LO2 and LO3: Theories of Criminality and evaluating them

Question 1

Name the 4 Biological theories

Answer 1

XYY, Twin & adoption studies, Sheldon Stomatotype and Lombrosso avatism.

Question 2

name 3 Individualistic theorys

Answer 2

Eysenck Personality theory, Freud Personality theory, Bowlby Maternal deprivation theory, Social learning theory, Operant conditioning

Question 3

Name 3 Sociological theories

Answer 3

Marxism, Functionalism, Labelling, Left and right realism.

Question 4

Define Atavism

Answer 4

Criminals are primitive, pre-social and savages. Inheritable

Question 5

what was Lombroso’s (Atavism) Study

Answer 5

he examined facial and cranial fetures of 380 dead criminals and 3840 living criminals. Found 40% of characteristics could be accounted for by avatistism. he realised you could tell what type of crime someone may commit
- Thieves have flatterned noses
- Sex offenders have thick lips protruding ears
-murderers have bloodshot eyes, curly hair and an “aquiline” noses like the beak of an eagle

Question 6

what where the two types of criminals Lombroso found

Answer 6

Insane - intellectualy and morally challenged
Epileptic - commits a crime during a seizure

Question 7

what are the strengths and weaknesses of Lombroso’s Atavism theory

Answer 7

Strengths:
led to further development of criminality
responsible for developing newer theories which have sound scientific evidance

Weaknesses:
Lacks scientific evidence for support
Although many features are common among criminals

Question 8

what are the 3 somatotypes

Answer 8

Ectomorphs had “thin and fine bones” and were said to have a more “cerebrotonic” personality - introverted

Mesomorphs who were square and more muscular, were said to have a tendency towards a “somotonic” personality - active and aggressive

Endomorphs, who are rounded and soft, were said to have a tendency toward a “viscerotonic” personality - relaxed, comfortable, and extroverted

Question 9

which of the somatotypes is likely to be a criminal and why

Answer 9

Mesomorphs are the most likely to engage in crime, or be attracted by risk taking. Their physiques and assertiveness are important in crime.

Question 10

what are the strengths and weaknesses of Sheldon’s somatotypes

Answer 10

strength
the sample size for his study was large, and the comparisons between criminals and non-criminals was therefore justified. The addition of temperament to his theory also provided some extra justification.

Weakness
it relied solely on biological factors (body shape), which is’t proven scientifically. Reliability can also be brought into question, as his theory relied upon only his judgements to rate individual body shapes.

Question 11

what are the two types of twins

Answer 11

Dizygotic Twins - born at the same time but come from 2 separate eggs and share 50% of the DNA
Monozygotic Twins - born at the same time but come from the same egg and share 100% of the DNA (Identical)

Question 12

what is the concordance rate

Answer 12

The probability (as a percentage) that if one twin has a characteristic the other twin will have the characteristic.

Question 13

what was mednicks adoption studies

Answer 13

Studied 14000 adopted male children in denmark from 1942 to 47
- Found a high proportion of boys with criminal conviction had biological parents with convictions
- 14.7% had a criminal record if their adoptive parents had one
- Suggested a strong like between criminality and genetics

Question 14

what are the strengths and weaknesses of mednicks adoption studdies

Answer 14

Strengths:
Exposed the individuals involved to a different environment to their biological
Research wars drawn from a large sample
weaknesses:
Ethical issues
Adopted children are often placed in families resembling their biological family

Question 15

what is Christenesen’s Twin studdies

Answer 15

investigated 3586 twin pairs born in eastern denmark between 1880 and 1910
Found a 52% concordance rate between MZ twins where Non identical twins was only 22%

Question 16

strengths and weaknesses of Christenesen’s Twin studdies

Answer 16

Strength:
If they are the same, if one is criminal then the other probably is too

Weakness:
Not 100% concordance
higher rates for MZ could be due to them sharing the same home and therefore one could influence the other. (Environmental factors

Question 17

What are the three unconscious states of mind?

Answer 17

Id, Ego, Superego

Question 18

The Id was called the “pleasure principle”, but does the superego have a special name?

Answer 18

No.

Question 19

How does the Id lead to criminality?

Answer 19

The impulsiveness of the Id can cause an excess of it to lead a person to act on these impulses, which may include criminal behaviour. A dominant Id leads to most types of crime, but more rape and murder than others.

