Theories of crime Flashcards
What are the 5 biological theories of crimes that can be evaluated? (Genetic and physiological)
Twin studies, adoption studies, Jacobs XYY theory, Sheldon and Lombroso’s theory.
Describe twin studies:
Procedure, not findings.
Twin studies supports the idea that a heritable trait increases the risk of criminal behaviour.
Lange studied 30 pairs of same-sex twins to see if criminality was inherited. He studied 13 monozygotic (MZ) twins - twins who share all genetic info - and dizygotic (DZ) twins - twins who only share half of the genetic info.
At least one twin from each pair was known to have committed a crime.
What did Lange find?
He found that 10/13 MZ twins had bot committed crimes, so where therefore criminals, whereas only 2/17 DZ twins were both known criminals.
For twin studies, it was found that the chance of one twin taking part in criminal behaviour when the other twin was criminal was … among MZ twins but only … among DZ twins.
For twin studies, it was found that the chance of one twin taking part in criminal behaviour when the other twin was criminal was 50% among MZ twins but only 20% among DZ twins.
Criticisms of twin studies:
It is difficult to separate the influence of genetics from the influence of social factors.
Small sample size used so the ppts may not be representative of the general population.
Lange’s twin studies lacked validity - the twins were categorised into MZ and DZ twins based on their appearance, not their actual DNA so we cannot be certain that the MZ twins were MZ and the DZ twins were DZ.
Describe Jacobs XYY study:
Intor ( What is it? what it causes? )
This theory suggests that some crimes are due to chromosomal abnormality.
Theorists believe that an extra ‘Y’ chromosome ‘hyper masculinises’ men, which leads them to be more aggressive. This aggression is possibly due to higher levels of testosterone.
Statistics for XYY study:
Early studies suggested that XYY men are 10x more likely to be found in criminal populations than XY men.
15 XYY sufferers per 1000 in prisons and 1 per 1,000 in the general populations.
Criticisms of Jacobs XYY study:
Was found that XYY men tend to commit non-violent crimes, not violent crimes as the study suggests. This shows that we should take into account other influences such as social, psychological and environmental factors.
Conflicting research - Thielgaard (1984) researched the traits of XYY men compared to XY men. He found that the characteristic of aggression was not associated with the XYY men
strengths of Jacobs XYY:
Supporting research - One study by Jacob et al. (1965) found that a significant number of men in prisons had XYY sex chromosomes instead of the normal XY.
Adler et al. (2007) indicated that it’s possible that aggressive and violent behaviour is at least partly determined by genetic factors.
Strengths of twin studies:
Twin studies are natural experiments - biological relationships between the twins is a naturally occurring variable.
Twins are generally raised in the same environment, so the impact of the social environment is seen as equal and controlled.
Describe adoption studies:
Why the studies were done?
2 studies:
Studies were done to see if criminality is a consequence of nature (genes) or nurture (upbringing).
Research has shown that an adoptee with a biological parent who is a criminal is more likely to partake in property crime than other adoptees, and this effect is stronger for boys.
A study in Iowa showed that adopted individuals who were born to imprisoned female offenders had a higher rate of criminal convictions as adults.This evidence supports that antisocial or criminal behaviour is linked to inheritance of genes.
Strengths of adoption studies:
Its easier to separate genetic and environmental factors as adopted children are exposed to a different environment to their biological family.
Studies have concluded that there is a correlation between adopted children and their biological parents.
Weaknesses of adoption studies:
Th age of adoption may mean that adopted children have already been influenced by either their biological parents or foster environment so it is still hard to determine whether its nature or nurture.
Info about bio family is not always available.
Adoption process is not always random, children are often placed with families that are similar to their bio families.
Lombroso’s theory:
Lombroso argued that criminals are a aeparate species and a throwback to an early stage of evolution.
He said that criminals possess several ‘atavistic’ (ancient) characteristics that can be used to identify them as criminals.
These features include: a monobrow, large ears, large jaw, long arms, upturned nose etc.
Men need to have 5 characteristics and women only need 3.
