Biological Theories and Policies Flashcards
What are the two section in biological theories
physiological and genetic
What are the two theories that are physiological
Lomborso atavistic form and sheldon somatotypes study
What are the theories that are genetic
Jacob’s XYY study, twin studies, adoption studies and family studies
What was the aim of lombroso theory
To identify distinguishing physical features among criminals, which set them apart as offenders based on biological principles
What was the method used in lombroso theory
He examined the features and measurements of nearly 4,000 criminals as well as the skulls of 400 dead criminals
What was the results of the lombroso theory
Some common findings were these features:
- sloping brows
- pronounced jaw
- large ears
- high check bones
- extra nipple,toes and fingers
- long limbs
What does atavistic mean
Primitive features
When was lombroso’s ‘atavistic form’ and what did he claim
In 1876 and claimed that criminality is inherited
What was the common features that murderers had in lombroso theory
Bloodshot eyes and curly hair
What was the common features that sex offenders had in lombroso
Has thick lips and protruding ears
What does sloping brows indicated
Low intelligence
What does ‘throwbacks’ mean
Who had biological characteristics from an earlier stage of human development
Negative ~ there is no _____ group (lombroso)
No control group
Negative ~ the study that Goring (1913) [lombroso]
He attempted to replicate lombroso’s findings by comparing a large group of offenders with a control group of non-criminals and found no significance difference
Negative ~ doesn’t take into account of what (lombroso)
Of other biological and psychological factors
Negative ~ the sample used in lombroso were what
They most likely contained a large number of people with psychological disorders and chromosomes abnormalities
Negative ~ genetically reductionist why (lombroso)
Current understanding of genetic influences on behaviours are controlled by single genes
What does reductionist mean
Breaking a complex behaviour down into simple parts/ consequences
Positive ~ what does it shifted from and to (lombroso)
Shifted the study of criminal behaviour from moral basis to a scientific one
Positive ~ what did lombroso argued (lombroso)
He argued for the interaction of biological, psychological and social factors in causing criminal behaviour
Positive ~ what was lombroso referred as (lombroso)
As the ‘father of modern criminology, shafted 1916
who was the theorist for family studies
Brunners the main one but can also used osborne and west 1982
who was the theorist for adoption studies
Crowe
what was the theorist for twin studies
Christiansen
what did lombroso believe criminal were
he argued that criminals were biologically different from non-criminals with physical primitive features
What is sheldon’s theory about
Criminal behaviour is linked to a person’s physical form, believing that body build was linked to personality and temperament
What are the three somatotypes
Ectomorph, mesomorph, endomorph
What is ectomorph
Someone who is skinny, it focussed on the nervous system and the brain
What is mesomorph
Someone who is muscular, it focussed on musculature and the circulatory system.
What is endomorph
Someone who is overweight, it focused on the digestive system, particularly the stomach
What are the physical traits of endomorphs
-soft body
-underdeveloped muscles
-round shape
-over-developed digestive system
What is the personality traits of endomorph
-loves food
-tolerant
-evenness of emotions
-love of comfort
-sociable
-good humour
-need for affection
What’s the physical traits of mesomorph
-Hard,muscular body
-overly mature appearance
-rectangular shape
-thick skin
-upright posture
What’s the personality traits of mesomorph
-Adventurous
-desire for power and dominance
-Courageous
-zest for physical activity
-love risk and change
What is the physical traits of ectomorph
-thin
-flat chest
-delicate build
-young appearance
-tall
-large brain
What’s the personality traits of ectomorph
-self conscious
-prefer privacy
-Introvert
- socially anxious
-artistic
-mentally intense
-emotionally restrained
What somatotypes was most likely to be criminal
Mesomorph
What did Sheldon assess
Assess the somatotypes of samples of college students and delinquent from photographs
What emerged from the assessment Sheldon did
That the delinquents has a higher mean mesomorph rating than the college students, supporting Sheldon’s claims
What does the assessment shows with mesomorph
Mesomorph are more likely to engage in criminal activity than the other 2 types
Negative~pure somatotypes are rare (Sheldon’s)
As most people represent a blending of different types
Negative~Sutherland-Sheldon’s analysis of types of is essentially subjective
It is based on theory instead of fact
Negative~does not take account of what (Sheldon’s)
Possible psychological causes of delinquency
Negative~ignores social factors (Sheldon’s)
People react to mesomorph in ways that increase their risk of criminal behaviours
Positive~reliable (Sheldon’s)
Easy to repeat and re-evaluate
Positive~a re analysis by Harte AL(1982)[Sheldon’s]
It found that most seriously delinquent of sheldon’s sample had a mean mesomorph rating of 5, adding more support
What is kinefelter’s syndrome
The combination XXY results in a male forming some female characteristics
What does an additional Y chromosome do
Make a man ‘hyper masculinise’ men who have it
What’s the idea of XYY
It was advanced that offender populations in prisons an hospitals would be likely to contain large numbers of XYY men
What serial killers had XYY
Arthur shawcross and john Wayne Gacy
What did Jacob conducted
A chromosome survey of 315 male patients at state hospital in Scotland
What did Jacob found
Found 9 patients (3%) that had XYY karyotype
What did Howitt(2009) establish
That XYY men are rare in the general population but more common in offender population
Prison~ 15 in 1000
General population ~ 1 in 1000
Negative~ theilgard (1984) [Jacob]
Researched the traits of XY and XYY men and found no association between aggression and the extra Y chromosome
Negative~Stockholm (2012)[Jacob]
He studied 161 XYY and 934 XXY men aged 15-70 and found little difference in crime rates between the groups
Negative~doesn’t take account of what (Jacob)
The higher frequency of learning difficulties and lower IQ among population
Negative~ignores what (Jacob)
Social and psychological factors
Positive~howitts (Jacob)
