Forensic Psychology : Biological Explanations Of Offending Behaviour

Question 1

What is a genetic throwback?

Answer 1

Lombroso wrote that genetic throwbacks are a primitive sub species who were biologically different from non-criminals.

Question 2

What is Lombroso’s Theory of the Atavistic form?

Answer 2

Atavistic form is a historical approach used to explain criminal behaviour, which is based on the biological factors. This explanation was proposed by Lombroso in the 1870s and suggests that some people are born with a criminal personality (e.g. it is innate) that is a throwback to a previous more primitive ancestor.

Question 3

What is Lombroso’s Theory of the Atavistic form based of?

Answer 3

This was based on research that examined the features and measurements of nearly 4,000 criminals, as well as the skulls of 400 dead criminals. Lombroso found that the criminals examined shared a number of common physical characteristics (e.g. sloping brow, pronounced jaw, high cheekbones, large ears) and concluded that these indicated that such people were more primitive in an evolutionary sense. He also said that such individuals were not responsible for their actions, as they could not be blamed for their innate, inherited physiology.

Question 4

What are cranial characteristics in the atavistic form?

Answer 4

The atavistic form included a narrow sleeping brow, a strong prominent jaw, high cheekbones and facial asymmetry. Other physical markers included dark skin and the existence of extra toes, nipples, or fingers.

Question 5

What are facial characteristics in the atavistic form?

Answer 5

Murderers were described as having bloodshot eyes, curly, hair and long ears, sexual deviants - glinting eyes , swollen , fleshy lips and projecting ears, whilst the tips of fraudsters were thin and ‘reedy’

Question 6

What are other characteristics in the atavistic form?

Answer 6

Insensitivity to pain, use of criminal slang, tattoos and unemployment

Question 7

What was Lombroso’s research?

Answer 7

Lombroso examined the facial and cranial features of hundreds of Italian convicts, both living and dead, and proposed that the atavistic form was associated with a number of physical anomalies, which were key indicators of criminality.

Lombroso Examined the skulls of 383, dead criminals and 3839, living ones, and concluded that 40% of criminal acts could be accounted for by atavistic characteristics

Question 8

Atavistic evaluation Advantages

Answer 8

● Lombroso was the first person to bring science to the study of crime
● Use of evidence to support theory - proposed from his own observations of
criminals

Question 9

Atavistic evaluation Limitations

Answer 9

● DeLisi (2012) branded this theory as racist - just because an individual has those features it does not make them a criminal e.g. African Americans are more likely to be criminals because they have curly hair?
● Unscientific approach
● Correlation does not mean causation
● Emphasised the criminal stereotype
● Lack of control during Lombroso’s experiment - didn’t pay the same attention
to criminals and those outside of prison
● Determinism - is there no free will on whether an individual commits an offence?

Question 10

Atavistic CHaracteristics - female offenders

Answer 10

Features of female offenders :
- Shorter
- More wrinkled
- Darker hair
- smaller skulls ( than ‘normal’ women)

Question 11

Kurtzberg (1968) - Research support Lombroso’s research

Answer 11

• Found that prisoners behaviour had improved following facial surgery Those who had surgery - recidivism rate of 42%
• Those who did not have surgery - recidivism rate of 70%
• Those who had facial surgery tended to do better on release from prison than those who did not

Question 12

What are somatotypes

Answer 12

Certain atavistic features were associated with certain crimes e.g. murderers had bloodshot eyes

Question 13

What are four types of somatotypes Kretschmer found?

Answer 13

Kretschmer (1921) found 4 types:
- Leptosome or Asthenic: Tall and thin - petty thieves
- Athletic: Tall and muscular - crimes of violence
- Pyknic: Short and fat - crimes of deception & sometimes violence
- Dysplastic or Mixed: more than one type - crimes against mortality (e.g.
prostituion)

Question 14

Genetic explanation for criminal behaviour

Answer 14

● Genetic explanations propose that one or more genes predispose individuals to criminal behaviour
● This is researched through twin studies where identical and non identical twins are compared

Question 15

What is MAOA?

