Evaluation: Biological Theories

Question 1

Give 2 overall strengths of biological theories

Answer 1

• Evidence from multiple researchers (Jacob et al, Sheldon etc…)
• Evidence is collected in large samples which generalises data and makes it more reliable

Question 2

Give 2 overall weaknesses of biological theories

Answer 2

• Creates misjudgements about who is actually criminal

- Some theories are outdated

Question 3

Give 3 strengths of Lombroso’s theory

Answer 3

• He was the first person to study crime scientifically, before him, crime was seen as a moral issue
• He didn’t always just focus on hereditary factors, he also looked at environmental and social factors
• His research showed the importance of looking at historical and clinical records of criminals

Question 4

Give 3 weaknesses of Lombroso’s theory

Answer 4

• Research following Lombroso’s has failed to show a correlation between facial features and criminality
• Not all people with atavistic features are criminals and not all criminals have atavistic features
• Lombroso looked at more criminals than non-criminals, making it an inaccurate and unfair explanation

Question 5

Give 3 strengths of Sheldon’s theory

Answer 5

• Other studies have concluded similar results to Sheldon (Glueck and Glueck), supporting the theory
• Evidence to show that the most serious offenders in Sheldon’s experiment were mesomorphs
• Logical in explaining violent crimes

Question 6

Give 3 weaknesses of Sheldon’s theory

Answer 6

• Doesn’t explain why mesomorphs commit crime
• Sheldon’s theory is biological, but G+G showed that to fully explain criminality, you must consider a combination of biological, psychological and environmental factors
• Doesn’t explain all crime, only violent an physical

Question 7

Give 3 strengths of XYY syndrome theory

Answer 7

• Jacob et al found an association between XYY syndrome and violent prisoners
• Good at distinguishing why males are said to offend more than females
• Good at explaining violent crime

Question 8

Give 3 weaknesses of XYY syndrome theory

Answer 8

• Not all men with XYY are criminals
• Doesn’t account for other factors involved with crime.
• Doesn’t explain why women commit crime, only men

Question 9

Give 2 strengths of twin studies

Answer 9

• Logical to examine MZ twins to identify whether their behaviour is the same
• Raine found a higher concordance rate for identical twins than non-identical twins

Question 10

Give 2 weaknesses of twin studies

Answer 10

• Shared environments may cause similarities in criminal behaviour, it may not be the result of genes
• Identical twins show around 50% concordance rate, if genes were the only cause of criminality it would be 100%

Question 11

Give 3 strengths of adoption studies

Answer 11

• Allows us to see the importance of nature vs nurture and which individuals inherit most
• There is some evidence from adoption studies that links to genetic explanations
• Been shown that children are more likely to have a criminal record if their biological parents do– supports the idea of genetics being relevant to criminality