theory evaluation

Question 1

Strength of Atavism

Answer 1

One strength of Atavism is that a more recent test was carried out that proves Lombroso’s theory. In 2015 an algorithm in China was trained to identify criminals based on their features. They used 1,500 pictures of Chinese citizens hundreds of them being convicts. It was reported that it could correctly identify criminals 89% of the time. This is a strength because it increases the theory’s validity as a recent test found the same conclusion of what is considered an outdated theory.

Question 2

Weakness of Atavism

Answer 2

One weakness of Atavism is that the study was only conducted on Italian prisoners. This means that these features can only be found in Italian men and can’t be assumed that it can be found in every country. This is a weakness because it makes the assumption these features to all people from other countries and to both genders making the theory unreliable.

Question 3

Strength of Shelodon’s Somataotype

Answer 3

One strength is the use of a big sample size. Sheldon studied 4,000 pictures of men to determine the body types then conducted a longitudinal research with another criminologist named Glueck who together studied a control group of Juveline delinquents. This is a strength because it increases the theory’s validity as extensive research was done.

Question 4

Weakness of Sheldon’s Somatotype

Answer 4

One weakness is there is possible bias, This is because the supporting research was also conducted by Willaim Sheldon. As a result it could be suggested that Sheldon deliberately seeked out Mesomorphics in prison in order to further prove his theory. This is a weakness because it decreases the theory’s reliability

Question 5

Strength of Brain Structure and Injury

Answer 5

One strength is that there is a lot of supporting evidence. A neuroscientist Jim Fallon as studying a series of of brain scans when he noticed some similarities between a few. He grouped together the brains that had low activity in the limbic system, temporal lobe and frontal lobe and was then informed that these brains belonged to criminals. This is a strength because it further shows a pattern of criminals having head injuries, further increasing the theory’s validity.

Question 6

Weakness of Brain Structure and Injury

Answer 6

One weakness is that you can have the structure of a psychopath but not be one. This is supported by the knowledge that Jim Fallon found that he posseses a similar structure to the brains he grouped together however he had not committed any crimes. This is a weakness because it demonstrates that there are other factors involved that cause criminality making this theory unreliable.

Question 7

Strength of Diet/Neurochemistry

Answer 7

one strength is that there is ecological validity. This is because in a normal situation, a lack of serotonin or low blood sugar can cause people to lash out harm someone and/or commit a crime. This therefore is a strength because it increases the theory’s reliability

Question 8

Weakness of Diet/Neurochemistry

Answer 8

One weakness is the study conducted by Raine and Scerbo. This was only a snapshot study meaning that it does not observe the changes in the individuals for a long amount of time, This is a weakness because it is an assumption that the antisocial behaviour was only due to serotonin levels and not for other reasons such as trauma.

Question 9

Strength of Twin Studies

Answer 9

One strength is that there is supporting evidence. Christiansen studied 3,586 twins from Denmark and found a concordance rate of 35% for monozygotic twins and 13% for dizygotic twins. This is a strength because it further proves that criminality is genetically caused.

Question 10

Weakness of Twin studies

Answer 10

One weakness is the concordance rate. As the concordance rate is only 35% it means that 65% of identical twins do not pursue criminal acts. This is a weakness because it proves there are other factors involved in criminality, not just genetics which decreases the theory’s reliability.

Question 11

Strength of Adoption Studies

Answer 11

One strength is that it separates genetics from the environment. As the children studied are only sharing an environment with their adoptive parents it makes it easier to differentiate their criminal behavior from their biological and adoptive parents. This is a strength because it increases the theory’s validity.

Question 12

Weakness of Adoption studies

Answer 12

One weakness is the supporting research. In 1975 Hutchings and Medneck studied 14,000 adoptive boys and that they were more likely to criminal records if their biological parents had one. This is a weakness because it is alpha bias in addition to it only being based in Denmark which means it cannot be universal to all countries

Question 13

Strength of XYY Syndrome

Answer 13

One strength is that it can be used as a baseline for comparison against men with one Y chromosome. Jacob et al suggested that men with XYY syndrome were more aggressive than men with one Y chromosome. He also found that there was an overpresentation of XYY men in prison with every 15 XYY men for 1000 XY prisoners. This is a strength because it increases the theory’s reliability.

Question 14

Weakness of XYY Sydrome

Answer 14

One weakness is that it is biological deterministic. This is because it places too much emphasis on a person’s genetics. This is a weakness because it doesn’t take into account an individual’s own free will.

Question 15

Strength of Freud’s psychodynamic approach

Answer 15

One strength of Freud’s psychodynamic approach is there is some physical evidence that parts of the brain can resemble the ego, superego, and id. It has been found that the frontal lobe performs the function of the superego and the limbic system performs the function of the id. This is a strength because it proves that the unconscious mind exists and that criminality can originate from the brain.

Question 16

Weaknesses of Freud’s psychodynamic theory

Answer 16

One weakness of Freud’s psychodynamic approach is it is difficult to tests these concepts. Most of Freud’s concepts are hypothetical and not scientific. This is a weakness because there is no concrete scientific evidence to support this theory, decreasing its validity.