Lombroso compared Italian prisoners to Italian soldiers and found that the prisoners were physically different.
Lombroso said that we should use these features to help us identify criminals so we can move them from society.
Strengths of Lombros’s theory:
several pieces of research suggested that less attractive people are more likely to be considered guilty.
Weaknesses of Lombroso’s theory:
Scientifically racist - DeLisi (2012) indicated that many of the atavistic characteristics defined are specific to people of African descent.
Not everyone with atavistic features is a criminal and not all criminals have them.
Extremely deterministic and assumes that we cannot escape destiny.
Describe Sheldon’s theory:
Sheldon argued that criminal behaviour links to a persons physical form.
He classified people into 3 body type, which each type having a corresponding personality type.
Ectomorphic (thin and fragile frame) - self-conscious and introverted.
Endomorphic (fat and soft frame) - Sociable and outgoing.
Mesomorphic (muscular and hard frame) - Confident, assertive and aggressive.
A correlation study found that mesomorphs are more likely to commit crimes and ectomorphs are the least likely. Isn’t surprising as most violent crimes are carried out by violent men.
Aggression levels are possibly due to high testosterone levels.
Strengths of Sheldon’s theory:
Glueck and Glueck (1956) found in their research that in a sample of delinquents, 60% were mesomorphs, while in a non-control sample, only 31% were delinquents.
Weaknesses of Sheldon’s theory:
Does not take into account that peoples body types are not fixed, they change constantly. If Sheldons theory is applied to real life, then wouldn’t personality types change when body does?
Not all mesomorphs are criminals.
Endomorphs and ectomorphs can also commit violent crimes.
Theory is harmful as it could lead to mesomorphs being targeted.
What are the individualistic theories of crime?
Psychodynamic - Bowlby, Freud, Megargee, Bandura.
Key terms for Freud: id = ego = superego = psyche =
id = desires ego = makes decisions superego = conscience psyche = personality
Freud believed that criminal behaviour is a results of ….
The psyche is determined in the …, which means that … is developed then too.
Freud believed that criminal behaviour is a results of poor development of the psyche.
The psyche is determined in the first few years of life, which means that criminal behaviour is developed then too.
What’s the pleasure principle?
The pleasure principle is id dominated so therefore seeks immediate gratification of needs.
What dominates in the reality principle?
The ego is dominated. Superego tells you what is right and wrong.
Criminals are children who …
don’t make the transition from the pleasure principle to the reality principle.
So, the criminal acts in a way that will immediately satisfy their needs.
Three reasons why a child does not make the transition from the pleasure to reality principle…
weak superego
deviant superego
strong superego
What does a weak superego mean?
The individual doesn’t really know right from wrong. They are happy to act in a way that satisfies the desires of their id, even if its wrong.
This develops as a results of poor/strange relationships with family members.
What does a deviant superego mean?
The superego develops in a normal way but it has deviant values.
The superego is meant to punish behaviours that the same sex parent would find unacceptable, but if the same sex parent is a a criminal themselves, the child won’t understand that these acts are wrong.
The child will not see these criminal acts as wrong.
What do the 2 types of strong superego mean?
- An excessively powerful superego will make the individual feel guilty most of the time as it would feel the need to punish them. This can be over even the smallest things. As a result of this, the individual may commit a crime in order to get caught and punished, easing the guilt they feel.
- An excessively strong superego can prevent an individual from expressing their desires, causing them to build up. This could build up until it becomes strong enough to overwhelm the ego and is expressed violently and suddenly through acts such as murder or rape.
Limitations of Freud (3 of them):
- Difficulty testing the theory due to intangible concepts such as the unconscious mind, so such theories are no longer accredited by psychologists.
- Unscientific and lacks objectivity as he knew his patients.
- Lack of quantitative data.
What did Bowlby state that separating a child from their mother would cause?
Bowlby stated that separating a child from their mother for more than 6 months in their first few years of life could cause them to struggle to form relationships with others.
What did Bowlby say that maternal deprivation can cause?
Maternal deprivation can cause individuals to lack empathy towards others creating an affectionless psychopath.