The study identified that the XYY chromosome is more common among prison populations than within the general population (15 in 1000 VS 1 in 1000)
Positive~ Alder (2007)[Jacob]
Indicated that violent behaviour and aggression is at least part determined by genetic factors
What did Osborne and west 1982 do
Compared the sons of criminal and non-criminal fathers
What did Osborne and west found
13% of the the sons of non criminal fathers had criminal convictions
40% of the sons of criminal fathers had criminal convictions
What did Bruner study (1993)
Large family associated with crimes such as rape, exhibitionist and arson
What did Bruner males had
They had a genetic condition called “Bruner syndrome”
What did Brunner say about female and the condition
Females can carry the genes nut are not affected
What are the impacts of brunner syndrome
-lower intelligence levels
-causes a deficiency in enzyme responsible for the metabolism serotonin, linking to aggression
Positive~ brunner demonstrated what
A link between criminal family member and a shared serotonin deficiency(brunner syndrome)
Positive~takes account of what
Factors such as IQ unlike Jacobs study
Negative~brunner’s research has been criticised for what
Using a case study method. Case studies are specific of small number of individuals, lack of representative
Negative~ignores what
Influence of external factors like parenting and culture
How much do monozygotic twin share of genetic make up
100%
How much do dizygotic twin share of genetic make up
50%
What is concordance rates
Traits shared by twins
What did early twins studies found
A higher concordance for criminality amongst MZ than DZ twins
What did Christiansen examined (1977)
Examined 3586 twins pairs in Denmark and identified concordance rates of criminal behaviour
What did Christiansen found with criminal corcondance
Male MZ twins 35% CR
Female DZ twins 21% CR
Male MZ twins 13% CR
Female DZ twins 8% CR
Postive~ studies are ‘natural’ (twins studies)
The biological relationship between twins is naturally occurring, no manipulation by researchers (reliability)
Positive~ Christiansen’s support the idea of what (twins studies)
Concordance rates (validity)
Positive~twins studies have what (twins studies)
Had an indirect impact on disease studies(representative)
Positive~ twins studies uses what
Objective and scientific methods within research, improves the validity of the data findings
Negative~ early twins studies such as that of Lange (1929)
Were inadequately controlled as to whether twins were MZ or DZ (reliability)
Negative~ several studies included what (twins studies)
Small sample sizes (representative)
Negative~social factors includes what (twins studies)
Includes being brought up in the same environment, reductionist
Negative~ doesn’t take into account of what (twins studies)
Psychological factors
What’s the key criticism in adoption studies
It was raised by research into genetics is that it cannot rule out the effect of environment
What do adopted children share
They share genes with biological parents but shares an environment with adoptive parent
What did Crowe 1972 conduct (adoption studies)
Crowe compared 2 groups of adopted children
What were the two groups in Crowe (adoption studies)
Group1: adopted children with criminal bio-mothers
Group2(control): adopted children with non-criminal bio-mothers
What was the outcome of Crowe (adoption studies)
Group1:50% of the adopted children also had a criminal record by the time they were 18
Group2: 5% gained a criminal record by 18
Negative~ age of adoption(adoption studies)
May mean some exposure social factors has already occurred (reliability)
Negative~info about biological parent (adoption studies)
Isn’t always available(validity)
Negative~ the adoption process is not always random
Meaning children may be placed with families similar to their original ones (reliability)
Positive~the adoption process separates children from their bio-parents
Meaning it is easier to distinguish between genetic and social factors
Positive~studies have concluded what
That there is a correlation between adopted children their bio-parents
Examples of policy markers
Politics
Policing
Prisons
Healthcare
What is social policing
An act or reform put in place by the government and its agencies with intent to better improve society
What is an agencies
Police any intelligence service
What are the two types of policing
Formal policy~ eg courts,laws
Informal policy~eg school,NHS
What’s formal policing
The law and those who make/ enforce it~ police, prison, parliament
What’s informal policing
Community and organisation whose primary purpose is not crime control ~ families, community influence it
What did Gesch 2002 study about neuro chemcials
231 male prisoners receive daily vitamin would either be a supplement to or placebo
What does mental health link to (neuro chem)
Healthy diet
What does low serotonin levels mean
Links to aggressive
What might policy influence and limit criminal behaviour (neuro chem)
It is through the regulation of prisoner diets
What could inheritance of genes explain (eugenics)
The presence of simple and complex human behavioural; characteristics
What does determinism mean
The idea that behaviour has on singular cause
What does the eugenics reinforces
The ideas of biological determinism and claims that biology had contributed towards many of the social problems throughout the 19th century
Who was the key theorist of eugenics
Francis Galton
What did Francis Galton believe about eugenics
Called for government polices to improve the biological quality of the human race through selective parenthood.
What’s some of the proponents in eugenics key theorist
Of eugenics advocates the serialisation of criminal or those with undesirable, criminal traits
What is chemical castration
It is castration via an aphrodisiac drugs
What is chemical castration used for
Done in order to reduce libido(sexual desire)and sexual activity
Chemical castration is not surgical meaning what
Does not remove organs nor is it form of sterilzation
What case did chemical castration happen in uk
It was a mental patient in 1988, was detained in hospital under the mental act forced to go under chem cast due to his uncontrollable desire
How much does chemical castration cut
Cut rates or reoffending by 35%
What is death penalty (extreme)
It is the most extreme biologically driven policy is that of capital punishment
Where do most executions happen
China , Iran, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam and Iraq
What did stats from USA said
Shows that murder rate is lower in states that don’t have death penalty than those that do
