Unit 2.1

• lombroso

  he argued that criminals were physically different from non-criminals and that they could be identified by their distinct feature

  *long arms, short legs

  *sloping forehead

  *fleshy lips

  *upturned nose

  lombroso saw criminals as atavistic and believed they were at a primitive stage of evolution

  evidence:

  examined the facial and cranial features of 383 dead criminals and 3839 living ones

  40% of criminal acts could be accounted for by atavistic characteristics
• sheldon

  sheldon saw criminals as physically different. certain body types are linked to criminality

  endomorphs: rounded, soft and fat

  personality is sociable, relaxed and outgoing

  ectomorphs: thin and fragile

  personality is self conscious, thoughtful and fragile

  mesomorphs: muscular and hard bodied

  personality type is adventurous, assertive and domineering

  sheldon argued that mesomorphs are more likely to engage in criminal activity as they are more attracted to risk taking
• twin studies

  if one member has criminal gene, its likely blood relatives do too. monozygotic twins share exactly the same genes, so if one has the criminal gene then so should the other

  evidence

  christiansens study of 3586 pairs of twins in denmark

  52% CR between MZ twins

  22% CR between DZ twins
• adoption studies

  adoption studies involves comparing adopted children to their biological and adopted parents to see if biology or environment has more of an influence. this is because child shares same genes as biological parents but same environment as adoptive parents

  evidence

  mednick et all studied 14000 children

  20% CR between children and birth parents

  14.7% CR between children and adoptive parents
• jacobs xyy study

  xyy syndrome is when men inherit an extra Y chromosome and this condition is named 'supermale syndrome'. men with xyy tend to be very tall and well built. jacob et al claims that those with xyy sydrome tend to be more aggressive and violent than other males

  evidence

  1 in 1000 men in the public had xyy

  15 in 1000 men in prisons had xyy