Biological Theories of Crime

Question 1

What is the main point of Lombroso’s born criminal theory?

Answer 1

That criminality is inherited and that criminals can be identified by several physical abnormalities.

Question 2

Describe the study carried out by Lombroso.

Answer 2

He looked into the facial and cranial features of 3,839 living and 383 dead criminals.
(Just under 4,000 and just under 400)

Found 40% of the criminals had atavistic features.

Question 3

What did Lombroso mean by atavism?

Answer 3

Atavism= ‘throwbacks’ or reversions to an earlier stage of human evolution. With the physical makeup, instincts and mental capabilities of primitive man.

Lombroso described the features that indicated criminality as being atavistic.

Question 4

Name 4 features Lombroso said indicated criminality.

Answer 4

Large, monkey-like ears
Large hawk-like nose
Large jaw
Long arms

Question 5

Name 2 strengths of Lombroso’s theory.

Answer 5

Lombroso was the first to use scientific methods to identify what causes criminality.

Could help to predict who will become a criminal, allowing intervention.

Question 6

Name 2 weaknesses of Lombroso’s theory.

Answer 6

Not all people with atavistic features commit crime, and people can commit crime without them.

Ignores the role of other factors- sociological etc

Study conducted shows over 50% (60%) of the criminals didn’t have atavistic features.

Question 7

Define somatotype and explain the 3 types.

Answer 7

Somatotype= body type- a category assigned to people in order to categorise their physique.

Endomorph- fat
Ectomorph- thin
Mesomorph- muscular

Question 8

What is the main point of Sheldon’s theory of somatotypes?

Answer 8

He believed criminal behaviour was linked to a person’s physical form.

Main claim was that mesomorphs were more likely to commit crime than endomorphs and ectomorphs.

He also believed there was a relationship between how mesomorphic a person is and their degree of criminality.

Question 9

Give 2 strengths of Sheldon’s theory.

Answer 9

By having the three somatotypes, it considers a wide range of people.

A number of other studies have confirmed that there is a small association between criminality and somatotypes, Glueck and Glueck (1956) for example.

Question 10

Give 2 weaknesses of Sheldon’s theory.

Answer 10

Ignores the role of other factors- like upbringing and sociological factors

Doesn’t take into account that people’s somatotype can change throughout their lives- it isn’t fixed.

Question 11

Summarise twin studies and how they relate to criminality.

Answer 11

Twin studies compare the rate of criminal behaviour of monozygotic twins and dizygotic twins, in order to assess the role of genetic and environmental influences in criminality.

Question 12

What is the DNA of monozygotic and dizygotic twins like?

Answer 12

Monozygotic twins are genetically identical

Dizygotic twins share the same amount of DNA as regular siblings would- around 50%

Question 13

Define concordance and its relation to twin studies.

Answer 13

Concordance = in agreement or harmony

A high concordance rate would be when the twins share a characteristic and low concordance would be when they do not.

Probability of one twin having the disorder if the other already has it
expressed as a %

Question 14

Give 2 strengths of twin studies

Answer 14

Useful to study identical twins as genes are 100% identical

Question 15

Give 2 weaknesses of twin studies

Answer 15

Twin studies are not representative of the whole population. most people are not twins. the findings of twin studies do not necessarily generalise to the general population

Twin studies are unable to separate out whether similarity is due to genetics or upbringing

Ignores role of other factors e.g. sociological factors in crime

Question 16

Summarise adoption studies.

Answer 16

Adoption studies look at the impact of nurture on children who are raised by non-biological parents.

This type of study allows you to isolate biological and environmental factors of criminality- the nature vs nurture debate

Sees if a child’s personality is more like their adoptive parent of biological parent

If its similar to their adoptive parent that relates to environmental factors
If its similar to their biological parents that relates to biological factors

Question 17

Give 2 strengths of adoption studies.

Answer 17

Allow you to separate the effects of genes and upbringing- the nature vs nurture debate- provide us with the most direct comparison of nature and nurture as they isolate the influences of genes

Can relate to a wide range of crimes/criminals

Question 18

Give 2 weaknesses of adoption studies

Answer 18

Research is correlational- only shows a relationship, not a cause and effect

If the age a child was adopted is unknow, they could have been exposed to influences from wither their biological parents or a foster environment- this would make the study unreliable.

most people are not adopted so cant be generalised

Question 19

What is XYY syndrome?

Answer 19

XYY Syndrome is a chromosome/ chromosomal abnormality. Chromosomes are were DNA is stored. Normally have 23 pairs of chromosomes, but XYY syndrome means you have an additional Y chromosome.

XYY only occurs inn males- as they’re the only ones with Y chromosomes
The extra chromosome means they have more testosterone- which is often linked to being aggressive.

Question 20

Give 2 strengths of XYY syndrome

Answer 20

Good at explaining aggressive, violent crimes.

There is some evidence that supports the theory- Jacob et al

Question 21

Give 2 weaknesses of XYY syndrome

Answer 21

Doesn’t explain why women commit crime, only relates to men.

Doesn’t explain non-violent crimes- white collar or technological crime for example

Question 22

Who was Jacob et al?

Answer 22

Jacob et al looked at 1000 men in prisons and 1000 men in the general popualtion. He found 15 men had XYY in the prison group and only 1 person with XYY in the general popualitin group.

Question 23

How effective are biological theories in general?

Answer 23

A scientific approach to determining the causes of criminality
But

Ignores other causes of criminality- like environmental and sociological

Imply a person can’t change

Question 24

Who was Lange?

Answer 24

Lange (1929) found that 10/13 MZ twins had both served time in prison, whereas only 2/17 DZ twins had