AC 3.2

• Physiological theories


  Theories that argue criminals are physically different from non-criminals
• Lombroso


  • Argued that criminals are physically different from non-criminals, for example in terms of their facial characteristics
• Sheldon


  • Argued that somatotype (body type) is related to criminality: mesomorphs more likely than other types to commit crimes
• Genetic theories


  • Argue that crime has genetic causes
• Twin studies


  • Examine whether the offending behaviour of identical (MZ) twins, who are genetically identical, is also identical
• Adoption studies


  • Examine the criminal behaviour of biological parents and their adoptive parents to see how far genes influence criminality
• XYY syndrome


  • Some males have an extra male Y chromosome, which may cause violent behaviour
• Brain injuries and disorders


  • Injuries, disorders and diseases of the brain may cause it to malfunction in ways that change personality, morals or self-control, leading to criminal behaviour
• Biochemical explanations


  • Biochemical factors may trigger criminal behaviour by affecting brain chemistry and mental processes
• General criticisms of biological theories
• Environmental factors
• Sample bias
• Gender bias
• Crime is a social construct
• Individualistic theories


  Theories that explain criminal behaviour in terms of individual factors such as personality, psychology, and learning
• Psychodynamic theories

  • Explain criminal behaviour in terms of faulty early socialisation preventing the individual resolving unconscious conflicts between the id and the superego
• Freud


  • Freud's psychoanalytic theory explains criminal behaviour in terms of faulty early socialisation preventing the individual resolving unconscious conflicts between the id and the superego
• Bowlby


  • Stresses the importance of the parent-child bond, seeing maternal deprivation as a cause of criminality
• Eysenck's personality theory


  • Sees criminality as the result of an extraverted-neurotic (high E, high N) personality. Extraverts seek stimulation, leading to rule-breaking, while neurotics' anxiety prevents them learning from punishment. Psychotic (high P) personalities are also more likely to offend.
• Differential association


  • Sutherland argues that we learn criminal behaviour through socialisation in social groups where the attitudes and values we are exposed to in these groups favour law breaking
• Operant learning


  • States that if a particular behaviour (including criminal behaviour) results in a desirable outcome (reinforcement), it is likely to be repeated. If it results in an undesirable outcome (punishment), it is unlikely to be repeated
• Reinforcement


  If a particular behaviour (including criminal behaviour) results in a desirable outcome, it is likely to be repeated
• Punishment


  If a particular behaviour (including criminal behaviour) results in an undesirable outcome, it is unlikely to be repeated
• Skinner's studies of learning in animals


  • They show that animals learn from experience through reinforcement
• Some human learning is also of this kind (learning from experience through reinforcement)
• Operant learning theory


  If crime leads to more rewarding than punishing outcomes for an individual, they will be more likely to offend
• Operant learning theory is based on studies of learning in animals
• Operant learning theory is not an adequate model of how humans learn criminal behaviour
• Operant learning theory ignores internal mental processes such as thinking, personal values and attitudes
• Operant learning theory explains criminal behaviour solely in terms of external rewards and punishments
• Humans have free will and can choose their course of action, for example we can choose to do something that causes us suffering in order to help someone else
• Skinner studied learning in rats, it is unclear if humans learn in the same way
• Social learning theory


  We learn behaviour through observation and imitation of others
• If we see a model being rewarded for acting in a deviant way, we don't need to experience the reward ourselves in order to copy it
• Social learning theory


  • Unlike Skinner, it takes account of the fact that we are social beings and learn from the experiences of others, not just from our own direct experience
  • Bandura shows that children who observed aggressive behaviour being rewarded, imitated that behaviour, showing the importance of role models in learning deviant behaviour
• Social learning theory is based on laboratory studies, which are artificial settings and findings may not be valid for real-life situations
• Social learning theory assumes people's behaviour is completely determined by their learning experiences and ignores their freedom of choice, which conflicts with legal views of crime that assume we have free will to commit crime
• Not all observed behaviour is easily imitated, for example seeing a film of a safecracker being rewarded does not mean we have the skills to imitate that behaviour
• Criminal personality theory


  It sees criminal behaviour as the result of errors and biases in criminals' thinking patterns
• Criminal personality theory


  • The idea that criminals' thinking patterns are different from normal has led to other research, such as the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) questionnaire
  • Successful treatments, known as cognitive behavioural therapy, have been developed based on the idea that criminals' thought processes can be corrected with treatment