Genetic Explanations of Crime

Question 1

What are chromosomes?

Answer 1

Structures in cell nuclei which contain our genes

Question 2

There is a genetic condition in which a male has an extra male (_) chromosome, giving a total of __ chromosomes. Such a condition occurs every _ in 1,000 male births.

Answer 2

1. Y
2. 47
3. 1

Question 3

What is a label commonly used for XYY men?

Answer 3

“super males”

Question 4

What did Jacob et al (1965) suggest about XYY men?

Answer 4

That they have an increase in aggression (in comparison to an XY man).

Question 5

Which famous serial killer had XYY syndrome?

Answer 5

• John Wayne Gacy (the killer clown) is

Question 6

Define Monozygotic twins (MZ).

Answer 6

Twins with 100% of the same genes (identical twins).

Question 7

Define Dizygotic twins (DZ).

Answer 7

Twins with 50% same genes (non-identical twins).

Question 8

What are concordance rates?

Answer 8

A statistical measure that describes the proportion of pairs of individuals that share an attribute, given that one already possesses this trait. A pair is considered concordant if they both possess an attribute of interest, and discordant if they differ.

Question 9

Found _______ concordance for criminality amongst _Z than _Z twins, which would support
the suggestion of a genetic influence.

Answer 9

1. higher
2. M
3. D

Question 10

What did Christiansen (1977) find in relation to MZ concordance rates compared with DZ concordance rates for criminality?

Answer 10

Christiansen (1977) found MZ concordance rates of 35 percent, compared with 13 percent for DZ twins.

Question 11

What study found that MZ twins’ had a higher rate of concordance (10/13) than DZ twins (2/17) for criminal behaviour after studying 30 male prisoners?

Answer 11

Johannes Lange (1929)

Question 12

What are adoption studies?

Answer 12

Where they look at the impact of nurture on children who are raised by adoptive parents, compared to those raised by biological parents.

Question 13

Similarity with the adoptive parents= an ______________ influence. Similarity with the biological parents this may indicate a _______ influence.

Answer 13

1. environmental
2. genetic

Question 14

What was the first adoption study on schizophrenia?

Answer 14

Leonard Heston (1966)

Question 15

How did Leonard Heston (1966) conduct their research?

Answer 15

The study was conducted by interviews of adopted children whose biological mothers had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, and interviews of adopted children whose birth parents did not experience any mental disorders.

Question 16

What did Leonard Heston (1966) find?

Answer 16

That 6.7 % of the adopted children of schizophrenic mothers experienced schizophrenia themselves, while the adoptees whose parents did not have schizophrenia did not exhibit any Schizophrenic symptoms.

Question 17

What theory does Leonard Heston (1966) support?

Answer 17

The theory that the environment has less of an impact on the inheritance of specific psychological disorders.

Question 18

Describe Hutchings and Mednick’s (1975) research?

Answer 18

A study using retrospective data that used 1154 male adoptees from Copenhagen Denmark. Each control group was checked for criminal records and if their father had criminal records. The study found a correlation between biological fathers and sons in terms of criminality.

Question 19

What did Hutchings and Mednick (1975) find?

Answer 19

That a large number of the boys who had criminal convictions had biological parents with criminal convictions.

Question 20

What did Mednick et al (1994) find regarding children’s relationship with the number of criminal convictions of adoptive parents vs biological parents.

Answer 20

There is no relationship between the number of criminal convictions of adoptive parents and their adopted children but there is a correlation between the number of criminal convictions of the biological parents and their offspring.