Theories of Crime - Week 4 Flashcards
1
Q
Goring (1913)
A
- Studied 3000 British convicts
- Compared them to control group of non-convicts
- over 8 years, he studied 96 different body characteristics and found no physical characteristics that could distinguish criminal from non-criminal
- Only thing he found is that criminal were often found to be smaller in height and weight than non-criminals
2
Q
Kretschmer (1922-1925)
A
- Studied 260 criminally insane people
- Determined three body types
3
Q
Kretschmer (1922-1925)
Body Type: Asthenic
A
- Learn, narrowly built, overall very skinny, ribs could easily be counted
4
Q
Kretschmer (1922-1925)
Body Type: Athletic
A
- broad shoulders, well muscled, deep chest, flat stomach and powerful legs
5
Q
Kretschmer (1922-1925)
Body Type: Pyknics
A
- medium built, often rotund, soft appearing with round shoulders, broad faces and short, stubby hands
6
Q
Kretschmer (1922-1925)
Findings
A
- Ashtenics and Athletics were more likely to have schizophrenic personalities
- Pyknics often manic depressives
- His findings were not considered valid by scientific standards
7
Q
Mohr & Gundalch (1930)
A
- tried to test Krethschmer’s work
- Published a report based on 254 white males
8
Q
Mohr & Gundalch (1930)
A
- Pyknics more likely convicted of fraud or sex offences
- Ashetnics more likely convicted of burglarly, robbery or larceny
- Athletics often represented among violent offenders
9
Q
Ernest A. Hooton (1939)
A
- Anthropologist from Harvard
- Studied 14,000 criminals and 3200 non-criminals from 8 states.
- His non-criminals were firefighters, and military members
10
Q
Ernest A. Hooton (1939)
Findings
A
- “biologically inferior criminals” had straighter hair, mixed patterns of eye colour, more skin folds in upper eyelids, sloping foreheads, pointed chins, projected cheek bones, ears with less roll on the rim and tattooing
11
Q
Ernest A. Hooton (1939)
Findings
A
- Individuals tall and thin more likely to be murders and robbers
- tall and heavy more likely to have committed murder, fraud or forgery
12
Q
Ernest A. Hooton (1939)
Findings
A
- Promoted genocide or complete segregation to eliminate physically, mentally and morally unfit from general population
- this would prevent passing on the inferior characteristics and would over time eliminate crime
13
Q
Robert Sheldon and Eugenics
A
- Eugenics: forced sterilization of people convicted of criminal offences
- selective breeding and sterilization of people who’ve committed crime would ensure that only non-criminals could reproduce and pass better genes to the next generation
14
Q
The Sexual Sterilization Act of Alberta
A
- In effect from 1920-1972
- 2800+ people were subjected to forced sterilization - many weren’t told it was happening to them
- Sterilized those with low IQ or mental abnormalities
- Leilani Muir became first person to successfully sue the Alberta government for her forced sterilization in 1959
15
Q
Adoption Studies
Mednick, Gabrielli & Hutchings (1984)
A
- found a statistically significant correlation between adoptees and biological parents for convictions of property crime
- that is if their biological parents had a conviction of property crime, it was statistically likely that the children would also be convicted of property crime regardless whether or not their adoptive parents had been convicted of property crime
- this did not exist for violent crimes
