Unit 2 AC3.2 Flashcards
What are the general criticisms of biological theories of criminality?
- Environmental factors - Biological theories ignore environmental factors. Biology may give criminal characteristics but may need an environmental trigger.
- Sample bias - Researchers often use studies of convicted criminals, but these may not be representative of the criminals who got away. Can’t generalise crime.
- Gender bias - Most research focuses on males, does not explain female criminality
- Crime is a social construct - What counts as crime varies between cultures and over time, so it makes no sense to look for universal explanations.
What is the key idea of Lombroso’s theory
Lombroso argued that criminals are physically different from non-criminals, for example in terms of their facial characteristics.
What are the strengths of Lombroso’s theory?
- Lombroso was the first to study crime scientifically
- Research shows the importance of examining clinical and historical records
- His later work took some limited account of social and environmental factors
- By arguing that offenders were not freely choosing to commit crime, Lombroso helps us focus on how to prevent offending rather than punishment
What are the limitations of Lombroso’s theory?
- Research since Lombroso has failed to show a link between facial features and crime
- He failed to compare his findings with a control group. He only studies Italian men in prisons, not any women nor any non-criminals
- By describing criminals as ‘primate savages’, Lombroso equates non-western societies with criminals - a form of racism
What is the key idea of Sheldon’s somatotypes theory?
Sheldon argued that somatotypes are related to criminality. Mesomorphs are muscly, ectomorphs are tall and thin and endomorphs have rounder bodies.n
What are the strengths of Sheldon’s somatotypes theory?
- Other studies have replicated Sheldon’s finding. (Glueck and Glueck found that 60% of the offenders in the study were mesomorphs)
- The most serious delinquents in Sheldon’s sample were the ones with the most extreme mesomorph body type
What are the strengths of Sheldon’s somatotypes theory?
- Glueck and Glueck found criminality is best explained by a combination of psychological, biological and environmental factors
- Criminals may develop mesomorph body type (using the gym in prison)
- Social class may be the cause of offending and of body type. Working class jobs are typically more manual.
- Labelling may play a part. Mesomorphs are labelled as tough, self-fulfilling property or attract police attention.
- Sheldon doesn’t account for ecto/endomorphs who commit crime
What is the key idea of twin studies?
Genetic theories argue that crime has genetic causes. Identical (MZ) twins genetically identical, so if one twin is a criminal, we should find the other one is too.
What are the strengths of twin studies?
- Because MZ twins are genetically identical it is logical to examine if their offending behaviour is identical
- Twin studies support genetic theories. (Ishikawa and Raine found a higher concordance rate for identical twins than non-identical twins)
What are the limitations of twin studies?
- If genes were the only cause of criminality, the concordance rate would be 100%
- High concordance rates may be due to shared environment
- Identical twins are treated the same and are closer than non-identical, one twin may be influenced by the other
- It is impossible to isolate and measure the effect of genes separately from environmental factors
- In early studies there was no way of knowing for certain if twins were identical, DNA testing did not exist.
What is the key idea of adoption studies?
Comparing adoptive children’s level of criminality with both of their biological and adoptive parents may allow us to see how far genes influence criminality.
What are the strengths of adoption studies?
- Adoption studies overcome the problem faces with twin studies, where biological twins are brought up in the same household
- The research is logical - nature v nurture
- Findings give some support to genetic theories
What are the limitations of adoption studies?
- (Gottfredson and Hirschi argue adoptive studies show genes have little effect on criminality)
- Adopted children are often placed in environments similar to their birth family i.e. local area, class and ethnicity
- Many children are not adopted immediately after birth, early environment may have an impact
What is the key idea of XYY syndrome?
Some men have an extra male Y chromosome, which may cause violent behaviour
What are the strengths of XYY syndrome?
- Jacob et al found an association between XYY syndrome and offenders imprisoned for violent behaviour
- Price and Whitmore found some link between the syndrome and property crime
What are the limitations of XYY syndrome?
- Doesn’t explain female criminal behaviour
- Even if some violent offenders have the syndrome, this doesn’t prove it is the cause of violence
- XYY males are tall and well built, they fit the stereotype of a ‘violent offender’ and get labelled as such, XYY over-represented in samples, overstates
- XYY males may be overrepresented in prison because they have low intelligence - prison sample skewed
- Syndrome is rare (about 1 in 1,000 men) therefore cannot explain crime
What is the key idea of brain injuries and disorders as a theory of criminality?
Injuries, disorders and diseases of the brain may cause it to malfunction in ways that change personality, morals or self-control, leading to criminal behaviour.
What are the strengths of brain injuries and disorders as a theory of criminality?
- In a few extreme cases, brain injury or disease has led to major changes in individuals personality and behaviour
- There is some correlation between abnormal EEG (Brainwave) readings and psychopathic criminality
- Prisoners are more likely to have brain injuries
What are the limitations of brain injuries and disorders as a theory of criminality?
- Crimes caused by brain injuries or diseases are rare. The sufferer’s original personality is more important.
- It is not clear that abnormal brain wave activity causes psychopathic criminality
- Prisoners’ higher likelihood of brain injury could be a result of criminality rather than the cause of it (fights for example)
What is the key idea of biochemical explanations?
Biochemical factors may trigger criminal behaviour by affecting brain chemistry and mental processes
What are the strengths of biochemical explanations?
- Sexual hormones, blood sugar levels and substance abuse can affect mood, judgement and aggression
- Testosterone and male offending peak at the same age
- Crack cocaine strongly linked to violent crime
- Alcohol produces disinhibition reducing se;lf-control
- Biochemical factors recognised by court. (Death of a baby caused as a result of post-natal depression (partial defence))
What are the limitations of biochemical explanations?
