Biological genetic theories Flashcards
What is XYY?
some males are born with and extra male (Y) chromosome, which cause them to be more violent and aggressive
name 2 strengths of XYY?
jacob et al found a link between prisoners and the syndrome
link have been found between the syndrome and property crime
What is Twin Studies?
people argue crime has genetic causes, identical twins are genetically identical so if one is criminal then so is the other
What is adoption studies?
Comparing adopted children’s level of criminality with that of both thier biological and adoptive parents may allow us to see how far genes influence criminality
2 limitations of XYY?
even if some violent offenders have the syndrome is doesn’t explain their cause of violence
the syndrome is vary rare ( 1/1000 ) so it can not explain much crime
2 strengths of Twin Studies
because monozygotic twins are identical, it would be logical to look at their offending behaviour to see if that’s the same
Ishikawa and Raine found a higher concordance rate for identical twins compared to non-identical twins
2 limitations of Twin Studies?
if genes were the only cause of crime, twins would show 100% concordance
it is possible to isolate and measure the effect of genes separately from environmental factors
2 strengths of adoption studies
?
adoption studies overcome the problem faced with twin studies
adopted children are more likely to commit crime if thier biological parents were criminal
2 limitations of adoption studies?
genes have little effect on criminality ( Gottfredson & Hirschi )
many children are not immediately adopted after birth so they remain with their biological family some time
what are the biological genetic thoeries?
XYY, Twin, Adaoption
What are the 4 criticisms of biological theories?
Environmental factors
sample bias
gender bias
crime is a social construct
What is the environmental factors that are criticised?
people say biological theories ignore environmental factors. a persons biology may be criminal but they may need a environmental trigger to act criminal
what is sample bias
researches often use studies of convicted criminals, but these may not be representative for all criminals, these are the ones that got away
gender bias
most biological research focuses on males, so it doesn’t explain female criminality
How is Crime a social construct?
what counts as crime varies between cultures and over time, so it makes no sense to look for universal explanations
