Evaluating Biological Theories

• General Criticisms:

  • Environmental Factors- Biological theories ignore environmental factors. A person’s biology may give them potentially criminal characteristics but they may need an environmental trigger to engage in criminal act
  • Sample bias- researches often use studies of convicted criminals, but these may not be representative of the criminals who got away, so they are not a sound basis for generalising about all criminals
• General Criticisms (2):

  • Gender bias- Most biological research focuses on males, so it doesn’t explain female criminality
  • Crime is a social construct- what counts as a crime varies between cultures and over time, so it makes no sense to look for universal explanations, as biological theories do.