Biological theories of crime Flashcards
What is Lombroso’s theory of criminality?
Criminality is inherited, and a criminal can be identified through physical characteristics and not fitting into society’s social norms and values.
What are atavistic characteristics?
Features that indicate a tendency towards criminal behavior.
What are the features of a thief according to Lombroso?
Small wandering eyes.
What are the features of a murderer according to Lombroso?
Cold glassy stares and a hawk nose.
What are the features of a sex offender according to Lombroso?
Thick lips.
What are the features of a female offender according to Lombroso?
Short, wrinkled small skull.
Lombrossos study
- In Italy
- measured height, weight \, size of neck was measured for criminals
- studddied on 383. Dead criminals and 3839 living criminals however only 40% had atavistic characteristics
Evaluation of Lombrossos study
❌small sample size and most of them didn’t fit the features
❌discriminative- can’t judge someone as a criminal based on appearances from a lack of scientific knowledge
✅gave people of the 1800s security and awareness so they can be cautious - lack of police and justice system of the time- bight crime rates were at its peak
What is Sheldon’s somotypes theory
Theory that criminals have a distinctive body structure - helps identify a criminal based on body type and personality
What is an endomorph
- rounded
- soft
- fat
- relaxed
- comfortable
They’re most likely to be private criminals in fraud or computer based
What is an ectomorph
- thin
- fragile
- lacks muscle
- shy
- lacks confrontation
These people are most likely to commit low levels of crime such as petty theft
What is a mesomorph
- little fat
- muscular
- adventurous
- assertive and dominate
- thrill seeking
They take part in dangerous and violent crimes such as murder
Evaluation of Sheldon’s somotypyes
✅takes personality into account when identifying a criminal unlike Lombrossos
✅ suggest people are more likely criminals and not stating they ,ost definitely are
❌assumes body type affects personality which is untrue and also discriminative
❌ not all criminals fit into these specific body types - body types can’t be taken into account to depict a person as a criminal
Explain Twin Studdies
Christiansen tested 3586 twin pairs in Denmark
- concluded if one identical twin had a criminal record, the other twin was 52% likely to also have a conviction
- also concluded if one twin ( not identical) had a criminal record, it was only 22% chance the other twin also had a conviction
This can be explained via genetics as identical twins share 100% of the genetics and could contribute to a criminal gene
Explain adoption studdies
- nurture vs nature debate: compared criminality with participents adopted parents then biological parents- if criminality was similar to their biological parents, this supports the genetic criminal gene theory
- Mednick reaserched 14000 adopted sons in Denmark during 1924 and 1947
- found that sons were 20% more likely to commit crime if their biological parents had a criminal record
- found sons were only 14% more likely to have a criminal record if their adopted parents had one
What are the evaluation points for Twin Studdies
❌ results can’t be generalisable as it not indicate a specific gender and is only Studdied in Denmark
❌ no control group such as siblings which question the study’s reliability and validity
❌ doesnt consider that not all crime is caught and prehaps not reflected in criminal records
✅ large scale of DNA with identical twins and non identical twins and from different social classes that could explain crime
Evaluation on Adopted Studdies
❌can’t be generalised as it was only studdied in Dennmark on sons - lacks ecological validity
❌ took 23yrs to conduct- results cpuld have changed over time through different time periods and external factors such as war or moral panics
✅ large sample size of 14000
Jacob’s XYY Theory
- abnormality of sex chromosomes can explain why some people commit crime
- extra Y chromosome in males contributes to high levels of testosterone and labelled as Super Male Syndrome
- these males typically are more agressive(extra testosterone) which can drive them to commit violent crimes
- they’re also very very tall and have low levels of testosterone in which can contribute to crime- lack morals and knowledge of right and wrong and sanctions
Explain Behaviour change through Phineas Gage
- 3ft pole gauged in his skull through his frontal lobe when he was working in the mines and he still remained conscious
- Effects: He was still able to speak and understand infomation given to him however his personality changed to short temper and inconsiderate
- this sudden change of mood suggested how th frontal lobe is responsible for our personality and emotions
What is the localised functions theory
- Modern approach: focused on how his personality changed
- concluded that the brain has specific functions ( the brain has localised motors to preform specific functions)
- damage in the frontal lobe has later proven to cause difficulty in interpreting infomation from their environment , taking risks, and thus devicency - inevitably , leads to crime
What is the Vital Force Theory
- 1800S : suggested that the brain was connected by a vital force so the brain could still complete its usual functions
- explanation as to how gage could still carry out his usual functions
