Unit 2 topic 2 biological theories of crime

Question 1

What does the term physiological mean?

Answer 1

the branch of biology that deals with the normal functions of living organisms and their parts

Question 2

What is Lombroso’s “Born Criminal” theory

Answer 2

a theory which states that criminality is inherited and that people can be born a criminal and determined that there a criminal through their physical features.

Question 3

What did Lombroso mean by atavism?

Answer 3

Atavism by Lombroso argued that criminals are primitive savages who evolved backwards compared to non criminals (normal people)

Question 4

how many people did Lombroso carry out his experiments on and what did he find?

Answer 4

383 dead Italian criminals and 3839 living ones

He found that 40% of criminal acts could be accounted for by their physical characteristics

Question 5

what is atavism?

Answer 5

a recurrence of traits of an ancestors in a subsequent generation.

Question 6

what characteristics do atavistic people have according to Lombroso?

Answer 6

bloodshot eyes, big hawk like nose and thick lips

Question 7

what is meant by somatotypes?

Answer 7

the human body and physique type

Question 8

what is a ectomorph somatotype and its features?

Answer 8

skinny/thin torso body type

usually solitary and restrained

Question 9

what is a endomorph somatotype and its features?

Answer 9

fat/circular torso

usually relaxed and hedonistic

Question 10

what is a mesomorph somatotype and its features?

Answer 10

muscular/lean-shaped torso

usually energetic and adventurous

Question 11

which somatotype according to Sheldon was most likely to commit crime?

Answer 11

mesomorphs

Question 12

what findings were found from Sheldon’s study?

Answer 12

amount of criminal delinquents which possessed each body type
endomorph-3.4
ectomorph-1.8
mesomorph-5.4

Question 13

a strength of Lombroso’s theory of inherited criminality?

Answer 13

Lombroso was the first to apply science to criminality

Question 14

a weakness of Lombroso’s theory of inherited criminality

Answer 14

extremely deterministic idea that theory assumes people who are criminal can’t escape their destiny of being a criminal.

Question 15

a strength of Sheldon’s study of somatotypes?

Answer 15

gathers evidence that a greater proportion of crimes are committed by mesomorphs in the study of 200 male college students and 200 delinquets

Question 16

a weakness of Sheldon’s theory

Answer 16

only explains a specific type of crime (violence/physical)