradicts the link between atavism and crime (limitation)

Answer 8

goring (1913) conducted a comparison between 3000 offenders and 3000 non-offenders
concluded that there was no evidence that offenders are a distinct group with unusual facial and cranial characteristics
challenges idea that offenders can be physically distinguished from the rest of the population