Sheldon

• Claims

  • physiological theory, Somatotypes Theory
  • 3 somatotypes
  • ectomorph: thin and fragile
  • mesomorph: hard and muscular
  • endomorph: fat and soft
  • mesomorphs are most likely to be criminal
• Components

  • studies 4000 men
  • correlation study
  • asked the public to rate 200 photos of juvenile delinquents and college students on a scale of 1-7, according to how mesomorph they were
  • concluded mesomorphs were most likely to be criminal
• Credibility

  • large study with public involvement
  • androcentric study
  • deterministic
  • reductionist
  • is it just stereotyping?
• Application

  • Ted Bundy: mesomorph serial killer
  • John Wayne Gacy: endomorph serial killer
• Refuting Evidence

  • couldn't explain why other somatotypes commit crime
  • body types are subject to change
  • can cause bias in courts and jurys
• Supporting Evidence

  • Lombroso's Ativistic Features theory
  • Gluek and Gluek 1956: repeated the experiment and found 60% mesomorphs in sample of delinquents and 31% mesomorphs in the sample of non-delinquents