Answer 15

• the MAOA gene (breaks down brain chemicals such as serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline)
• This gene variant means potentially having large quantities of these chemicals (serotonin) in the brain

Question 16

What study did Bruner et al. (1993) do on MAOA?

Answer 16

Bruner et al. (1993) analysed the DNA of 28 violent criminals and found that 5 shared a particular gene that led to abnormally low levels of MAOA - this is linked to aggression

Question 17

What are two genetic explanations

Answer 17

MAOA
CDH-13

Question 18

Facts about CDH-13?

Answer 18

• Abnormalities in the MAOA and CDH-13 gene (gene variants) increases the likelihood of becoming criminal
• Jari Tiihonen et al. (2015) studied 900 offenders and found evidence of low MAOA and CDH-13 genes
• Those with the gene variants were 13 times more likely to have a history of repeated violent behaviour
• 5-10% of all violent crime in Finland could be attributed to individuals with these genotypes

Question 19

Twin studies - research support for offending behaviour

Answer 19

Christiansen (1977)
Looked at 3586 twin pairs in Denmark:

Males
- Concordance rate of 35% for MZ twins (identical)
- Concordance rate of 13% for DZ twins (non-identical)

Females
- Concordance rate of 21% for MZ twins (identical)
- Concordance rate of 8% for DZ twins (non-identical)

Question 20

Adoption studies - research support for genetic explanations of offending behaviour

Answer 20

Mednick et al. (1984)

Analysed the court convictions of 14,427 adoptees with adoptive and biological parents

● Biological & adoptive parents convicted = 24.5% criminal record
● Biological parent innocent, adoptive convicted = 15% criminal record
● Innocent biological & adoptive parents - 13.5% criminal record
● Innocent adoptive, biological parent convicted = 20% criminal record

Siblings adopted separately into different homes tended to be concordant for convictions

Supports the idea that criminality is only likely to be an outcome if a genetic susceptibility is paired with environmental stressors (as stated in the diathesis-stress model)

Question 21

Diathesis-stress model

Answer 21

• Modern understanding of genetic influence no longer proposes that one or even a few genes alone will determine behaviour
• Someone may have biological tendencies towards crimes, but they will need some sort of environmental trigger to actually become a criminal

Question 22

What are neural explanations for offending behaviour

Answer 22

• How structures of the brain may be different in criminals
• Differences in neurotransmitter levels e.g. high levels of noradrenaline have been linked to violence and aggression AND low levels of serotonin have been linked to greater impulsivity
• Mainly focuses on individuals with antisocial personality disorder (common amongst criminals)

Question 23

What did Raine find about the prefrontal cortex in neural explanation for offending behaviour ?

Answer 23

• Cited 71 brain imaging studies showing that murderers, psychopaths and violent individuals have reduced functioning in the prefrontal cortex
• This is the area involved in regulating emotions, planning, personality, decision making and controlling moral behaviour
• Low activity in this area is associated with impulsiveness and loss of control

Question 24

What did Raine find about the limbic system in neural explanation for offending behaviour ?

Answer 24

• Investigated whether there was any difference in the brain activity of murderers and non-murderers
• Sample was 41 violent murderers and 41 non murderers
• Using PET scanning techniques, Raine found differences in brain activity in the prefrontal cortex and areas of the limbic system (amygdala, thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus etc)

Question 25

Genetic and neural explanations evaluation Advantages

Answer 25

• Research support from gene and adoption studies (Christiansen and Mednick)
• Diathesis-stress model takes into account both biology and the environment
• PET scans are a scientific method

Question 26

Genetic and neural explanations evaluation Limitations

Answer 26

• Biological reductionist
  Although criminality does run in families, so do other risk factors associated with criminality
  (pro-criminal attitudes)
• Important to not stereotype children from ‘criminal families’
• Majority of the research focuses on violent/aggressive crimes - can genes and neurotransmitters predict non-violent crimes?
• Deterministic - the genes a person is born with determine later behaviour, BUT not everyone with this gene has become a criminal
• If criminality is biological, will therapy work?