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Crim unit 2 > Biological theories of crime > Flashcards

Biological theories of crime Flashcards

1
Q

what are the biological theories of crime

A
  • Jacob XYY
  • twin
  • adoption
  • Sheldon
  • Lombroso
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2
Q

what are the genetic biological theories

A
  • Jacob XYY
  • twin
  • adoption
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3
Q

what are the physiological biological theories

A
  • Lombroso

- Sheldon

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4
Q

what was the aim of Jacob XYY study

A

to see if men with a chromosome abnormality of an extra Y chromosome commit more crime

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5
Q

what were Jacob XYY results/statistics

A

XY men were 10x more likely to be found in criminal populations

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6
Q

how this theory is linked to criminal behaviour-xyy

A

an extra Y hyper-masculine’s men and causes them to be more aggressive so they commit more violent crime

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7
Q

how is this theory criticised(XYY)

A
  • later studies found they tend to commit non-violent crime
  • need to take other factors into account
  • not all XYY men are aggressive and criminals and some criminals are not XYY men
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8
Q

examples of XYY man

A

serial killer John Wayne Gacy said to have XYY and sexually assaulted and killed around 33 men in USA

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9
Q

what was the aim of twin studies

A

studied monozygotic and dizygotic twins to see the impact of genetics on criminality

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10
Q

who took out the twin study

A

Lange

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11
Q

when was the twin study

A

1929

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12
Q

what was the twin study

A

studied 30 pairs of twins and at least one was criminal

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13
Q

what were the findings of the twin study

A
  • 10 out of 13 MZ twins were both criminal and only 1 out of 17 DZ
  • chance of one twin taking part in crime when the other twin was criminal was 50% in MZ and 20% in DZ
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14
Q

how can this theory be criticised(twin)

A
  • difficult to separate influence of social factors
  • small and old sample so not valid or reliable
  • could be nurture
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15
Q

who took out the adoption study

A

hutchings and mendrick

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16
Q

what was the aim of adoption study

A

aimed to separate impact of environment(adopted parents) from the influence of inheritance(biological parents)

17
Q

what was the adoption study

A

studied 14,000 adopted children and found a high amount of boys with criminal convictions had biological parents with criminal convictions

18
Q

what were the findings of the adoption study

A

adoptee with criminal parents were more likely to take part in property crime and is stronger in boys

19
Q

how can this theory be criticised(adoption)

A
  • not all children with criminal parents are criminals as adopted parents can have a positive impact
  • depends on the age they were adopted
20
Q

what was Sheldon’s theory

A

believed criminal behaviour linked to a persons physical form and that there are 3 types of body shapes that correspond with 3 different personality types

21
Q

what were the 3 body types in Sheldon theory

A
  • endomorphic
  • ectomorphic
  • mesomorphic
22
Q

what did Sheldon find

A

criminals were more likely to be mesomorphic

23
Q

what was endomorphic

A

fat, soft= sociable, relaxed

24
Q

what was ectomorphic

A

thin, fragile= self conscious, introverted

25
Q

what was mesomorphic

A

muscular, hard= adventurous, aggressive

26
Q

how can this theory be criticised(Sheldon)

A
  • cannot assume all mesomorphs are criminals

- people may change their physical form

27
Q

what was Lombroso’s theory

A

argued a born criminal can be determined by their looks

28
Q

what word did Lombroso use to describe criminal features

A

atavistic features

29
Q

what were these criminal features

A

large jaws, big ears, big nose, monobrows, long chins

30
Q

what was Lombroso’s study

A

compared Italian prisoners and Italian soldiers and said they were physically different

31
Q

how can this theory be criticised(Lombroso)

A
  • too simplistic as many other factors can affect crime

- criticised for racism

Crim unit 2 (6 decks)

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