Positivism

Question 1

key theorists

Answer 1

enrico ferri - sociologia criminal (1929)
christianson (1968) - twins theory
lombroso (1835-1909)- criminal man (1876) and female offender (1895)
Darwin- eugenics psychological inadequacy

Question 2

what is positivism critical of?

Answer 2

rationality, universal sentencing and the lack of focus on the individual

Question 3

Determinism (Jeffrey 1960)

Answer 3

crime is caused by factors other than rational decisions

Question 4

Differentiation (Jeffrey 1960)

Answer 4

criminals are different in some identifiable manner from non-criminals

Question 5

Pathology (Jeffrey 1960)

Answer 5

something wrong- not just normal variation in humans

Question 6

Biological

Answer 6

(rafter 2008) phrenology - system of reading bumps on a person’s head to learn about their character - main founder joseph gall

Question 7

Psychological

Answer 7

freud (1923) human psyche (personality theory)
gluek (1950) broken homes - where one of the birth parents is not present- factors in offending behaviour (60% present in offenders background)
gibbens (1963) intact but unhappy homes

Question 8

Sociological

Answer 8

societal factors – such as low levels of education, poverty, and negative subculture influences – within an individual’s environment or surrounding social or cultural structure could influence criminal behaviour.

Question 9

Cesare Lombroso 1835-1909 4 types of offender

Answer 9

atavist- born criminal
insane- idiots, imbeciles, paranoias
occasional- opportunists (don’t have moral conscious to resist opportunity to offend)
passion- propelled to crime because of irresistible forces- anger, love and honour

Question 10

on ‘criminal man’ (1876)

Answer 10

study of physical attributes of men in Italy inc

• large jaws
• sloping forehead
• thick hair
• insensitivity to pain
• high cheekbones

Question 11

Lombroso on females (1893)

Answer 11

female criminals are rare (evolved less than men - inactive/ passive lives)

• mad or masculine tendencies- something biologically wrong with them
• worse than mens’ criminality and always hand in hand with immorality (focus on prostitutes)
• she is driven by passions—a highly erotic sensibility—that, when combined with her intelligence and physical strength, enables her to commit the greatest of offenses. The latent fund of wickedness in all women comes to fruition in the born criminal.

Question 12

Eugenics (Darwin)

Answer 12

study of human improvement by controlled breeding to increase the likelihood of desirable characteristics
- people prevented from having children, forced sterilisation, genocide (holocaust) (genetic engineering)

Question 13

Ferri (1929)

Answer 13

sociologia criminal - notion of free will leaves too many unanswered questions - how criminality is produced and why crimes of all types are committed repeatedly

• occasional and habitual criminal - sociological factors
• advocated policy reform - poverty and education
• new explanation - involuntary criminal - internet rise/ social media

Question 14

Christianson (1968)

Answer 14

twins more likely to both offend - study of 6000 pairs of twins- 35.8% both offended

Question 15

Niklas Langstrom

Answer 15

psychiatric epidemiology - 2015 S

sweden study - relatives of sex offenders 5x more likely to commit similar crimes, 40% risk is genetic (adrian rare)