Transcript Biological Theories of Crime - Washington State University

Biological Theories of
Crime
“Bad” vs “Sick” behavior
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXy524
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Reginald Davis
He has an IQ of 59, and is considered
mildly mentally retarded
Sexual Assault
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZI2Bz5sCY
Biological Theories
Biological theories tended toward seeing
crime as a form of illness, caused by
pathological factors specific to certain
classes of individuals
Biological Theories
The criminal is radically different from the
non-criminal
The Underlying Logic
Atavism
Defective
genes
Mental and
Physical
Inferiority
Inability to
Learn and
Follow legal
rules
Criminal
Behavior
Lombroso’s Atavism
“Atavism”-- physical makeup, mental
capabilities, and instincts of primitive man
Physical appearance and crime?
We often judge others by how they look even
though we know that “appearances are
deceiving”
Criminal “Type”
Most defense attorneys coach their clients
on how they should dress for court so jurors
will get the impression they are not the
“type” of a person who would commit a
crime
Character and physical appearance
Ancient Greeks and Romans believed in
“physiognomy” (physical features can
reveal a person’s natural disposition)
Physiognomy as Practiced in Europe
A choleric person is irritable and easily roused to anger
A melancolic person tends to feel sad
A phlegmatic person is not easily aroused to excitement
A sanguine person is optimistic
Cesare Lombroso (1835 –1909)
Rejected the Classical School
Instead, he stated that criminality is a result
of inborn abnormalities
Physical makeup is a “key”
Lombroso’s Theory
Observed the physical characteristics of
Italian prisoners and compared them to
Italian soldiers
Concluded that criminals were physically
different
Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909)
Asymmetry of the face or
head, large monkey-like ears,
large lips, twisted nose,
excessive cheek bones, long
arms, excessive skin wrinkles
The male with five or more of
these physical anomalies is
marked as a born criminal
Tattoos
Most of the “born criminals”
had them
Tattoos stood as evidence of both
insensitive to physical pain and immorality
( obscene nature of depictions/messages)
The Female Offender (1897)
Women have less chances
to transmit their genes
Degenerative traits in
women would be less
likely than such traits in
men to survive over time
Lombroso
Born criminal is unsuited for society
Theories of genetic superiority call for
policy in which whole peoples are to be
eliminated from the genetic stock of the
world in order to prevent crime
A Review of the work of Cesare Lombrosso
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n29YBw
BUTxM&feature=related
Frontispiece of
Criminal Man
Lombroso claimed that to
the trained eye, the eye
of the detective, these
people would clearly be
organized into categories
Those in group "A" are
all shoplifters, "B“ are
purse snatchers, "E" are
murderers, etc.
The New Sciences of Detection
By the 1880s, urban police forces began
developing new techniques for keeping
track of criminals, especially new
techniques of record-keeping
Mug Shots
The mug shot originated in the
1880s
These men are all forgers
Critique of Lombroso
Theory overlooks the bright and handsome
criminals
Theory ignores those who are ugly and live lives
of productive and cooperative labor
Critique of Lombroso
He was studying the very poor - people
whose physical development had been
affected by poverty, poor nutrition
Not everyone who breaks the law ends
up in prison
Charles Goring (1913)
Junior medical officer in the English prison service
He used statistical analysis to determine the
presence of 37 Lombrosian characteristics in the
criminal population (2,348 convicts)
Compared criminals with “non-criminal public”
(undergraduate students, soldiers, inmates of two
separate hospitals)
Lombroso’s theory motivated others to
search for characteristics that might cause
individuals to commit crime (e.g., body type,
biochemical imbalances).
W. Sheldon (1898-1977)
Sheldon was an American psychologist who spent
his life observing all the variety of human bodies
Three types of human body each having distinct
traits which define their personality:
• Ectomorph
• Endomorph
• Mesomorph
Ectomorph: Delicate Built Body, Flat Chest, Lean , Lightly Muscled, Small
Shouldered, Takes Longer to Gain Muscle, restrained and introverted
personality
Famous Ectomorphs
Lisa Kudrow, Kate Moss, Brad Pitt, Seth
Green, Edward Norton
Mesomorph: Athletic , Hourglass Shaped (Female), Rectangular Shaped
(Male), Mature Muscle Mass, Gains Muscle Easily, Thick Skin,
Competitive, adventurous and aggressive personality.
Famous Mesomorphs
Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone
Endomorph: The body is round and soft, physique presents the illusion that
much of the mass has been concentrated in the abdominal area, the hands and
feet are comparatively small, and the upper arms and thighs are often more
developed than the lower parts of the arms or legs, the body has a high waist.
The skin is soft and smooth, and the hair is fine
Famous Endomorphs
John Goodman, Roseanne, Jack Black
Endomorph, Mesomorph, Ectomorph
Combinations of Body Types
Very frequently, people fall into mixed categories,
such as:
Ecto mesomorphs--mesomorphs but with traits of
the ectomorph (such as small joints or a trim
waist)
Endo mesomorphs--mesomorphs but with traits of
the endomorph (such as a tendency to gain fat
easily)
Sheldon’s research (1949)
Observed four-hundred males in criminal
rehabilitation.
He found an overwhelming majority of the
sample taken were mesomorphs.
In contrast, there was a distinct lack of
ectomorphs
Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck (1956)
Compared 500 non-delinquents and 500
delinquent individuals in Boston Area
The boys were matched for age, intelligence,
residence and ethnic background
Over 60% of delinquents being identified as
being mesomorphic as opposed to only 30% of
non-delinquents
Questions/Problems
Maybe need a tough body to gain acceptance and
survive on the streets.
Mesomorphs can be more vulnerable to the
police
Mesomorphs from an early age may find using
aggression is an easy way to get what they want
Mesomorphs may have more success in crime
and may be likely included in gangs delving in
criminal activity
XYY: The super-male
As adults, these "super-males" are usually
tall (above 6 feet)
They produce high levels of testosterone.
Many, if not most, are unaware that they
have a chromosomal abnormality
XYY: The super-male
The findings of some studies that the
proportion of XYY males is prison
population (from 1 to 3 %) is higher than
in general male population (less than 1%)
The XYY “Super-male”
XYY syndrome is associated with an increased
risk of learning disabilities and delayed
development of speech and language skills
More XYY men are getting caught
Recently Proposed Biological Explanations
– Environmental Factors
• Pollutants
• Allergens
– Imbalances
• “Twinkie Defense”
• “PMS Syndrome”