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- Some theories are outdated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

Question 12

Give 3 weaknesses of adoption studies

Answer 12

• Adopted children are often placed in similar environments to their birth family- similar environment=similar behaviour?
• A study carried out by Gottfredson and Hirschi argue that adoption studies show genes have little effect on criminality
• Many children are not adopted immediately after birth and stay with their biological family for some time so it’s hard to say whether their early environment is actually the cause of criminal behaviour