Question 17

Strengths of Bowbly’s psychodynamic approach

Answer 17

Another strength of Bowlby’s psychodynamic approach is there is supporting evidence. Bowlby studied a group of 44 juvenile thieves and compared them to a control group of 44 adolescents. He found that 39% of the thieves had experienced complete separation from their mothers during the first five years of their lives. Compared with the 5% of the control group. This is a strength because it shows a correlation between maternal deprivation in infancy and criminal behaviour in adolescence

Question 18

Weakness of Bowlby’s psychodynamic approach

Answer 18

One weakness of Bowlby’s psychodynamic approach is that there is evidence to show that children can form attachments later in life. A child could go beyond the critical period without having an attachment and develop it later with a parent or another relative and still not pursue criminal behaviour. This is a weakness because it disproves bowlby’s theory that children need attachments at the critical period or the effects lead to criminality, therefore, making it unreliable.

Question 19

Strengths of Skinner’s operant conditioning

Answer 19

One strength of Skinner’s operant conditioning is the newer studies of brains. These demonstrated that the brain contained ‘reward centres’ that activate during positive reinforcement and are linked to the brain’s motivational centres. This is a strength because it means there is scientific data that backs up positive reinforcement increasing the likelihood of an action - in this instance criminality.

Question 20

Weakness of Skinner’s operant conditioning

Answer 20

One weakness of Skinner operant conditioning is the issue of extrapolation. Skinner only conducted animal research to prove that learning is encouraged by positive reinforcement however as Skinner did not conduct research on humans as well it meaning that his theory cannot be universal to humans. This is a weakness because it makes Skinner’s conclusions unreliable.

Question 21

Strength of Bandura’s social learning theory

Answer 21

One strength of Bandura’s social learning theory is that the variables in the bobo doll study were controlled. The variables such as gender and the actions of the models were controlled to ensure that the child’s reaction was natural. This is a strength because it allowed for greater accuracy increasing the theory’s validity.

Question 22

Weakness of Bandura’s social learning theory

Answer 22

one weakness of Bandura’s social learning theory is the that the doll was new to the child meaning they are more likely to follow the adult. Cumberbatch (1997) found that children who had not played with a bobo doll before are five times more likely to imitate the model. This is a weakness because it disproves that the children used aggression against the doll because of what they witnessed but did it because the doll was new to them and could perhaps believe that is how they are supposed to play with it.

Question 23

Strength of Labelling theory

Answer 23

One strength of the labelling theory is that it can make helpful predictions on who will commit a crime. For example, if someone is labelled as a felon that label follows them throughout their life and the labelling theory can predict if the individual is going to re-offend. This is a strength because it increases the theory’s reliabilty.

Question 24

Weakness of labelling theory

Answer 24

One weakness of the labelling theory is it is deterministic. This is because it implies that once someone is labelled, a deviant career is inevitable. This is a weakness because it places too much emphasis on society’s view of a person rather than their own free will.

Question 25

Strength of Marxism

Answer 25

One strength of Marxism is that it demonstrates how the laws reflect the power division of the social classes. This is a strength because it correctly shows how this inequality can lead to criminal behaviour further increasing the theory’s reliability.

Question 26

Weakness of Marxism

Answer 26

One weakness of Marxism is that it represents working-class crime as a creative response to oppression. When reality is that not much working-class crime is directed at upper-class people. This is a weakness because the theory does not fully explain why working-class people commit crimes.

Question 27

Strengths of Right Realism

Answer 27

One strength of Right Realism is the supporting research. Flood-page et al (2000) found that children from one parent backgrounds and step-families are more likely to offend than those who lived with two parents. This is a strength because it proves that the lack of social constraints cause people to commit crime which increases the theory’s reliability.

Question 28

Weakness of right realism

Answer 28

One weakness of right realism is that it is alpha bias. This theory focuses on young males committing street crime. This is a weakness because it is means it is not universal for both genders and not universal to all crimes

Question 29

Strength of Left Realism

Answer 29

Explores the role of the victim of crime especially the poor and vulnerable

Left realism explains street crime and organised crime.

Question 30

Weakness of Left Realism

Answer 30

Does not explain why not everyone in relative deprivation turns to crime.

Practical applications more idealistic than realistic

Question 31

Strength of Functionalism

Answer 31

functionalism can explain why utilitarian crimes such as property theft is more common than violent crime in the UK

Question 32

Weakness of Functionalism

Answer 32

Not all crimes can be explained such as non-utilitarian and upper class crimes

Crime is not functional to all members of society - not all crime is functional

Question 33

Strengths of Eysenck’s personality theory

Answer 33

One strength is that it can predict criminal behaviour. if this theory is correct and tendencies towards criminal behaviour are detectable then it can be found in childhood. This is a strength because it may be possible to intervene at an early stage and prevent such a development which therefore increases this theory’s reliability.

Question 34

Weakness of Eysenck’s personality theory

Answer 34

One weakness is it is deterministic. This theory suggests that personality is genetic and that, therefore, determines whether a person is criminal or not. This is a weakness because it fails to take into account a person’s own free will or consider that it may change over time.