Criminal Behaviour (Inherited Criminality) Flashcards
What are the theories on inheritied criminality?
Earliest theories were mostly based on the idea that criminals were somehow biologically different from non-criminals
Cesare Lombroso in the 1870s said that criminals were a throwback to an earlier evolutionary state
Atavistic form
Sheldon (1940) argued that criminal behaviour came about due to body types
A muscular build of mesomorphs made them more self-assertive and then more likely to engage in criminal activity then thin, self-conscious ectomorphs or fat, sociable, comfort loving endomorphs
Modern psychologists say there are ‘genes for criminals’
Hollin (1992) suggested that some people inherit a biological predisposition to commit a crime
Goldsmith and Gottesman (1996) say that there may be some partially influenced predispositions for basic behavioural tendencies that in certain contexts can make the probability of committing certain crimes higher for some individuals
What are twin studies for crime?
Rosanoff et al (1934) studied 97 twin paris found that male concordance rates of 22/33 MZ (67%) and 3/23 DZ (13%)
Raine (1993) reviewed literature comparing the delinquent behaviour of twins
Average concordance rate was higher for MZ twins (52%) than DZ (21%)
A meta - analysis by Ishikawa and Raine (2002) found a concordance rate for criminality of 44% for MZ twins and 21.6% for DZ twins
Not all twin studies support the view that crime in genetic
Dalgard and Kringlen (1976) studied 49 male MZ and 89 same - sex male DZ pairs, finding no statistically significant concordance rate difference using either a ‘broad’ or a ‘strict’ definition of crime
On the basis of these results and more of the more similar environments experienced by identical twins
Support the view that hereditary factors are of no significant importance in the cause of common crime
Twin studies evaluation
Investigate the genetic basis of a behaviour
Cant distinguish cause and effect
Difficult to find nature vs nurture
Issues of generalizability
Joseph (2004) identical twins are treated the same
Family studies on crime
Osborn and West (1979) found that 13% of sons with non-criminal fathers had criminal records, while 20% of sons of criminal fathers had records
Farrington (2002) concentration of criminal behaviour in families by looking at three generations of relatives
If one relative had been arrested, there was a high probability that another relative had also been arrested
Most important relative was the father
Would initially seem to suggest that genes would play a part, we cannot rule out the effect of the shared environment
Having a young mother and living in a bad neighbourhood added to the probability of fathers and sons being arrested
Crime could have been expected of the child, criminality has been normalised
Adoption studies on crime
When adoptive parents know that their adopted child’s family history of criminality, this has no effect on their criminal behaviour
Bohman (1996)
Evaluation of adoption studies
Methodological issues
Adopted at birth vs later
Issues before birth
Smoking / drugs
Generalisability
Adoption can cause stress
Selective placement
Which genes?
Retz et al (2004) found an association between one variant of the 5-HTTLPR gene and violent behaviour
Reif et al (2009) similarly found links between the NOS1 gene and aggression in animals
Gene for monoamine oxidase type-A (MAOA) which helps to recycle the neurotransmitter serotonin
Seo et al (2008) proposed that low levels of serotonin may predispose individuals to impulsive and aggressive behaviour
Brunner et al (1993) studied a Dutch family, many of whom were highly aggressive
Linked to a mutation in the MAOA gene, abnormally low levels of serotonin
DIATHESIS - STRESS AND EPIGENETICS
Becomes triggered genes
Genes exist but need to be triggered to be clear
Epigenetics
Her behaviour and environment change how genes work
Overall evaluation
Adoption studies have consistently revealed a relationship
Strongest for minor crimes
We will be able to identify more genes for criminal behaviour
If criminality is due to genes, it is likely to be due to the interaction of a large number of genes rather than just one or two
Genes cannot provide a full explanation of criminal behaviour
Based on heritability studies
These studies have a number of methodological issues
Non experimental, therefore cause and effect relationships cannot be drawn
Reductionist
Ignore the role of society and culture
Definition of crime is a constantly shifting target
Gender bias
Focused solely on men
Ethical issues
Evidence could be misused
Could the fact that an individual carries a gene for criminal behaviour be used as evidence against them in court
Places the blame for offending inside the offender
Ignores the real reasons for crime
Belief that criminality is the result of genetic makeup, and not of racism, poverty
Influencing public attitudes towards ethnic groups having relatively high conviction / incarceration rate
Criminality is genetic can lead to is the attempt to eradicate criminal genes from the population
