Early Biological Positivism Flashcards
Cesare Lombroso
Criminals are not made, they are born. They are evolutionary throwbacks.
Physical characteristics of criminals - Lombroso
- Big jaw/cheekbones
- Extra digits
- Fleshy lips
Lombroso’s attitude to women criminals
Women who commit crime are morally deficient and are doubly deviant as they commit crime and deviate from their gender roles.
William Sheldon somatotypes
- Endomorph: heavy and rounded so more sociable.
- Mesomorph: muscly so more aggressive.
- Ectomorph: thin so more introverted.
Evidence comes from 3 sources
- Family studies
- Twin studies
- Adoption studies
Richard Dugdale family study
- Over 700 members of one family were traced and the majority identified as criminals or paupers
Kallikak family study
- 480 members of the family were traced and a large proportion were criminals
Goring family study
- Studied 3,000 prisoners plus a control group of non-criminals, where it was found that there were strong associations between criminality of parents and criminality of children
Evaluation of family studies
- ve ignores malnutrition in prison
- ve socio-economic deprivation meaning marginalisation
- ve no exploration of environmental factors
- ve main focus on males
- ve little control of other variables
Contemporary Biological Positivist Criminology
Argues that certain biological characteristics increases the chances of an individual committing crime. Other factors are also important.
What do more contemporary theories explore?
- Genetics, brain function, neurology and biochemistry.
- Explores how the environment interacts with the social world.
- Refutes biological determinism of Lombroso and Goring.
Twin Studies
Lange - study found heredity plays a major part in criminality.
Christiansen - might be some genetic explanation but it is unclear.
Dalgard and Kringlen - hereditary factors were not significant.
Rowe and Rogers - inherited characteristics play a part but so do others.
Grove et al - looked at 32 sets of identical twins that were raised apart found behaviour could be inherited.
Walters - found some evidence of criminality being hereditary.
Evaluation of twin studies
- ve some concordance but the overall evidence doesn’t support a solely genetic basis.
- ve it is rare for twins to be reared in separate environments so they have the same social influences.
- ve lack of clarity about which characteristics are passed on and which offences they lead to.
- ve methodological issues such as different definitions of criminal behaviour.
Adoption studies
Studies in 70s/80s found where biological parents had criminal records, adopted children had higher offending rates. The genetic influence was stronger in relation to some crimes over others.
Hutchings and Mednick - adoptees were more likely to have a criminal record where both birth and adoptive fathers had previous convictions.
Chromosomal abnormalities
Women have XX and men have XY, but 1 in 1,000 men are born with an extra Y chromosome.
60s research claimed a link between XYY, aggression and low intelligence. It also suggested they had earlier convictions at young ages.
Evaluation of chromosomal abnormalities
- ve focuses on residents of specialist hospitals - no evidence gathered to indicate a fixed and identifiable XYY syndrome.
- ve many men with an extra Y aren’t criminal.
Hormones and testosterone
Some abnormally high levels of testosterone were found in male sex offenders.
-ve the situation might have caused the hormonal increase, not the hormonal increase causing the situation.
IQ
Research has found a consistent but weak link between IQ and delinquent behaviour, even when ethnicity and class are controlled for. A higher IQ` = less likely to commit delinquent acts.
Neurotransmitters
Scerbo and Raine - identified 28 studies that found those behaving antisocially had lower levels of serotonin.
Neurotransmitters
Adrenaline - fight or flight. Gaba - calming. Noradrenaline - concentration. Acetylcholine - learning. Dopamine - pleasure. Glutamate - memory. Serotonin - mood. Endorphins - euphoria.
Psychosis and brain injuries
Neurological conditions might cause crime. There has been links of malfunction of part of the braun that mediates expression and violence.
The Bell Curve - Herrnstein and Murray
- Claimed black people and Latinos are overrepresented in ranks of the poor in the Us.
- This is because these groups are ‘less intelligent’ - inherited genes mainly determine IQ.
- Those with less intelligence are more likely to commit crime as they don’t understand right from wrong.
Evaluation of the role of IQ
-ve Cullen et al reanalysed the Bell Curve and found heredity only explained a small amount of variance in crime and IQ.
+ve Hirschi and Hindelang found low intelligence impacts negatively on academic importance which leads to delinquency.
Intervening variables
There is evidence in relation to:
- Alcoholism
- ADHD
- Physical injury
Mednick et al
Some genetic factors that explain crime are passed on, but these result in a greater potential to commit crime. This is because we inherit a genetic makeup that influences behaviour.
Evaluation of Biological Positivist Criminology
+ve it was an attempt at a scientific approach.
+ve use of historical and clinical data.
+ve has acknowledged other factors can contribute.
+ve focused on therapeutic interventions.
-ve research suggests there are other factors.
-ve many studies failed to identify how many genes, or their location on human genome, or specific circumstances, led the relevant genes to express themselves.
-ve deterministic.
-ve elitist.
-ve evidence challenges theory.
Evaluation of research
- ve empirical validity of biological theories aren’t stablished.
- ve Walters and White found: methodological limitations, small samples, sample bias, limited ability to generalise.
Policy implications for early explanations
- Sterilisation.
- Permanent segregation.
- Electric shock therapy.
- Lobotomy.
- Castration.
Policy implications for contemporary explanations
- Therapy.
- Drug treatment.
- Public health interventions.
- Interventions that change environmental conditions that encourage crime.
