2.1

• what are the different types of biological theories?

  physiological, genetic, brain injuries and disorders and biochemical
• what are the physiological theories?

  lombroso’s ‘born criminals’ and sheldon’s somatotypes
• what do physiological theories claim?

  that the physical features of criminals differ from those of non-criminals
• when was the first physiological theory of criminality put forward and by who?

  1876 by cesare lombroso
• what did lombroso argue?

  that criminals were physically different from non-criminals
• what did lombroso’s research include?

  measuring and recording details of the heads and faces of thousands of prisoners
• what did lombroso conclude from his research?

  that criminals could be identified by their distinctive physical features such as enormous jaws, high cheek bones, handle-shaped ears, prominent eyebrow arches, exceptionally long arms, large eye sockets and extremely acute eyesight
• what are two examples of specific types of criminals having different features?

  murderers having aquiline noses and thieves having flattened noses
• what does atavistic mean?

  primitive
• lombroso believed criminals as atavistic, what did this mean?

  he saw them as pre-social, unable to control their impulses and having a reduced sensitivity to pain
• what are the two types of criminal lombroso went on to identify?

  insane criminals and epileptic criminals
• what was william sheldon’s theory?

  somatotypes
• what are the three different somatotypes?

  endomorph, mesomorph and ectomorph
• describe endomorphy


  rounded, soft and tending to fat, lacking muscle or tone, with wide hips. their personality is sociable, relaxed, comfortable and outgoing
• describe mesomorphy


  muscular and hard bodied, with very little fat and strong limbs, broad shoulders and a narrow waist. their personality is adventurous, sensation-seeking, assertive and domineering, and they enjoy physical activity
• describe ectomorphy


  thin and fragile, lacking both fat and muscle. they are flat chested, with narrow hips and shoulders, a thin face and high forehead. their personality is self-conscious, fragile, inward looking, emotionally restrained and thoughtful
• what was the somatotype sheldon believed to be most likely to engage in crime?

  mesomorphs
• what are the different genetic theories?

  twin studies, adoption studies and jacob’s xyy study
• what did the cambridge study in delinquent development find?

  out of 397 families half of all criminal convictions came from just 23 families
• what did osborn and west find?

  sons of criminal fathers were much more likely to have a criminal record too
• in monozygotic twins, what is the likelihood if one twin is criminal?

  that the other twin is also criminal
• how many twin pairs did christiansen study?

  3586
• what did christiansen’s study find?

  a 52% concordance rate between mz twins for criminality but only a 22% concordance rate between dz twins
• what did ishikawa and raine find?

  a 44% concordance rate between mz twins for criminality but only a 21.6% concordance rate between dz twins
• what do adoption studies do?

  compare adopted children both to their biological birth parents and to their adopted parents
• how many adopted sons did mednick et al examine data on?

  over 14,000
• when did mednick et al take place?

  1924 to 1947
• what were the concordance rates for criminality found by mednick et al?

  20% for biological parents and 14.7% for adopted parents
• what did hutchings and mednick find?

  adoptees with criminal records were more likely to have biological parents with criminal records
• what has xyy syndrome sometimes been labelled as?

  ‘super male syndrome’
• what do men with xyy tend to be?

  very tall and well built, and of low intelligence
• what does jacob et al claim?

  men with xyy are more aggressive and potentially violent than other males
• who did jacob et al study?

  imprisoned criminals in psychiatric hospitals
• what did jacob et al find?

  a higher than average proportion of the inmates were found to have xyy syndrome
• what did price and whatmore find?

  xyy males were immature and unstable with a strong tendency to commit seemingly motiveless property crimes
• certain diseases, injuries and malfunctions of the brain have been linked to what?

  criminal behaviour
• what happened to phineas gage?

  his personality changed after a major brain injury
• what are prisoners more likely than non-prisoners to have?

  brain injuries
• what was encephalitis lethargica linked to among children in the 1920s?

  destructiveness, impulsiveness, arson and abnormal sexual behaviour
• what brain diseases have been linked to deviance and anti-social behaviour?

  senile dementia, huntington’s disease and brain tumours