Cards (6)

  • 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