- Biochemical processes may predispose some individuals to offend, may require an environmental factor to trigger behaviour
- Scarmella and Brown found testosterone levels do not greatly affect aggression
- Schalling found high testosterone levels in young men led to verbal aggression but not physical
- Infanticide may be due to isolation and responsibility for caring for a new baby rather than hormones
What are the general criticisms of individualistic theories
- Artificiality: research conducted in laboratories
- Sample bias: studies often on convicted criminals, these may not be representative of the criminals that got away
- Neglect of social factors: little account for the social factors that cause criminality such as poverty and discrimination
What is the key idea of Freud’s theory?
Freud’s psychoanalytic theory explains criminal behaviour in terms of faulty early socialisation preventing the individual resolving unconscious conflicts between the ID and the Superego.
What are the strengths of Freud’s theory?
- The theory points to the importance of early socialisation and family relationships in understanding criminal behaviour
- Psychoanalytic explanations have had influence on policies
What are the limitations of Freud’s theory?
- Critics doubt the existence of an ‘unconscious mind’
- Psychoanalytic explanations are unscientific and subjective - rely on claims
What is the key idea of Bowlby’s theory?
Bowlby stresses the importance of parent-child bond. He sees maternal deprivation as a cause of criminality.
What are the strengths of Bowlby’s theory?
- Bowlby’s research provided statistical evidence.
- His work shows the need to consider the role of parent-child relationships in explaining criminality
What are the limitations of Bowlby’s theory?
- It was a retrospective study. Relies on recall
- Bowlby accounts for the 39% of children in terms of maternal deprivation but not the 61%
- Bowlby’s own later study found no evidence of ‘affectionless psychopathy’
- Sammons and Putwain note the idea of a link between maternal deprivation and criminality is no longer accepted
What is the key idea of Eysenck’s personality theory?
Eysenck sees criminality as the result of extraverted-neurotic personality. Extraverts seek stimulation, leading to rule breaking, while neurotics’ anxiety prevents them learning from punishment.
What are the strengths of Eysenck’s theory?
- The theory is useful to describe how measurable tendencies could increase the risk of offending
- Eysenck predicts that high E, N and P scored lead to criminality and some studies support this theory
What are the limitations of Eysenck’s theory?
- Farrington examined a range of studies. These show prisoners are neurotic and psychotic, but not extraverted
- The E scale may be measuring two separate things - impulsiveness and sociability
- Evidence shows a correlation between personality and crime. Could prison cause people to become neurotic
- Theory uses a self-report questionnaire - relies on honesty
What is the key idea of Sutherland’s Differential Association theory?
Sutherland argues that we learn criminal behaviour through socialisation in social groups where the attitudes and values we are exposed to in these groups favour law-breaking.
What are the strengths of Sutherland’s Differential Association theory?
- Crime running in family supports the theory i.e. learn from parents
- Matthews found that juvenile delinquent are more likely to have friends who commit antisocial acts i.e. learn from peers
- Attitudes of work groups can normalise white collar crime
What are the limitations of Sutherland’s Differential Association theory?
Not everyone who is exposed to ‘criminal influences’ becomes a criminal. They might learn from family or peers how to commit crime, but never put this into practice.
What is the key idea of the Operant Learning theory?
If a particular behaviour results in desirable outcomes, it is likely to be repeated. If it results in an undesirable outcome, it is unlikely to be repeated.
What are the strengths of the Operant Learning theory?
- Skinner’s studies of learning in animals show they learn from experience through reinforcement. Some human learning is also this kind
- This can be applied to offending. Jeffery states that if crime leads to more rewarding than punishing outcomes, they will be more likely to offend
What are the limitations of the Operant Learning theory?
- Operant learning is based on studying animals. This is not adequate model of humans
- The theory ignores internal mental processes such as thinking, values and attitudes
- Humans have free will and can choose their course of action
What is the key idea of the Social Learning theory?
Bandura argues that we learn behaviour through observation and imitation of others. If we see a model being rewarded for acting in a deviant way, we don’t need to experience the reward ourselves in order to copy it.
What are the strengths of the Social Learning theory?
- Unlike Skinner, Bandura takes into account the fact that we are social beings. Learn from experiences of others
- Bandura shows that children who observed aggressive behaviour being rewarded, imitated that behaviour. Shows importance of role models
What are the limitations of the Social Learning theory?
- Theory is based on laboratory studies. Artificial setting, findings may not be valid for real-life settings
- Theory assumes behaviour is completely determined by learning experiences, ignores freedom of choice - conflicts legal views
- Not all observed behaviour is easily imitated
What is the key idea of the criminal personality theory?
Yochelson and Samenow’s theory sees criminal behaviour as the result of errors and biases in criminals’ thinking patterns.
What are the strength’s of the Criminal personality theory?
- The idea that criminals’ thinking patterns are different has led to further research
- Successful treatment, CBT has been developed
What are the limitations of the Criminal personality theory?
- No control group of non-criminals to compare
- Sample was representative. No women, most of the men found insane/psychiatric patients
- High sample attrition. Only 30 in the study at the end
What is the key idea of the Moral Development theory?
The theory argues that criminals are stuck at an immature stage of moral development unable to make correct moral choices, which leads to criminal behaviour.
What are the strengths of the Moral Development theory?
- Some studies show delinquents are more likely to have immature development
- Thornton and Reid found the theory to be truer for crimes such as theft than violent crimes
