Biological explanations of crime Flashcards
What does Lombroso’s (1876) theory of CRIMINOLOGY suggest?
that criminality is inherited and that someone “born criminal”’ could be identified by the way they look
What did Lomobroso’s theory suggest?
that there was distinct biological class of people that were prone to criminality. These people exhibited ‘atavistic’ (i.e. primitive) features
What did Lomobroso find in his study?
383 dead Italian criminals and 3839 living ones he found 40% of them had atavistic characteristics
What are some feautures of atavistic characteristics?
- large jaw
- forward projection of jaw - low sloping foreheads
- high cheekbones
- flattened or upturned nose
- handle-shaped ears
- large chins
- very prominent in appearance
- hawk-like noses or fleshy lips
- hard shifty eyes
- scanty beard or baldness
- insensitivity to pain
- long arms
- tattoos
What was Lombroso been accused of?
scientific racism; some of the characteristics he identified are more prevalent in certain racial groups. However, this is still an issue today Eberhardt found that stereotypically ‘black’ looking men were much more likely to get the death penalty in the USA than those who were less stereotypically black looking, even if they had committed very similar offences
What did the physical differences more likely to be a result of?
poverty, poor diet, illness and disease
What did Goring find evidence of?
that criminals tended to have lower than average intelligence. But, this may mean crime is due to lack of education rather than any biological factors
What does Lombroso’s theory lack?
temporal validity. It is a child of its time, when eugenic theories were very popular
What did Raine conduct research on?
PET scanning and found abnormalities in some parts of the brain in violent criminals
What had most criminals in this study been diagnosed with?
Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD)
What did Raine discover about these individuals?
reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, the part of the brain that regulates emotional behavior.
- Put simply they find it difficult to control their impulses and do not suffer from guilt or remorse
What did Raine study?
41 violent offenders and compared the activity in their prefrontal cortex to 41 non-criminals (including 6 schizophrenics) using PET scans
What did the violent offenders show?
significantly less activity in prefrontal lobe than the other participants suggesting less control over impulsive behavior
What is an issue with Raine’s studies?
Not every criminal has APD or an abnormal brain structure. These theories can only explain a small minority of extreme cases. Everybody has free will we choose whether or not to break the law
What is a strength of Raine;s studies?
+ Use of scientific method and scientific equipment e.g PET scans.
