what makes a criminal? Flashcards
what physiological explanation of criminal behaviour did lombroso claim?
that there were physical differences between criminals and non-criminals, and that criminals could be identified by physical characteristics
what physiological explanation of criminal behaviour did sheldon claim?
people could be classified into three body shapes, which correspond with three different personality types
what did the belief in physiognomy lead to?
eugenics
what do modern physiological explanations suggest criminal behaviour is caused by?
genetics; hormones; low arousal levels
what genetic evidence did brunher find?
that a genetic mutation in five men from the same family results in MAOA deficiency and impaired serotonin metabolism, which is likely linked to retardation and aggression
what hormonal evidence did dabbs find?
out of 11 prison inmates with the highest testosterone levels, 10 had committed violent crimes. of the 11 lowest, 9 had committed non-violent crimes.
what does dabbs research suggest?
high levels of testosterone may be related to committing violent crimes
what low arousal evidence did raine and lui find?
a strong correlation between physiological measures (such as skin conductance, EEG, heart rate) taken at 15 and the number of offences committed by 24
what did raine and lui’s research show?
that criminals had a lower heart rate, skin conductance and more slow wave EEG activity than non-criminals
who was phineas gage?
he survived a severe brain injury which damaged his frontal lobe, and distinctly changed his personality
evaluating physiological explanations
reductionist as it ignores social factors; deterministic; cannot explain all crimes; biased samples; nature removes responsibility; ethnocentric; individualistic
what are non-physiological explanations of criminal behaviour?
social explanations and cognitive explanations
what are social explanations of criminal behaviour?
upbringing; learning from others
how does upbringing explain criminal behaviour?
farrington tested the hypothesis that problem families produce problem children, so devised a longitudinal study on men from 8-32
what did farrington’s study find?
by the age of 20, 48% with convicted fathers also had a conviction compared to 19% without.
54% of those with convicted mothers also had a conviction compared to 23% without.
how does learning from others explain criminal behaviour?
sutherland proposed differential association theory- that we learn to be criminals through social interactions with others
what is differential association theory?
you become a criminal when you accept the norms and values of the group, in preference to the norms and values of non-criminal groups
how does morality explain criminal behaviour?
links to kohlberg’s theory of moral development, and explains that criminals are at a lower level of moral development to the general population
evaluating non-physiological explanations
soft determinism; is all crime immoral?; most research is longitudinal which increases extraneous variables; suggesting nurture restores criminal responsibility through having a choice on how to behave
what did raine (1997) believe?
there was a relationship between low levels of activity in the pre-frontal cortex and violent behaviour
how did raine (1997) look at brain abnormality?
used PET scans to look at murderer’s brains
what was raine’s (1997) hypothesis?
that seriously violent offenders have localised brain damage in the pre-frontal cortex, the amygdala, the thalamus or the hippocampus
what were raine’s (1997) participants?
41 murderers all charged with murder/manslaughter and had pleased ‘not guilty by reasons of insanity’
matched with 41 non-murderers on characteristics such as sex age, and 6 with schizophrenia
what was raine’s (1997) study?
a quasi experiment, IV was murderers/non-murderers
what were the PET scans used for in raine’s (1997) study?
looked at the amount of metabolic activity in different parts of the brain. participants were given a continuous activity to activate the frontal lobes
what did raine’s (1997) study find?
that there were differences in murderer’s brains: reduced activity in pre-frontal cortex, corpus callosum, left hemisphere had less activity than the right, abnormal asymmetries in amygdala/thalamus- however both groups had similar performance in the task
what did raine (1997) conclude?
it is unlikely violence is due to a single brain mechanism, but that there is a link between brain activity and a predisposition for violence
why is it important to cut crime with biology?
early intervention is key as important cognitive growth happens in the womb and the first two years
what biosocial risk factors did raine (2013) list?
children of mothers who smoke during pregnancy have a 3x increase of becoming violent offenders; birth complications increase risk for ASB/crime; poor nutrition in pregnancy doubles rate of ASB
what do raine’s (2013) biosocial risk factors show?
that early maternal care is very important in the prenatal and postnatal periods of brain development
what did olds (1998) find?
intervention condition- monthly visits during pregnancy and first two years, advised on smoking, alcohol, nutrition/ normal condition- received standard care.
15 year-follow up showed 63% reduction in convictions for those in the intervention condition
what did raine find?
studied children with a low resting heart rate, who were then put into an intervention programme that involved nutrition, physical exercise, and cognitive stimulation.
at 11 this group could focus better, brain matured, and arousal levels increased.
at 17 they scored lower on conduct disorder ratings and were less cruel and likely to bully.