Question 20

How does the superego lead to criminality?

Answer 20

The superego leads people to justify every action they do, no matter how extreme it is. A dominant superego often leads to crimes such as domestic terrorism.

Question 21

What does the ego do?

Answer 21

The ego is responsible for keeping both the Id and superego in check. Think of it like the cartoon character with the devil and the angel on its shoulders.

Question 22

What does “The child is the father to the man” mean?

Answer 22

The early experiences of childhood shape who we become as an adult.

Question 23

What are the strengths of Freud’s theory?

Answer 23

It pointed to how important early socialisation is, which is something that many psychological theories focus on today.

Question 24

What are the weaknesses of Freud’s theory?

Answer 24

The existence of the “unconscious mind” has been put into doubt several times.
His studies were unscientific and often quite specific, such as his one about the desire to have sex with a paternal figure.
It relies on the psychoanalyst’s claims to be able to see into the patient’s mind.

Question 25

Who coined the maternal deprivation theory?

Answer 25

Bowlby

Question 26

How many juveniles did he study?

Answer 26

44

Question 27

What percentage of the juveniles had been away from their mother for at least 6 months?

Answer 27

39%

Question 28

What are the strengths of maternal deprivation theory?

Answer 28

His theory shows the need to consider parent-child relationships in criminality.
He showed that more of his sample had suffered it.

Question 29

What are the weaknesses of maternal deprivation theory?

Answer 29

What about the other 61%?
A retrospective study isn’t a good thing - He needed participants to actively recall the past.
He updated his own work and found that in 60 children who had experienced maternal deprivation, none showed signs of affectionless psychopathy.

Question 30

what is the marxist theory of crime

Answer 30

marxists beleve that CAPITALSIM is the cause of crime. they belive that All society’s institutions (he education system, the media, religion, the family, law enforcement, the police and the courts) help to maintain class inequality and capitalism

The exploitation of the working drives many people into poverty, meaning they could turn to crime to survive Capitalism constantly pushes consumerism at people through advertising, resulting in utilitarian crimes (E.g. theft to obtain goods)

Capitalism causes crime among the capitalists themselves as it is a dog-eat-dog system and the profit motive promotes greed. This encouraged capitalists to commit corporate crimes to gain an advantage (E.g. tax evasion, breaking health & safety laws)
Marxists believe that law making and enforcement serve in the interests of the capitalist society

Question 31

what is the Bourgeoisie

Answer 31

capitalist class who control the means of production

Question 32

what is the Proletariat

Answer 32

working class whose labour or work work the capitalists exploit for profit

Question 33

what are the strengths and weaknesses on Marxism

Answer 33

Strengths:
Shows how poverty and inequality can cause working-class crime, and how capitalism promotes greed and encourages upper-class crime
Show how both law-making and law enforcement are biassed against the working class and in favour of the powerful - corporate crime is rarely prosecuted

Weaknesses:
Focuses on class and largely ignores the relationship between crime and other inequalities - gender and ethnicity
Over predicts the amount of working class crimes
Not all capitalist societies have high crime rates

Question 34

describe labeling theory

Answer 34

Crime is socially constructed.Labelling cause crime and deviance. Developed the concepts of primary and secondary deviance to emphasise the fact that everyone engages in deviant acts, but only some people are caught being deviant and labelled as deviant
Agents of social control label the powerless as deviant and criminal bases on stereotypical assumptions. This creates effects such as the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Question 35

what is typification

Answer 35

Rather than accepting they made a mistake, people criminalised the victim and there family based on Ethnicity - racism on victim. Gang disruption, it wasn’t. Slow on investigation - harder to catch criminal. They can underreport or overreport crimes as they wish, which benefits them.

Question 36

Pro’s and cons of Labelling

Answer 36

Strengths
Shows that the law is not a fixed set of rules to be taken for granted. But something whose construction we need to explain.
It shifts focus onto how the police create crime by applying labels based on their stereotypes of the “typical criminal”
Shows how attempts to control deviance can trigger a deviance amplification spiral
Highlights the role of the media in creating moral panics and folk devils

weaknesses
It wrongly implies that once someone is labelled, a deviant career is inevitable
Emphasis on the negative effects of labelling gives offenders a victim status, ignoring the real victim
Fails to explain why people commit primary deviance in the first place
Does Not explain where the power to label comes from. Focuses on officials who apply the labels