unit 2 ac2.1 Flashcards
Lombrosos theory
Argued physics shape of the head and face determined the “born criminal”
A “born criminal” is an atavism where physical makeup mentality and instincts are similar to a primitive man
His common foundings were large ears, pronounced jaw and sloping broe in criminals which are indicators of low intelligence
He argued this meant individuals wete not responsible for their actions because its inherited
Strengths of Lombrosos theory
Supported by Charles Goriny who found low order intelligence in convicts
Recent Chinese study put ID photos of convicted criminals through an AI programme which identified the male criminals 83% of the time and wrongly flagged only 6% of innocent men
Focuses on preventing not punishing crime
Criticisms of Lombrosos theory
Didnt use control group of non-criminals
Gender bias- theorised women are less evolved so less likely to commit crime so females that were criminal had masculine features
Not everyone with atavistic features is criminal and not all criminals have them
Lombrosos 3 identifications of criminals
Born criminals- atavistic
Insane criminals- mental illness
Criminaloids- predisposed characteristics
William Sheldons somatotypes theory
Sheldon uses body measurements to correspond with personality.
Endomotphic(fat and soft) tends to be sociable and relaxed
Ectomprphic(thin and fragile) are introverted and restrained
Mesomorphic(muscular and hard) tend to be aggressive and thrill seeking
Sheldon and Glueck research on body types
800 delinquents compared to a matched sample of non- delinquents found that delinquents more likely to be mesomorphs
Strengths of Sheldons theory
Sheldon used a large sample of 200 and had a control group of non-offenders
The most deliquent individuals in the sample had more extreme mesomorphic body shapes
Other study- Glueck
Found 60% of offenders in their deliquent sample were metamorphs comapred to 31% in non-delqiquent sample
Criticisms of Sheldons theory
Doesn’t account for the endomorphs and ectomorphs that commit non-violent crimes
Social class is the cause of mesomorphy because criminals are mostly working class males in manual labour
Criminality causes somatype because they need to be able to physically succeed
Identical twins
Non-identical twins
Monozygotic twins
Fraternal or dizygotic twins
Genetic theories: twin studies
Early research found higher concordance for MZ thsn DZ twins which supports suggestion of genetiv influence. However early research was flawed by its poor methods for determining zygocity anf small samples.
Recent studies found lower estimates for the heritability of criminality
Lange twin studies
10/13 of the MZ twins had a co-twin also in prison
2/17 of the DZ twins had a co-twin also in prison
Concordance rate for MZ twins that showed criminal tendencies was much higher
Christiansen twin studied
Examined over 3500 twin pairs in Denmark
Male MZ 35% Male DZ 13%
Female MZ 21% Female DZ 8%
Concordance rates are low even for MZ twins showing environment still plays a large part
Role of gender in criminal behaviour
Strengths of twin studies
Because MZ twins are identical it is logical to examine whether their offending behaviour is also identical
Reliable- large scale studies found higher concordance for identical twins than fraternal
Criticisms of twin studies
Parents treat MZ twins more alike than they do DZ twins and so MZ twins feel closer and shoe similarity in their criminality too
Higher concordance rates between identical twins may be due to them sharing same environment
It’s impossible to measure the effects of genes separately from environmental effects
Genetic theories: Adoption studies
This theory looks at relatives, twins and siblings that are adopted at a young age which means they share genes but not the same environment as their parents.
By taking environment out the picture we can be sure genetics are the cause of criminality.
