A.C.2.1

• Biological theories of criminality

  • Physiological
  • Genetic
  • Brain injuries
  • Biochemical explanations
• Individualistic theories of criminality

  • Learning theories
  • Psychodynamic and psychological theories
• Sociological theories of criminality

  • Marxism
  • Labelling
  • Functionalism and left and right realism
• Biological theories


  Criminals are biologically different from non-criminals and this causes them to commit a crime
• Explanations for criminality in biological theories

  • Criminals' physical characteristics
  • Genetic theories
  • Brain injuries and disorders
  • Biochemical explanations such as hormones
• Lombroso's theory: 'Born Criminals'


  First physiological theory of criminality put forward by Italian doctor Cesare Lombroso in 1876
• Lombroso's theory


  • Criminals were physically different from non-criminals
  • Spent many years comparing and measuring details of the heads and faces of thousands of prisoners
  • Concluded physical characteristics that made up a criminal: large jaws, high cheek bones, handle shaped ears, high eyebrow arches, very long arms, large eye sockets, very acute eyesight
  • Different types of criminals had different facial features
• Facial features of different criminals

  • Murderers had aquiline noses like the beak of an eagle
  • Thieves had flattened noses
  • Thieves had expressive faces, small wandering eyes, thick and close eyebrows
  • Rapists often had jug ears, sparkling eyes and delicate features, swollen lips and eyelids, some were frail and some were hunchbacked
  • Habitual murderers had cold glassy stares, bloodshot eyes and big hawk-like noses
• Lombroso's idea of 'born criminals'


  • You could easily pick out a criminal by their appearance that marked them out as different
  • It's very much an us and them mentality, they are abnormally and fundamentally different from us
• Types of criminals in Lombroso's theory

  • Insane criminals (alcoholics, nymphomaniacs, kleptomaniacs, child molesters)
  • Epileptic criminals (crimes of opportunity due to impulsive nature)
  • Criminaloids (criminality affected by external factors such as opportunity rather than biology)
• Atavism


  Lombroso saw criminals as a primitive stage of evolution, pre-social, impulsive and had a high pain tolerance which indicates a lot of tattoos. Criminals were like savages therefore their long arms and unusual shaped coccyx where a tail should be.
• Sheldon's somatypes theory


  • Certain body-types or somatotypes are linked to criminal behavior: endomorph (physically soft rounded, relaxed, sociable), mesomorph (physically firm rugged, unhesitating, aggressive, adventurous, assertive, domineering), ectomorph (physically thin, fragile, self-conscious, fragile, inward looking, emotionally restrained, thoughtful)
  • Mesomorph is the somatotype to engage in crime as they are likely to be attracted to the risk-taking it involves and imposing physique and assertiveness can be important assets in crime
• Brain diseases and disorders

  • Alzheimer's
  • Brain tumors
  • Parkinson's disease
  • Dementia
  • Epilepsy
  • Schizophrenia
• Brain injuries and disorders

  • Certain diseases, injuries and malfunctions of the brain have been linked to criminality
  • Prisoners are more likely to have suffered from a brain injury than non-prisoners
• In rare cases such as Phineas Gage, personality took a toll after a major brain incident
• Epidemics of encephalitis lethargica amongst children in the 1920s were linked to destructiveness, impulsiveness, and abnormal sexual behavior
• Dementia and brain tumors have been linked to various forms of anti-social behavior
• Abnormal brainwave is measured by an electroencephalograph (EEG) and the readings conclude among 'clearly insane' murderers and psychopathic criminals
• Biochemical substances linked to criminality

  • Sex hormones
  • Blood sugar levels
  • Substance abuse
• Testosterone


  Overproduction or underproduction can cause emotional disturbances that lead to criminal behavior
• Males tend to become more aggressive due to spike in testosterone


  Linked to crimes such as rape and murder
• Testosterone peaks at age 20


  Correlates to highest crime rates in men
• When men marry


  Their testosterone production decreases and criminal offending reduces compared to single men
• It would be difficult to test the testosterone-criminality hypothesis experimentally as it would be impossible to randomly assign some men to marry and others to remain single
• When men divorce and begin dating again

  Their testosterone level spikes and involvement in crime increases exponentially
• Increased alcohol consumption after divorce could be a factor as it clouds judgement
• Premenstrual tension (PMT), post-natal depression and lactation


  Have been accepted as partial defenses for women charged with crimes ranging from shoplifting and infanticide, on the basis that the hormones may have affected the defendant's judgement, mood or self-control
• Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)


  Can trigger aggressive reactions
• Drinking large quantities of alcohol


  Can induce hypoglycemia and increase aggression, more closely linked to violent crimes
• Lowering the daily sucrose intake of young offenders could reduce the level of their anti-social behavior
• Alcohol played a significant role in about 1,000 arrests per day in the USA
• In the USA, 80% of family violence cases involved alcohol as well as crack and cocaine, whereas cannabis, heroin, and MDMA have thought to have a civilising effect on the body
• If crime is inborn

  It is presumably passed down from parent to child
• A Cambridge study since 1961 found that 397 families, half of all convictions came in 23 families
• Sons of criminal fathers

  Were much more likely to have a criminal record too
• Blood relatives

  Share many of the same genes
• Genetic theories

  • Twin studies
  • Adoption studies
• Twin studies


  Genetical theories have used studies of identical twins to test their theory of criminality
• Evidence from twin studies


  • Christiansen's study of 3,586 twin pairs in Denmark found a concordance rate of 52% if one twin had a conviction there was a 52% chance the other twin would as well. But among dizygotic twins the concordance rate was only 22%
• Examples of twins


  • The spahalski brothers and ronnie + reg cray