Crowe

• Claims

  • genetic theory, Adoption Studies Theory
  • criminality and aggression is directly linked to genetics
  • regardless of the changed environment, children seemed biologically predisposed to criminality
• Components

  • compared a group of adoptees with criminal mothers to a group of adoptees with non-criminal mothers
  • 50% of adoptees with a criminal mother also had a criminal record by the time they turned 18
  • only 5% of adoptees who had a non-criminal mother had a criminal record b the time they were 18
• Credibility

  • separates nature and nurture
  • classic research method
  • may not show that it is criminality being inherited
  • unknown sample size
  • deterministic
  • reductionist
• Application

  • Kenneth Bianchi: serial killer who was given up for adoption by his 17 year old, prostitute mother
• Refuting Evidence

  • no mention of the biological father
  • age of adoption may mean other life experiences influenced them
  • consider amount of contact with the biological parents
  • limited information on the biological parents
• Supporting Evidence

  • Mednick et al 1994: compared 14427 criminal records of adoptees to that of their biological and adoptive parents, found a correlation between the child and their biological parents