Biological theories

Question 1

what was Lombroso study?

Answer 1

He measured many criminals’ heads and faces to see if criminals looked different to non-criminals.

Question 2

what did Lombroso findings?

Answer 2

He found that criminals are more likely to have large jaws, long arms and aquiline noses.

Question 3

Lombroso strengths

Answer 3

• first person to study crime scientifically
• shows importance of clinical and historical records of criminals
• helps to focus on how to prevent crime not punish it

Question 4

Lombroso weakness

Answer 4

• no further evidence then what he has done to be able to link them together
• didn’t compare with control group of non-criminals
• racist- equates criminals with savages

Question 5

what is Sheldons study?

Answer 5

Sheldon looked at body types and compared them with the likelihood of criminal.

Question 6

Sheldons findings

Answer 6

Mesomorphic somatype was the most likely to be criminal

Question 7

sheldons strengths

Answer 7

• other studies replicate findings
  -most serious delinquents had mesomorphic bodies

Question 8

sheldons weaknesses

Answer 8

• ignores nurture in nature vs nurture
  -social class may be a big part of criminality
  -Mesomorphs are more likely to be labelled

Question 9

what was twin studys

Answer 9

it was too see if crime is genetic- identical twins (monozygotic) should have identical criminality

Question 10

was was the findings of the twin studies

Answer 10

concordance in criminality was monozygotic = 52% and dizygotic = 22%

Question 11

twin study strengths

Answer 11

• give some support to genetic explanations

Question 12

twin study weaknesses

Answer 12

• if criminality was only genetic then monozygotic twins would have 100% concordance rate
• impossible to isolate genetics and effects from environment fully

Question 13

what was the key idea of the adoption study

Answer 13

adoptees share the same environment as there adopted parents but have the same genetics as their biological parents

Question 14

findings if the adoption study

Answer 14

Mednick- birth parent concordance = 20% vs adopted parent concordance = 14.7%

Question 15

strengths of adoption study

Answer 15

• give some support to genetic explanations
• overcome the problem of isolating genes and environment
• research design is logical (nature vs nurture)

Question 16

weaknesses of adoption studies

Answer 16

• impossible to isolate genetics from the environmental ones fully
  -adopted children are often places with families similar to their own

Question 17

what was jacobs xyy study

Answer 17

compared the rate of xyy in imprisoned criminals with the general population

Question 18

Jacob XYY findings

Answer 18

higher then average proportion of inmates had XYY chromosomes

Question 19

strengths of jacobs xyy study

Answer 19

• jacob found association with xyy and violent prisoners
• price & watmore found links with xyy and property crimes

Question 20

weaknesses of jacobs xyy study

Answer 20

• having xyy doesnt mean that it is a cause of crime
• labelling theory
• lower intelligence of xyy mey be why they are more likely to be caught
• it’s too rare to be able to explain crime

Question 21

brain injury’s study

Answer 21

Phineas Gage- metal rod go through his brain. this changed his personality and he went from a loving, kind person to a cold-hearted one

Question 22

brain disorders key ideas

Answer 22

some brain diseases have been linked to criminality or anti-social behavior such as dementia, brain tumors and Huntington’s chorea

Question 23

strengths of brain injury’s and diseases

Answer 23

• a few extreme cases do show brain injury leads to changes in behavior
• some correlation between abnormal EEG reading and psychopathy
• prisoners are more likely than non-prisoners to have a brain injury

Question 24

weaknesses of brain injury’s and diseases

Answer 24

• crimes caused by brain injury’s or disease are rare
• abnormal EEG not necessarily the cause and not in all psychopaths

Question 25

what are other biochemical explanations

Answer 25

• sex hormones in males- testosterone peaks at 20 same time as criminality peaks in men
  -sex hormones in females- PMT, PND, Lactation are all used in court as they affect mood
  -blood sugar- Hypoglycemia linked to aggression
  -substance abuse- can lead to increased aggression

Question 26

strengths of other biochemical explanations

Answer 26

• biochemical factors recognized by the courts
  -sex hormones, alcohol, drugs all known to affect mood and behavior

Question 27

limitations of other biochemical explanations

Answer 27

• biochemical processes may need an environmental trigger too
  -some studies find testosterone not linked to physical aggression
• infanticide may be caused by isolation rather than hormones

Question 28

general criticisms of biological theories

Answer 28

• environmental factors- biology may give potential criminal characteristics but they may need the environment to trigger them
• sample basis- can’t generalize
• gender bias- most biological research only tells us about male criminality
• crime is a social construct- crime varies over time, place and culture