biological theories of criminality-

Question 1

name the two types of biological theories-

Answer 1

genetic and physiological.

Question 2

what comes under genetic theories?

Answer 2

XYY, twin and adoption studies.

Question 3

what is XYY theory?

Answer 3

suggests that crime may link to chromosome abnormality.

Question 4

what did Jacob et al suggest?

Answer 4

suggested that men with XYY chromosomes are more likely to be criminal and more aggressive than XY men. (John Wayne Gacey)

Question 5

what are the two types of twins named?

Answer 5

Monozygotic (identical) twins. (share 100% DNA)
Dizygotic (non-identical) twins. (share 50% DNA)

Question 6

what is it called when both twins share a characteristic?

Answer 6

concordance rate.

Question 7

Lange studies-

Answer 7

he found that MZ twins showed a higher degree of concordance than DZ twins for criminal behaviour. 10/13 MZ twins had both served time in prison, but 2/17 of DZ had such concordance.

Question 8

Christiansen studies-

Answer 8

studies 3,586 twin pairs and found concordance rates of 35% in MZ and 13% in DZ MALE twins, and 21% MZ and 8% DZ FEMALE twins.

Question 9

adoption studies principles-

Answer 9

explaining criminal behaviour in the comparison of criminals with both their biological and adoptive parents. these studies look at the impact of nurture and environment on children.

Question 10

Hutchings and Mednick studies-

Answer 10

studies 14,000 adopted children and found that a high number of boys with criminal convictions had biological parents also with criminal convictions, suggesting a link between criminality and genetics.

Question 11

Mednick et al studies-

Answer 11

found no relationship between the number of criminal convictions of adoptive parents and their adopted children but did find a significant correlation between the number of criminal convictions of the biological parents and their children.

Question 12

what comes under physiological theories-

Answer 12

Lombroso and Sheldon, brain abnormality, and neurochemical.

Question 13

what do physiological theories focus on?

Answer 13

the physical form of someone as an indicator of criminality.

Question 14

Lombroso studies- ‘born evil’

Answer 14

known as the ‘father of modern criminology’. he claimed that criminality was heritable and those who committed crime had atavistic features. he examined the features of 383 dead criminals and 3839 living ones, he concluded that 40% of criminal acts could be accounted for by atavistic features.

Question 15

what are the atavistic features?

Answer 15

-large jaw.
-low forehead.
-long arms.
-long ears.
-high cheekbones.

Question 16

support studies-

Answer 16

China research- ID pics of 1856 Chinese men, half had a previous criminal conviction. Using AI, men were wrongly flagged innocent but correctly identified 83% of the criminals.

Question 17

Sheldon studies-

Answer 17

Sheldon put forward that there were three fundamental body types, and that they can link to criminality or an individuals personality.

Question 18

the body types-

Answer 18

Endomorphic-fat and soft- tend to be sociable and relaxed.
ectomorphic-thin and fragile- introverted and restrained.
mesomorphic-muscular and hard- aggressive and adventurous (most likely a criminal).

Question 19

brain abnormality-

Answer 19

studies suggest that damage to the pre-frontal cortex of the brain may cause individuals to have an altered behaviour pattern.

Question 20

Phineas Gage-

Answer 20

railroad worker who survived an accident which a metal rod went through his head, destrong much on the left frontal lobe, his personality is said to have changed because on his injury, he became more aggressive and violent man, having to be kept away from women and children.

Question 21

McIsaac et al studies-

Answer 21

found that people who have suffered serious head ijuries are twice as likely to end up in prison.

Question 22

neurochemical-

Answer 22

the brains chemistry can be influenced by diet, pollution or hypoglycaemia. some studies show that low levels of serotonin can lead to aggressive behaviour. people who take large amounts of steroids can become extremely violent, which are taken to stimulate muscle growth and increase testosterone levels.

Question 23

Horace Williams-

Answer 23

an American body builder who beat a man to death after taking 2,000 the recommended dosage of steroids.