Non sociological explanations of crime part 2 Flashcards
What is the Positivist School of Thought
Nature, cant control our human nature
What century did the Positivist School of Thought emerge
19th century
What is Positivism
application of the scientific method to the study of the human condition.
Example of positivist thinking
Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859).
Who is Cesare Lombroso
-Medical doctor in Italian military, professor of forensic medicine, Turin, Italy
-Wrote The Criminal Man (1861).
What was Cesare Lobroso stance on criminals
were born, not made
biological throwbacks or “atavists”
those with certain visible characteristics are predisposed to crime
What was Lombroso’s research comparsion of?
Comparison of incarcerated criminals with control group of Italian soldiers.
What did Lombroso’s research report a significance of ?
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.
What was Lombroso’s research influenced by
Influenced by social Darwinism
What is social darwinism
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.
Lombroso on Female Criminals
Born-criminal women had the following traits:
-deceitfulness, cunning, and spite.
-“supermales”
-short, dark-haired women with moles and -masculine features.
-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?
Criticisms of Lombroso’s Research
What did Phillippe Rushton suggest?
(Race, Evolution and Behaviour (1995))
Suggested that racial differences in crime were related to differences in IQ, a direct function of differences in brain size
Criticisms of Rushton
-Race is a social construct
-Crime rates vary within racial groups
-Racial groupings can not be differentiated purely on the basis of biological characteristics
How did William Sheldon (1940) assume Mesomorph( Somatotypes) were the criminal type?
- Went to prison to observe
- Saw Mesomorph
- Assume it makes them criminal
What could the Somatotype idea do to policies
Create discriminatory policies
Name the 3 Somatotypes and their policies
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
What is the Sociobiological explanations of crime
-Human behaviour can be explained according to evolutionary principles
-Certain individuals have a predisposition towards criminality
Contradictions of the mesomorph type
They are mesomorphs because:
- Hard labour ( prison had ball chains)
- Motivation to work out because they dont want to get beat up
Edward O. Wilson on sociobiological explanation of crime
-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”
Daly, Singh and Wilson (1993)
Desire to protect genetic material explains why biological parents are less likely to kill their children than are non-biological parents
Pinker (2011)
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
Biocriminality “ Super Males”
Extra Y chromosome (XYY)
Thought that this might explain male criminal violence
Hypothesis not supported
