xyy theory (jacobs)
- xyy syndrome is where men have an extra y chromosome
- xyy men are said to be more aggressive and violent
- jacobs argued that
... [Show More] this was true as xyy men are overrepresented in prison populations (15 per 1000 in prisons, 1 per 1000 in general population)
twin studies (lange & christiansen)
- is crime a heritable trait?
- testing the concordance rates of criminal activity between mz and dz twins
- lange - mz twins had higher concordance rates than dz twins
- christiansen - concordance rates were highest in mz male twins and lowest in female dz twins
adoption studies (hutchings & mednick)
- is crime biological (parents) or nature (adopted parents)?
- hutchings and mednick - higher proportions of boys with criminal convictions had biological parents with convictions too
- mednick - no relationship between criminal activity and adoptive parents and children
atavistic features (lombroso)
- born criminal
- criminals had atavistic features (e.g. high cheekbones and large ears)
- found that 40% of criminal acts were accounted for by atavistic characteristics
somatotypes (sheldon)
- endomorphs - sociable and relaxed (fat and soft)
- ectomorphs - introverted and restrained (thin and fragile)
- mesomorphs - aggressive and adventurous (muscular and hard)
- mesomorphs most likely to commit crime
brain abnormality (raine)
- damage to the pre-frontal cortex can change an individual's behaviour
- raine studied pet scans of impulsive killers
- damage to the pre-frontal cortex was found in the criminals
neurochemicals (scerbo & raine)
- brain's chemistry can be influenced by diet
- low levels of serotonin can cause higher aggression
- scerbo and raine (found low serotonin levels in anti-social individuals)
- steroids make people violent and increase testosterone
social learning theory (bandura)
- people learn by watching others' behaviour
- bandura's bobo doll experiment
- 3 groups (one given an aggressive role model, one given a non-aggressive role model, one control group)
- observational learning can take place in the family, in subcultures and media
- james bulger case and the child's play 3 theory
psychodynamic theory (freud)
- behaviour is learnt from when we were a child
- our psyche is divided into 3 parts
- the id, the ego and the superego
- the superego causes us to commit crime
- 3 types of superego (weak, strong and deviant)
- non-criminals have a balance of all 3 psyche components
- bowlby's maternal deprivation theory (stems from oedipus complex)
- delinquents are more likely to have a separated relationship with their mothers
psychological theory (eysenck)
- certain personality types are more predisposed to being criminal
- 3 dimensions of personality
- extraversion (e), neuroticism (n) and psychotisicm (p)
- people who score highly in the epi on these categories are more likely to commit crime
marxism (althusser, chambliss, pearce & hall)
- see crime inevitable in capitalist society
- argue that white collar crimes are ignored
- believe that different social classes are policed differently
- governments fabricate stats to get public support
functionalism (durkheim & merton)
- crime is inevitable as not every member is socialised into the same values
- crime is functional and is only dysfunctional when rates are too high or low
- collectrive sentiments are too weak, anomie will happen
- crime strengths social cohesion
- deviance is a safety valve for crime
- merton's strain theory
interactionism (becker & lemert)
- becker (official stats are socially constructed)
- lemert (primary and secondary deviance)
- acts that aren't labelled as deviant (primary)
- the deviant's crime becomes their master status (secondary)(e.g. terrorist or rapist)
- media demonises these people
right realism (murray)
- murray - the failed socialisation of the underclass causes crime
- zero tolerance policing (e.g. Times Square)
left realism (lea & young)
- crime lies in inequalities in society
- people are motivated by consumerism
- broken windows theory
- disagree with military policing
xyy theory evaluation
S: Jacobs found a correlation between XYY sufferers and criminality.
S: Adler - argued that violence was partly caused by genetics.
W: Genetic abnormalities are very common and widespread so can't explain aggression.
W: Focuses too much on genetics.
W: Theilgaard - found that aggression wasn't associated with XYY men.
twin studies evaluation
S: Twin studies are natural experiments.
S: Christiansen - supports this view.
S: Results have helped prevent crime in vulnerable people.
W: Early twin studies lack validity as they decided if the twins were MZ or DZ from appearance not DNA.
W: Small samples mean the results aren't representative.
W: If twins are brought up in the same environment, this would support the nurture explanation.
adoption studies evaluation
S: It is easier to separate genetic and environmental factors.
S: Studies have found that there is a correlation.
W: Age of adoption can affect if the biological parent had more of an influence or not.
W: Information about biological parents isn't always available.
W: Adoption processes aren't always random.
atavistic features evaluation
S: First person to give criminology a scientific credibility.
S: Goring - found a lower intelligence among convicts.
S: Bath Spa University - less attractive people are more likely to be considered guilty.
S: Lombroso challenged the idea that criminals were evil.
S: Lombroso labelled prisons as 'criminal universities' which is supported by today's recidivism rates.
S: His work began the original ideas of profiling.
W: Didn't use a control group.
W: Lack of accuracy.
W: Not everyone with atavistic features is a criminal.
W: Goring - found no differences between criminals and non-criminals in behaviour.
W: Scientific racism.
W: Deterministic.
somatotypes evaluation
S: Number of other studies have confirmed a correlation.
S: A good-sized sample was used.
S: Glueck and Glueck - 60% of delinquents were mesomorphs.
S: Findings were accurate.
W: Can't explain criminality among endo/ectomorphs.
W: Doesn't take into account that somatotypes aren't fixed.
W: The courts may treat mesomorphs more harshly.
social learning theory evaluation
S: The experiment did show a correlation.
S: Gender as a variable was controlled.
S: The study is reliable.
W: The study has low natural validity as it is a study of imitation.
W: Unethical as it exposes children to violence.
W: Cumberbatch - children who had never played with a bobo doll before were 5x more likely to imitate the model .
psychodynamic theory evaluation
S: Just because the theory is odd, doesn't mean it is wrong.
S: Theories have contributed to research about crime.
S: The id, ego, superego all relate to parts of the brain (id=limbic system, ego = pre-frontal cortex)
W: Psychodynamic theories are no longer accredited.
W: Unscientific and unfalsifiable.
W: Lack of quantitative data. [Show Less]