Criminal Behaviour

Question 1

Crime
Criminal personality
Heritability

Answer 1

• A crime is an action which breaks the law
• A set of traits making one different to a normal law abiding person
• Heritability is a proportion of behaviour which is a result of genetic factors

Question 2

Problems with measuring crime

Answer 2

• People are not always aware they are a victim of crime and do not report it
• Not all crimes are reported

Question 3

Common characteristics in a criminal

Answer 3

• Impulsiveness
• Lacking guilt
• Pleasure seeking
• Self importance
• Over optimistic
  This is apart of criminal personality

Question 4

Core Theory, Biological Theory

Answer 4

Criminal personality and criminal behaviour is inherited so DNA is programmed for one to be a criminal. So if your parent is a criminal, it is more likely for you to be a criminal

Question 5

Brain Dysfunction in the core theory

Answer 5

The biological theory supports the idea of brain dysfunction in criminals; the brain operates differently to that of a normal brain.
Areas of brain dysfunction are:
PRE FRONTAL CORTEX: area which is under active so criminals cant associate fear with behaviour, leading to not fearing consequences of actions
LIMBIC SYSTEM: Increased activity in this area so there is increased level of aggression
CORPUS CALLOSUM: less active area so criminals cant distinguish between their rational and irrational side, leading to irrational crimes
TEMPORAL LOBE: slower activity in this area so criminals learn from their actions slower

Question 6

Facial features associated with criminals

Answer 6

• Crooked nose
• High cheekbones
• Strong jaw
• Asymmetrical face
  Criminal genes effect and create these appearances

Question 7

Criticisms of Biological Theory

Answer 7

• Brain Dysfunction is not present in all criminals
• Ignores influence of social environment and that we can learn from role models
• Not all criminals have specific criminal facial features

Question 8

Alternative Theory, Social Learning Theory

Answer 8

Criminal behaviours are learnt through observing and imitating others, usually their role models (people they want to be like)
VICARIOUS REINFORCEMENT: when behaviour is reinforced because they see another person being rewarded for that same behaviour and want the same reward

Question 9

Core study, Mednick et Al

Answer 9

Aim: To see if behaviour of adoptees are based on genetic factors and their biological parents or on nurture and their adoptive parents
Procedure: Criminal records in Denmark of biological male fathers to their adoptees were compared to their adoptive parents. After, these details were used to compare the adoptees criminality to find the stronger link
Results: Adoptees are more likely to inherit their criminal tendencies rather than learn. Strong biological link between biological parent and son
Conclusion: Nature has a stronger link to criminal behaviour than nurture

Question 10

Criticisms of the core study

Answer 10

• Culturally biased because the study was only conducted in Denmark so it cannot be generalised
• Gender bias in sample because only males were used so it cant be generalised for females
• Contamination effect may have been present because most adoptees spent their early life with their biological parents which may have affected their development

Question 11

Applications to real life

Answer 11

Crime prevention

• Rehabilitation for criminals should be used. They should be punished to avoid reoccurence of crime and teach how to behave correctly
• Intervention programmes for young offenders to prevent further crimes through education or youth service