Non sociological explanations of crime part 2

Question 1

What is the Positivist School of Thought

Answer 1

Nature, cant control our human nature

Question 2

What century did the Positivist School of Thought emerge

Answer 2

19th century

Question 3

What is Positivism

Answer 3

application of the scientific method to the study of the human condition.

Question 4

Example of positivist thinking

Answer 4

Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859).

Question 5

Who is Cesare Lombroso

Answer 5

-Medical doctor in Italian military, professor of forensic medicine, Turin, Italy
-Wrote The Criminal Man (1861).

Question 6

What was Cesare Lobroso stance on criminals

Answer 6

were born, not made
biological throwbacks or “atavists”
those with certain visible characteristics are predisposed to crime

Question 7

What was Lombroso’s research comparsion of?

Answer 7

Comparison of incarcerated criminals with control group of Italian soldiers.

Question 8

What did Lombroso’s research report a significance of ?

Answer 8

significant differences in the incidence of atavistic characteristics between the two groups.

Criminals were deemed to be lower on the evolutionary scale than non-criminals.

Question 9

What was Lombroso’s research influenced by

Answer 9

Influenced by social Darwinism

Question 10

What is social darwinism

Answer 10

Social Darwinists believe in “survival of the fittest”—the idea that certain people become powerful in society because they are innately better. Social Darwinism has been used to justify imperialism, racism, eugenics and social inequality at various times over the past century and a half.

Question 11

Lombroso on Female Criminals

Answer 11

Born-criminal women had the following traits:
-deceitfulness, cunning, and spite.
-“supermales”
-short, dark-haired women with moles and -masculine features.

Question 12

-Statistical techniques were inadequate.
-State of atavism simply does not exist.
-Physical attributes may have been observed as a result of their incarceration.

These are all statements referring to?

Answer 12

Criticisms of Lombroso’s Research

Question 13

What did Phillippe Rushton suggest?
(Race, Evolution and Behaviour (1995))

Answer 13

Suggested that racial differences in crime were related to differences in IQ, a direct function of differences in brain size

Question 14

Criticisms of Rushton

Answer 14

-Race is a social construct
-Crime rates vary within racial groups
-Racial groupings can not be differentiated purely on the basis of biological characteristics

Question 15

How did William Sheldon (1940) assume Mesomorph( Somatotypes) were the criminal type?

Answer 15

1. Went to prison to observe
2. Saw Mesomorph
3. Assume it makes them criminal

Question 16

What could the Somatotype idea do to policies

Answer 16

Create discriminatory policies

Question 17

Name the 3 Somatotypes and their policies

Answer 17

Ectomorphs: long and lean, with little body fat, and little muscle. shy

Endomorphs: have lots of body fat, lots of muscle, and gain weight easily. comfort-loving

Mesomorphs: athletic, solid, and strong. agressive

Question 18

What is the Sociobiological explanations of crime

Answer 18

-Human behaviour can be explained according to evolutionary principles
-Certain individuals have a predisposition towards criminality

Question 19

Contradictions of the mesomorph type

Answer 19

They are mesomorphs because:
- Hard labour ( prison had ball chains)
- Motivation to work out because they dont want to get beat up

Question 20

Edward O. Wilson on sociobiological explanation of crime

Answer 20

-Primary determinant of human behaviour: Ensure the survival and continuity of genetic material
-Humans driven by the “need” to survive and will become aggressive in the defense of their territory “turf”

Question 21

Daly, Singh and Wilson (1993)

Answer 21

Desire to protect genetic material explains why biological parents are less likely to kill their children than are non-biological parents

Question 22

Pinker (2011)

Answer 22

Why has violence declined?
Evolution has reshaped the basic design of the human brain that affects our cognitive and emotional capacities
We are more reasonable and responsible
We have better governments
We have better rights

Question 23

Biocriminality “ Super Males”

Answer 23

Extra Y chromosome (XYY)
Thought that this might explain male criminal violence
Hypothesis not supported