psychological theories of crime Flashcards
4 main biological theories
physiological
genetic
brain injuries and disorders
biochemical explanations
physiological theories (lombroso)
lombroso -> born a criminal (facial features show if you are a criminal)
features include: big jaws, long arms, insensitive to pain, unemployed
atavism - features ancestral, ancient
theory links to evolution
physiological theories (sheldon)
sheldon -> body shapes (somatotypes)
1. endomorphs (fat, lack muscle, sociable, relaxed)
2. ectomorphs (skinny, fragile, emotionally restrained, thoughtful)
3. mesomorphs (muscular, lack fat, adventurous, physically active)
mesomorphs = more likely to commit crime
genetic theories (twin studies, adoption studies, XYY study)
twin studies -> two types of twins
identical/monozygotic (mz) - same genes, from same egg (if one is a criminal, the other is too
non-identical/dizygotic (dz) - from different eggs, both share a characteristic
evidence - christiansen’s study - 3,586 twins
(mz) - 52% chance for twin to have a conviction and the other as well
(dz) - 22% chance for twin to have a conviction and the other as well
genetic theories (twin studies, adoption studies, XYY study)
adoption studies -> focus on the effect that kids being raised by their non-biological parents can have
if a child is more similar to the criminal biological parents than their adoptive parents, the child could become a criminal
evidence - hutchings and mednick - 14,000 adopted kids
high proportion of the boys with criminal convictions had their biological parents to also have convictions too
genetic theories (twin studies, adoption studies, XYY study)
XYY study -> humans usually have 46 chromosomes (44 = shape of the body, 2 = choose sex)
Jacob et al - men with an extra chromosome are more aggressive
how to prove this - John Wayne Gacy - hadd XYY syndrome, sexually assaulted, tortured, killed at least 33 men
evidence - price and whatmore - XYY males are immature, unstable with a big temptation to commit what seems like motiveless property crimes
brain injuries and disorders (brain injury and disease)
brain injury -> research shows prefrontal cortex damage of the brain = change in behaviour (immature, loss of self-control)
evidence - phineas gage - railway worker, had a major brain injury = personality change
studies show most prisoners are more likely to suffer from brain injuries
brain injuries and disorders (brain injury and disease)
disease -> e.g encephalitis lethargica (1920s) was among kids - believed to have a strong link to things like arson, abnormal sexual behaviour, destructiveness
brain diseases -> senile dementia, huntington’s chorea and brain tumours - believe to have link with deviant/anti-social behaviour
biochemical explanations (sex hormones, blood sugar levels, substance abuse, other substances)
sex hormones -> overproduction/underproduction of testosterone can affect behaviour, link to commit crime, aggressive behaviour
biochemical explanations (sex hormones, blood sugar levels, substance abuse, other substances)
blood sugar levels -> hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) leads to aggressive behaviour, show a link with alcohol abuse
schoenthaler - lowering daily sucrose intake = reduction level of anti-social behaviour
biochemical explanations (sex hormones, blood sugar levels, substance abuse, other substances)
substance abuse -> drugs e.g legal ones like alcohol, medically prescribed e.g barbiturates, illegal ones e.g cannabis - link to violence
saunders - alcohol has led to about 1,000 arrests a day
flanzer - USA, estimated 80% family violence involve alcohol
biochemical explanations (sex hormones, blood sugar levels, substance abuse, other substances)
other substances -> links with anti-social behaviour/criminal behaviour
involves food additives, diet, allergens, vitamin deficiencies
lead pollution -> affect biochemical processes in the body, affect behaviour
tartazarine has been found in kids food which link to hyperactivity, affect behaviour like vitamin b deficiency
biological policies (drug treatment, diet, surgery, death penalty)
drug treatment -> used to control anti-social behaviour
alcohol abuse = violent behaviour
Antabuse (drug) used to treat alcohol addictions by hangover symptoms despite small amount
heroine addiction - leads to crime to get the drug
sex offenders - stilbestrol (form of chemical castration, a female hormone) is used on male sex offenders to reduce their sex drive
biological policies (drug treatment, diet, surgery, death penalty)
diet ->
Gesch et al - giving prisoners vitamins for their diet leads to a reduction in anti-social behaviour
vitamin b3 - found to treat some forms of schizophrenia (link to violent behaviour)
dietary changes - control hyperactivity, avoid offending
biological policies (drug treatment, diet, surgery, death penalty)
surgery -> alter offender’s brains/bodies, stops them offending
involves:
surgical castration - used on sex offenders to change offending behaviour
lobotomy (have side effects, very few done) - cut connection between frontal lobes of the brain and thalamus, used to treat schizophrenia + sexually motivated, violent criminals
biological policies (drug treatment, diet, surgery, death penalty)
death penalty -> capital punishment/state execution (most biologically driven policy)
amnesty international - found 1,032 people were executed (2016, excluding china)
effectiveness of biological policies
4 main individualistic theories
psychodynamic
eysenck’s personality theory
learning theories
cognitive theories
psychodynamic theories (freud, bowlby)
freud - childhood explains our personality and future behaviour - ‘the child is the father to the man’
3 elements in human personality:
id - evil part of the brain, bad temptations leading to criminal and anti-social behaviour - pleasure principle
ego - in the middle, balances id and superego, thinks of something morally acceptable for supergo but satisfies ids desires - reality principle
superego - good part of the brain, has the moral values, what we learn from our parents by early socialisation, child is taught whats right and wrong (wrong - regret, shame and right - proud)
weakly developed superego = less guilt about doing anti-social behaviour
harsh superego = more guilt in craving punishment
deviant superego = successfully socialised but in deviant moral code
psychodynamic theories (bowlby)
maternal deprivation -
kids should have a strong relationship with their primary carer (mothers) from birth to 9 years to develop normally
