Unit 2 - AC2.1 - Describe BIOLOGICAL theories of criminality Flashcards
What is a biological theory of criminality
how something within the biological structure of a person leads to criminal behaviour
what are the 3 biological theories
genetic explanations / physical theories / brain abnormalities
what are the 4 genetic explanation studies
osborn and west 1979 / christianson / mednick et al / jacob at al
(o&w)how many sons of non criminal fathers had convictions
13%
(o&w) how many sons of criminal fathers had convictions
40%
what is the name of the study into delinquent development
a Cambridge Longitudinal study
how many families were followed in the cam long study
397
what were the findings of the cam long study
half of the convictions from the 397 families were from just 23 families - the convictions were very concentrated of those families
what is the problem with the cam long study
its hard to separate the effect of genes and surroundings when families share the same environment
what study focused on chromosomes
JACOB ET AL
What is the name called when a male has an extra male chromosome (xyy instead of xy
super male syndrome
how many patients were studied in jacob et al
315
where was the study held
a special security hospital for developmentally disabled people in scotland
how many of the 315 males studied were taller and were WRONGLY characterised as being aggressive and violent and had an extra y chromosome
9
what is the weakness of jacob et al
a study Theilgarrd 1984 found no link between the extra chromosome and aggression , basically it’s WRONG
What is a physiological theory
these focus on an individuals physical form as an indicator of criminal behaviour
what are the 2 studies for physiological theories
Lombroso and sheldon (1942)
what did lombroso suggest in his study
criminals have similar features like prominent jaws, flattened or upturned nose, prominent brow ridges and large ears
what did Lombroso argue that humans were?
a separate species falling somewhere between modern and primitive humans
what did Lombroso propose from this observational evidence
violent criminals were throwbacks to less evolved human types, like PRIMITIVE SAVAGES
Did Lombroso say that criminals were born or made
born
what did Lombroso find from his post mortum on the serial murderer / rapist
a hollow part of the brain where the cerebellum should be
what sis Sheldon 1942 suggest in their study
mesomorph ( 8 ) body types are more likely to be criminal than ectomorphs ( I ) and endomorphs ( O ) body types
how many images of men did sheldon study
4000
what is ectomorphs
thin + fragile, introverted + restrained
what is mesomorphs
muscular + hard, more aggressive + adventurous
what is endomorphs
fat + soft, more sociable + relaxed
what was the scale that Sheldon rated the images on
7 point scale with resemblance to their mesomorph type
what were Sheldon’s findings
delinquents had a higher average mesomorph rating of 4.6 where normal students had 3.8
strengths of Lombroso’s study
first to make criminology a scientific study // challenged the idea that criminals have a choice // helped prevent future crime instead of just punishing it.
weaknesses of Lombroso’s study
methodology issues, as no non-criminal group was used // his work could be considered racist as he says that the criminals are primitive savages which could imply that non-western cultures are inferior and dangerous.
strengths of Sheldon’s study
his theory was supported by further research by Glueck and Glueck who found that 60 % of offenders in their study had a mesomorph body type
weaknesses of Sheldon’s study
its hard to establish cause and effect as those who commit crime may give themselves a meso body type as the work out because they want to look tough // conveyed offenders are mainly working-class males who typically are in manual jobs where a meso body type is often developed // many people with these features aren’t criminal and many criminals don’t have this body type
what are brain abnormality theories
theories that effect criminality which involve the brain structure
what are the two brain abnormality theories
Raine at al + McIsaac et al
what did raine et al suggest
Murderers had significantly less activity in certain brain areas.
how many murderers brains did raine et al scan
41
who did R et al compare the murderers brains with
a control group of non-murderers
which areas of the brain has less activity
lateral, medial and pre-frontal cortical areas which are associated with aggressive behaviour and poor impulse control
what did mcisaac et al suggest
female canadian prisoners who endured serious head injuries were more likely to end up in prison than those who had not
how many more times likely does mcisaac state that the one group are to commit crimes that the other
2.76
strengths of Raine et al theory
scientific equipment and methods // other studies have found a correlation between abnormal EEG readings which measure brain activity and psychopathic criminal behaviour
weakness of Raine et al
the generalisability of the results is limited bc the range of criminals used was so small // those committing other crimes may have different patterns of abnormal brain activity
weakness of McIsaac et al
different to establish cause and effect as the brain injury may have been as a cause of criminality through fights eg rather than the cause
