Evaluations Of Theories

Question 1

Genetic explanation strength

Answer 1

Research evidence supports the theory

Question 2

Genetic explanations weaknesses (Theilgarrd)

Answer 2

Found no link between aggression and being XYY when he compared the characteristics of both types

Question 3

Evaluation of physiological theory strengths

Answer 3

Glueck and Glueck found 60% of offenders in their study had a mesomorph body type (ev of sheldon)

Question 4

Evaluation of physiological theories weakness

Answer 4

Those who commit crime may deliberately develop a mesomorph body type through working out because they need to appear tough
Lots of people with physiological features are not criminals and many criminals don’t have these physiological features

Question 5

Evaluation of learning theories strengths

Answer 5

Research replicated many times finding similar results
Research tends to be controlled laboratory experiments which make it easier to establish the cause of a behaviour

Question 6

Evaluation of learning theories weakness

Answer 6

Cumberbatch found children who had not played with a boob doll before were 5 times more likely to imitate the aggressive behaviour of the model than those who were familiar with the doll

Question 7

Evaluation of psychodynamic theories strength

Answer 7

Practical application shows that separating a child from its mother is a bad idea

Question 8

Evaluation of psychodynamic theory weakness

Answer 8

There is no way to prove that the unconscious mind is a real thing
Data can be subjective

Question 9

Evaluation of social structure strength

Answer 9

Covers crime committed by all classes and a variety of different types of crime

Question 10

Evaluation of social structure weakness

Answer 10

Focusses on class inequality but ignores gender and ethnicity inequalities

Question 11

Evaluation of interactionism strength

Answer 11

Practical application as it shows consequence of labelling

Question 12

Evaluation of interactionism weakness

Answer 12

Lack of free will

Question 13

EV of right realism strength

Answer 13

Shows that weighing up the costs and benefits is an important factor when deciding when to commit a crime

Question 14

EV of left realism strength

Answer 14

Practical applications because if we reduce poverty we reduce crime

Question 15

EV of realisms weakness

Answer 15

Overlooks white collar crime