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A-level Psychology > FP - Biological explanations of offending behaviour: A historical approach > Flashcards

FP - Biological explanations of offending behaviour: A historical approach Flashcards

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1
Q

Atavistic form

A

An explanation for criminal behaviour, suggesting that certain individuals are born with a criminal personality and this innate personality is a throwback to earlier primate forms.

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2
Q

What did the Greeks suggest the four personality types of criminals were?

A

Sanguine
Melancholic
Choleric
Phlegmatic

Each relating to a particular body fluid called (‘humours’).

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3
Q

Who developed the atavistic form?

A

Cesare Lombroso (1876)

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4
Q

What was Cesare Lombroso’s view on criminal personality types?

A

Offenders possessed similar characteristics to lower primates and this could explain their criminality.

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5
Q

What did Lombroso suggest that criminals are?

A

‘Genetic throwbacks’ to a ‘primitive sub-species’

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6
Q

What does atavistic mean?

A

A tendency to revert to an ancestral type.

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7
Q

What was Lombroso strongly against?

A

The ‘free will’ explanations.

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8
Q

Who did Lombroso support?

A

Galton and Darwin.

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9
Q

What did Lombroso say criminals lacked?

A

Evolutionary development - their savage and untamed nature mean that they would find it impossible to adjust to the demands of civilised society and would inevitably turn to crime.

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10
Q

Who identified 18 different characteristics that make up the atavistic type?

A

Turvey (2011).

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11
Q

What is the basic assumption of the atavistic form?

A

That the innate physiological make-up of the person causes them to become a criminal.

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12
Q

Who came up with phrenology?

A

Fraz Gall

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13
Q

What is phrenology?

A

A process that involves observing and/or feeling the skull to determine an individual’s psychological attributes.

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14
Q

What did Lombroso base his theory on?

A

His own research using post-mortem examinations of criminals and studying the faces of living criminals. He made precise measurements of skulls and other physiological characteristics - anthropometry.

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15
Q

What is anthropometry?

A

The measurement of humans.

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16
Q

How many bodies did Lombroso and his co-workers exam over the course of his career?

A

Over 50,000 bodies.

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17
Q

What did Lombroso find in his study of convicted Italian criminals?

A

Of 383 convicted Italian criminals, he found that 21% had just one atavistic trait and 43% had at least 5.

18
Q

What did Lombroso propose after recognising that it was unlikely that only one factor would be the cause of criminality?

A

He proposed that inherited atavistic form interacted with a person’s physical and social environment.

19
Q

How is Lombroso’s idea that inherited atavistic form interacts with a person’s physical and social environment to cause criminality a determinist view?

A

Because it suggests that factors outside a person’s control (nature and nurture) determine whether they become criminal.

20
Q

The idea that inherited atavistic form interacts with a person’s physical and social environment to cause criminality led Lombroso (1897) to do what?

A

Distinguish between 3 types of criminals, moving away from the atavistic form as the only explanation for criminality.

21
Q

What were the 3 types of criminals proposed by Lombroso (1897)?

A

Born criminals, insane criminals and criminaloids.

22
Q

What did Lombroso mean by ‘born criminals’?

A

The atavistic type; ‘throwbacks’ identifiable from their physical characteristics.

23
Q

What did lombroso mean by ‘insane criminals’?

A

Suffering from mental illness.

24
Q

What did Lombroso mean by ‘criminaloids’?

A

A large general class of offenders whose mental characteristics predisposed them to criminal behaviour under the right circumstances (i.e. certain physical/social environments).

25
Q

What features in particular did Lombroso say that criminals could be identified by?

A

Facial, cranial and bodily characteristics.

26
Q

What sort of facial and cranial features did Lombroso argue could identify criminals?

A

Narrow, sloping brow, strong prominent jaw, high cheekbones and facial asymmetry.

27
Q

What sort of bodily features did Lombroso argue could identify criminals?

A

Dark skin, extra toes, nipples or fingers.

28
Q

What other features besides facial, cranial and bodily features did Lombroso argue could identify criminals?

A

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

29
Q

What physical and facial features in particular did Lombroso say that murderers could be identified by?

A

Bloodshot eyes, curly hair and long ears.

30
Q

What physical and facial features in particular did Lombroso say that sexual deviants could be identified by?

A

Glinting eyes, swollen, fleshy lips.

31
Q

What physical and facial features in particular did Lombroso say that fraudsters could be identified by?

A

Thin and reedy lips.

32
Q

Eugenics

A

Genetically ‘unfit’ people should be prevented from breeding.

33
Q

What study led to the 4 somatotypes being proposed for criminality?

A

Kretschmer (1921) studied over 4000 convicted criminals.

34
Q

Who suggested there were 4 somatotypes for criminality?

A

German psychiatrist Ernest Kretschmer (1921).

35
Q

What were the 4 somatotypes proposed by Kretschmer (1921)?

A

Leptosome
Athletic
Pyknic
Dysplastic or mixed

36
Q

Leptosome

A

Tall and thin; petty thieves.

37
Q

Athletic

A

Tall and muscular; crimes of violence.

38
Q

Pyknic

A

Short and fat; commit crimes of deception and sometimes violence.

39
Q

Dysplastic or mixed

A

More than one type; crimes against morality (e.g. prostitution).

40
Q

Who came up with alternative names for the 4 somatotypes proposed by Kretschmer (1921)?

A

Sheldon (1954)

41
Q

What were the alternative somatotypes proposed by Sheldon (1954)?

A 
Leptosome = Ectomorph
Athletic = Mesomorph
Pyknic = Endomorph
42
Q

What type of explanation is the historical approach?

A

Biological explanation

A-level Psychology (55 decks)

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