topic 6 - biological explanations of criminality Flashcards
how did biological explanations of criminality influence early theories?
it caused people to believe that criminals had certain body types and facial characteristics that indicated whether they were a criminal and what type of crime they would be likely to commit.
what do the biological explanations of criminality not take into account?
do not take learning theories or experiences into account.
what does the biological explanations of criminality focus on?
brain, nervous system, genes and hormones
who conducted the study about twins for biologically explaining criminality?
Karl Christiansen (1977)
what did the twin study find?
Christiansen found that 35% of monozygotic male twins recorded in Denmark were both criminals compared to 13% of dizygotic male twins. For female twins, 21% of monozygotic twins and 8% of dizygotic twins were criminals. This may be because identical twins are more likely to have a similar upbringing which could explain why in comparison they have a higher criminal percentage.
what was another study conducted when using biological explanations of criminality?
adoption studies
who conducted the adoption studies for biologically explaining criminality?
Hutchings and Mednick (1975)
what did the adoption studies find?
Hutchings and Mednick found that 21% of adopted children who went on to the criminal path had a biological father who was convicted of a crime. This was compared to 10% of children whose biological father was not convicted of a criminal offence but the adoptive father had a criminal record.
what was the background to the adoption studies?
Biological and adoptive parents are compared to the child in terms of their criminal records affecting their potential chance to become criminals as well. Assuming that the children have been adopted at a young age, we can assume that any similarity between the biological parent and child is inherited.
what is the personality theory?
it explains that some personalities are associated with being a criminal while others do not. It suggests that a criminal personality trait is caused by internal, biological factors.
what is a personality?
it is a set of characteristics and qualities that determine our individual character
what does the term ‘temperament’ mean?
it is the nature someone is born with which affects their behaviour
who proposed a personality theory?
Hans Eysenck (1964)
what are the different personality traits and how many are there?
4: extraversion, introversion, neuroticism and psychoticism
what is the personality trait extraversion/ introversion?
it refers to two extreme ends of one dimension of personality. Extraversion is being outgoing and sociable whereas introversion is being reserved and quiet.
what is the personality trait neuroticism?
this refers to the level of nervous disposition of someone. There are two types: stable and unstable. Unstable neuroticism means they tend to be highly emotional an d over-react while stable neuroticism means they are calm and don’t over-react in situations.
what is the personality trait psychoticism?
this is a personality traits that is cold, lack empathy, anti-social and can be aggressive.
how was a persons personality measured?
through the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire.
what is the biological bias of personality? what did the different personalities mean?
People with high extraversion (E) scores on the questionnaire are believed to have a nervous system with low arousal level so they seek external stimulation to raise their biological arousal level. they do this from being outgoing and attention-seeking.
people with low extraversion (E) scores on the questionnaire are believed to have a nervous system characterised by high arousal so they avoid thrill and excitement in order to lower their biological arousal level.
unstable neurotics have a high neuroticism score (N) and are believed to have a nervous system that responds very quickly under stressful conditions so they tend to over-react quickly.
people with low N scores, stable neurotics are believed to have an unreactive nervous system meaning they are calm during stressful situations.
having a high P score means that a person is cold, lacks compassion and can be antisocial.
what is unstable neuroticism?
a personality trait associated with a person being over-reactive in stressful situations, over-emotional and axious
what is stable neuroticism?
a personality trait associated with a person being unreactive in stressful situations and emotionally unaffected.
what is psychoticism?
a personality trait associated with a person being cold, antisocial, lacks empathy and can be aggressive.
what is extraversion?
behaviour that is outgoing, sociable and sensation seeking.
what is introversion?
behaviour that is reserved, calm and quiet
what is the criminal personality?
high PEN scores are uncommon and have been associated with criminality.
what PEN scores do most people have?
they have moderate pen scores so they are moderately on psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism.
what is the process of socialisation?
it is how social conditions effect our behaviour and society. So as we grow up, we are punished for anti-social behaviour and we learn to associate misbehaving with the anxiety of being punished.
why are high PEN scores associated with criminality?
this is because people with high PEN scores have a biological nervous system that is more difficult to socialise because they do not associate their antisocial behaviour with the anxiety of being punished.
These personalities are quick to react due to their unstable neuroticism, sensation seeking due to their extraversion and lack empathy for others due to their psychoticism. Anti social behaviour is exciting and they do not take other peoples feelings under consideration.
what are strengths of Eysenck’s theory?
- there is evidence that people with these personality traits are associated with criminal behaviour. A study conducted by Farrington et al (1982) reviewed lots of studies that compared offenders and non-offenders. They found that there was a relationship between high P and N scores and criminal behaviour.
- it is a holistic theory as it combines biological (genetics and the nervous system), psychological (traits) and social (upbringing) factors into one theory. It is therefore more holistic on it’s approach to explaining criminal behaviour
what are weaknesses of Eysenck’s theory?
- It assumes that personality traits are fixed and stable. Traits that have a biological bias in our nervous system are viewed as unchanging throughout our life, however, it is possible that we change our behaviour according to the situation we are in. Criminality can therefore be considered to be more about environmental conditions than personality traits. Social conditions such as poverty may encourage criminal behaviour than the type of the nervous system we possess.
- It is unreliable as most of the evidence in the theory is based off self-report questionnaires. This evidence has a possibility to be flawed because people tend to answer questions about themselves in a way that best reflects desirable characteristics rather than undesirable ones. Also, the evidence comes from offenders only represents offenders that have been caught rather than the successful ones.
