forensic psych biological approach

Question 1

what does the biological approach involve

Answer 1

the historical approach (lombroso and kretschmer)

genetic and neural explanations

Question 2

what did lombroso suggest

Answer 2

atavistic form

believed that he had identified physical features that suggest an innate criminal tendency

believed that criminals were an ‘evolutionary throwback’ – in other words, they were more primitive and had genes that were from a less evolved time.

Question 3

what 3 types of criminal did lombroso identify

Answer 3

Born criminals – the evolutionary throwback
Insane criminals – suffering from mental illness
Criminaloids – people who commit crime because of bad experiences or necessity (though they also have a natural predisposition)

Question 4

what physical features did lombroso identify that suggest an innate criminal

Answer 4

aquiline’ nose, asymmetry of the face, unusually round skulls

Question 5

what did kretschmer suggest

Answer 5

somatotypes, Identified body types and common crime types

Question 6

what were the body types and common crime types kretschmer identified

Answer 6

Leptosome or asthenic (tall and thin) – petty thieves

Athletic (tall and muscular) – crimes of violence

Pkynic (short and fat) – crimes of deception, sometimes violence

Dysplastic or mixed (more than one type) – immoral crimes, e.g. prostitution

Question 7

strengths of the historical approach

Answer 7

• Scientific for its time – he was one of the first to study the criminal rather than just the crime. Did it systematically with a sample of over 50,000
• Biological Determinism – compatible with modern views of genetic influence

Question 8

limitations of the historical approach

Answer 8

• Inadequate use of control subjects – he was more focused on criminals than non-criminals, so we do not know the ‘normal’ ranges for the abnormalities he observed.
• Gender bias – Lombroso demonstrated an alpha bias, believing women to be ‘less evolved’ than men and mostly incapable of committing crimes
• Ethnocentrism – Lombroso had problematic views regarding race and ethnicity. He would often make comparisons between ‘born criminals’ and people from other races (which he referred to as ‘primitive savages’ and ‘inferior races’)
• Ethical implications – could create prejudice towards people with certain characteristics

Question 9

what does the genetic explanation involve

Answer 9

Candidate gene – MAOA-L is known as the ‘warrior gene’. Leads to excessive serotonin, which desensitises us to it and makes us less inhibited.

Twin studies - Researchers compare concordance rates between monozygotic (MZ) twins and dizygotic (DZ) twins, as the difference between them is genetic similarity

Adoption studies – researchers compare adoptees with criminal biological parents and those without

Question 10

what does the neural explanation involve

Answer 10

Prefrontal cortex – this part of the brain is linked with regulating emotion and moral behaviour. Lowered activity is linked with impulsiveness and lack of self-control

Limbic system – this part of the brain is also important for regulating emotions, and also motivation. It contains several areas, including the amygdala (the part of the brain responsible for identifying threats)

Serotonin – this is an inhibitory neurotransmitter. As a result, reduced serotonin function could lead to impulsive offending behaviour.

Question 11

strengths of the biological explanation

Answer 11

• Evidence from twin studies – Raine (1993) found MZ twin concordance rates of 52% for delinquency, compared to just 21% in DZ twins.
• Evidence from adoption studies – Mednick (1987) found that 20% of adoptees whose biological parents had criminal convictions went on to have a criminal conviction themselves
• Evidence for neural correlates – Raine (2004; 1997) found higher rates of reduced pre-frontal cortex activity and asymmetric amygdala in offenders.

Question 12

limitations of the genetic and neural approach

Answer 12

• Hard to separate nature and nurture – twin study findings could be due to MZ twins being treated more similarly. Family studies, such as Brunner (1993), could simply be a result of nurture
• Must consider interactionist approach – Caspi (2003) found that boys with the MAOA-L variant only became aggressive if they were also mistreated in early life