Theories of Crime - Week 4 Flashcards
Goring (1913)
- 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
Kretschmer (1922-1925)
- Studied 260 criminally insane people
- Determined three body types
Kretschmer (1922-1925)
Body Type: Asthenic
- Learn, narrowly built, overall very skinny, ribs could easily be counted
Kretschmer (1922-1925)
Body Type: Athletic
- broad shoulders, well muscled, deep chest, flat stomach and powerful legs
Kretschmer (1922-1925)
Body Type: Pyknics
- medium built, often rotund, soft appearing with round shoulders, broad faces and short, stubby hands
Kretschmer (1922-1925)
Findings
- Ashtenics and Athletics were more likely to have schizophrenic personalities
- Pyknics often manic depressives
- His findings were not considered valid by scientific standards
Mohr & Gundalch (1930)
- tried to test Krethschmer’s work
- Published a report based on 254 white males
Mohr & Gundalch (1930)
- Pyknics more likely convicted of fraud or sex offences
- Ashetnics more likely convicted of burglarly, robbery or larceny
- Athletics often represented among violent offenders
Ernest A. Hooton (1939)
- Anthropologist from Harvard
- Studied 14,000 criminals and 3200 non-criminals from 8 states.
- His non-criminals were firefighters, and military members
Ernest A. Hooton (1939)
Findings
- “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
Ernest A. Hooton (1939)
Findings
- Individuals tall and thin more likely to be murders and robbers
- tall and heavy more likely to have committed murder, fraud or forgery
Ernest A. Hooton (1939)
Findings
- 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
Robert Sheldon and Eugenics
- 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
The Sexual Sterilization Act of Alberta
- 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
Adoption Studies
Mednick, Gabrielli & Hutchings (1984)
- 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
Genetic Abnormalities
- XY = male
- XX = female
- XYY = hypermales
- hypermales more aggressive and more prone to crime
- Researchers found that XYY males were not more aggressive than XY males
Hormonal Abnormalities
- testosterone is linked to aggressive and risk-taking
- excessive testosterone has with XYY males linked to involvement in criminal activity
Hormonal Abnormalities
- lack of serotonin may lead to increased frustration and aggression
- low levels of serotonin has been associated with crimes of passion and other impulsive crimes