UNIT 2 - AC3.2 - EVALUATE EFFECTIVENESS OF CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIMINALITY Flashcards
strengths of lombrosos theory:
-he was the first person to give criminology a scientific credibility
- BUTCHER AND TAYLOR (2007) less attractive individuals are more likely to be guilty
weaknesses of lombrosos theory:
-lack of control group
- DELISI (2012) scientific racism specific to african descent
strengths of sheldons theory:
-good sized sample
- GLUEK AND GLUEK (1956) mesomorphy in 60% delinquents, 31% non delinquents
weaknesses of sheldons theory:
- somatotypes can change throughout a lifetime, it is not made clear whether personality changes too
- doesn’t explain why ecto and endomorphs can be criminal
strengths of jacob et als theory
- ALDER ET AL (2007) aggressive behaviour is partly determined by genetics
- PRICE AND WHATMORE (1967) links between XYY chromosome and property crime
weaknesses of jacob et als theory:
- THEIGAARD (1984) - characteristic of aggression was not associated with the XYY men
- reductionist
strengths of twin studies:
- CHRISTIANSEN (1977) criminality has a genetic component
- prevention of vulnerable disorders
weaknesses of twin studies:
-small sample size
- nurture debate
strengths of adoption studies
-easy to separate genetic and environmental factors as the children are brought up in a different environment to their biological parents
-correlation between adopted children and biological parents
weaknesses of adoption studies
- age of adoption can mean they may have already been influenced by their biological parents
- information about biological family isn’t always available
strengths of the social learning theory
- WALMSEY 1/3 of uk prisoners have a family member in prison
- study has been replicated with small changes and similar results have been found
weaknesses of social learning theory
- CUMBERBATCH (1977) children who has not played with bobo dolls before were 5x more likely to imitate
- low ecological validity; modelling typically takes place within the household
strengths of freuds psychodynamic theory
- CURRIE AND TEKIN (2006) abuse and neglect doubles likelihood of committing crime
- contributed to research on criminal behaviour and childhood experiences
weaknesses of freuds theory
- it is unscientific; it is impossible to test the unconscious mind
- gender bias; women develop weaker superegos naturally
strengths of eysencks theory
- considers both the nature and nurture side of the debate
- DEYOUNG (2010) link between PEN scores and brain processes
weaknesses of eysencks theory
- BARTOL AND HOLANCHOCK (1979) only studied convicted criminals, bias?
- FARRINGTON ET AL (1996) self report measures can uncover a bias and deliberately false answers
strengths of the marxist theory
- accounts for how white collar crime is under policed
- demonstrates inequality between social classes
weaknesses of marxist theory
- ignores factors such as gender
- not all capitalist societies have high crime rates
strengths of interactionism theory
- highlights selective law enforcement
- emphasises media damage and moral panics
weaknesses of interactionist theory
doesn’t guarantee self fulfilling prophecy
ignores victim and focuses on criminal (can potentially romantasice crime)
strength of right realism
- FLOOD PAGE ET AL link between single parents and criminality
- contributory to government research (victim surveys)
weaknesses of right realism
heavily focuses on young males and street crime, ignores white collar crime
ignores increasing gap between rich and poor
strengths of left realism
explores the role of the victim more than any other criminological theory
highlights the importance of poverty and crime
weaknesses of left realism
over predicts blue collar crime
can be argued it is made up from a mixture of other theories
