Transcript Theories of Crime - Clydebank High School

Theories of Crime
Biology
Lombroso
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Lombroso in 1876 argued that the criminal
is a separate species, a species that is
between modern and primitive humans.
He argued that the physical shape of the
head and face determined the "born
criminal".
Lombroso
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3.
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William Sheldon believed that people could
be classified into three body shapes, which
correspond with three different personality
types.
endomorphic (fat and soft) tend to be
sociable and relaxed.
ectomorphic (thin and fragile) are introverted
and restrained
mesomorphic (muscular and hard) tend to
be aggressive and adventurous.
Sheldon, using a correlational study, found
that many convicts were mesomorphic, and
they were least likely to be ectomorphic
(Sheldon et al 1949).
Sheldon
Genetic - XYY
Normal Male
Genetic - XYY
Jacobs et al (1965) suggested that men
with the XYY syndrome were more
aggressive than normal 'XY' men. XYY
men are over-represented in the prison
population. There are 15 sufferers per
1,000 in prisons and 1 per 1000 in the
general population.
XYY Male
Neurophysiological
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Raine 1994 used PET scans to study the living
brains of impulsive killers. Damage was found in
the pre-frontal cortex, which controls impulsive
behaviour. The task used involved sustained
attention. It involved watching a screen for 32
minutes and responding every time a 0
appeared. Impulsive individuals also missed
many of the 0s. Oddly enough, pre-frontal under
arousal has also been found in politicians!
Neurochemical
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The brain’s chemistry can be influenced
by diet, for example, food additives,
pollution or hypoglycaemia (low blood
sugar levels associated with forms of
diabetes). Dawn Stanton attacked her
husband with a knife when
hypoglycaemic. But not all diabetics
without insulin act criminally.
Neurochemical
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Individuals who take large amounts of
steroids can become extremely violent
(known as "roid rage"). Steroids, usually
taken to increase muscle growth, also
increase testosterone levels. Horace
Williams, a body builder, beat a man to
death after taking two thousand times the
recommended dosage of steroids.
Monozygotic twins
Twin studies
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An 'MZ apart' study is when two monozygotic
children have been brought up apart. If both turn
out to be criminals then this would be support for
the genetic explanation. The degree of similarity
between two twins is known as the
concordance rate. This rate can then be
compared with dizygotic twins who are brought
up together ('DZ together').
Looking at a number of studies the average
concordance rate is 55% for MZ twins and 17%
for DZ twins (Bartol, 1999).
adoption studies
Biological parents
have criminal record
Adoptive parents
have criminal record
No
Yes
No
Yes
% of sons with
criminal record
(Mednick 1987)
% of sons with
criminal record
(Bohman, 1995)
No
13.5
3
No
20.0
12
Yes
14.7
7
Yes
24.5
40