Biological

• Criminal tendencies can be genetic and therefore inherited from family members
• These theories would argue that a person is 'born bad'
• Four areas in this section

  • Physiological Theories
  • Genetic Theories
  • Brain Injuries and Disorders
  • Biochemical Explanations
• Genetic Theories


  Argues crime is passed down from parent to child
• Genetic Theories date back to the 1700s
• Criminal Family Case Studies


  • The Kray Twins
  • The Persico Family
  • The Gotti Family
• The Kray Twins

  • Reggie and Ronnie Kray
  • London (East End)
  • Extortion, gambling, control of nightclubs
  • Arrested in 1968, convicted of murder and received life sentences
• The Persico Family


  • Carmine and Alphonse Persico
  • Mainly In New York
  • Racketerring, extortion, organised crime
  • Carmine Persico - serving lengthy prison sentences
• The Gotti Family


  • John Gotti Sr and Jr
  • Mainly in New York
  • Murder, illegal gambling, loan sharking
  • John Gotti Sr - Arrested and convicted of various charges in 1990
• Monozygotic


  Identical twins would come under this bracket. They are from the same fertilised egg. Share 100% of their DNA.
• Dizygotic


  These twins are from two separate eggs and share 50% of their DNA.
• Concordance


  Both twins share a characteristic there is said to be a concordance rate
• Monozygotic twins are likely to have a higher concordance rate
• Christian's Study (Denmark)

  52% concordance rate between MZ twins where one identi cal twin had a conviction. 22% concordance rate between DZ twins
• Ishikawa and Raine


  44% concordance rate between MZ twins and 21.6% with DZ twins
• Johannes Lange (Germany)

  10/13 MZ twins had both served time in prison vs 2/17 in DZ twins
• Adoption Studies


  Principle of explaining behaviour based on the comparison of criminals with both their biological and adoptive parents
• Nature


  • Inherit a predisposition to criminality
  • Advocates for biological interventions
  • Considers the structure of the brain
• Nurture


  • Highlights the role of upbringing and family
  • Role of conditioning is emphasised
  • Negative experiences/lack of opportunity
• An interactionist theory would argue that both nature and nurture play a role
• Hutchings and Mednick (1975)


  Studied 14,000 adopted children and found a high proportion of boys with criminal convictions had biological parents with convictions too
• Mednick et al. (1994)


  Found no relationship between the number of criminal convictions of adoptive parents and their adoptive children. Did find a relationship between the biological equivalent
• It is important to know whether or not adoption took place soon after birth as this can impact the influence of nature vs nurture
• Jacob's XYY Study


  Criminal behaviour might be attributable to chromosomal abnormality
• Chromosomes carry genes (genetic information we inherit)
• XX chromosomes


  Indicates a woman
• XY chromosomes


  Indicates a man
• XYY chromosomes


  Indicates a 'super male syndrome' characterised by men who are tall, well built and low intelligence
• Jacob et al. argued that men with XYY syndrome are likely to be more aggressive and potentially violent
• 1.5% of prisoners have XYY syndrome vs 0.1% in the general population
• Evidence for the XYY theory is largely based on imprisoned criminals such as those in psychiatric hospitals
• John Wayne Gacy

  • An example of a case study with an individual who had an XYY chromosome
  • Sexually assaulted, tortured and killed at least 33 men in the USA
• There may be problems in drawing conclusions from secure psychiatric hospitals as the sample is not representative
• Physiological Theories


  This theory focuses on the believe that a person's physical form as an indicator of criminality
• Cesare Lombroso


  • Pioneered the use of scientific methods in criminology
  • Argued that a criminal was a separate species, a species that is between modern and primitive humans
  • Stated that a 'born criminal' could be determined by the physical shape of the head and face
• Features Lombroso argued were present in criminals


  • Large or forward projection of the jaw
  • High cheekbones
  • Flattened or upturned nose
  • Low, sloping forehead
  • Long Arms relative to lower limbs
  • Large Ears
• Lombroso claimed that criminality was heritable and that those who committed crimes had atavistic or primitive features
• Cesare Lombroso's Theory


  • Strengths: First study to study crime scientifically using objective measurements, highlighted importance of examining clinical/historical records
  • Limitations: Later research failed to support link between facial features and criminality, fundamentally racist approach, lack of control group
• Besides physical traits, Lombroso also suggested other aspects of a born criminal such as insensitivity to pain, use of criminal slang, tattoos and unemployment
• Sheldon's Somatotypes Theory


  William Sheldon (1949) advanced a theory that certain body types or 'somatotypes' are linked to criminal behaviour