Biological%20Theories

1
Biological Theories
2
Are Criminals Fundamentally Different from
Non-criminals?

• Classical School
• No
• Biological positivists
• Yes

3
Emergence of Positivism

• Scientific revolution
• Optimism about science soars in the1800s
• Empiricism replaces abstract speculation
• Knowledge through measurement
• Determinism replaces free will
• Search for prior causes, de-emphasize choice

4
Positivist Criminology in Born

• Lombrosos theory of atavism
• Influenced by Darwin
• Observed physical differences between criminals
  and non-criminals
• Large jaw and cheekbones
• Shifty eyes, hard expression
• Hairy
• Ears/head too large or too small
• Criminals are throwbacks, atavists
• Too primitive for modern society

5
Heredity and Crime

• Crime runs in families, twins (2x greater)
• Physical and moral deficits are inherited
• Eugenics goal is to breed better humans
• A scientific movement, 1910-1940
• To prevent the unfit from breeding
• Can we control the selection process?
• the elimination of crime can be effected only by
  the extirpation of the physically, mentally, and
  morally unfit (Hooton, 1939)

6
Sheldons Biological Theories

• Sheldons (1949) constitutional psychology
• Body type and personality are related
• Three somatotypes separate scores
• Endomorph (soft and round)
• Mesomorph (muscular)
• Ectomorph (lean)
• Delinquents high in mesomorphy, low in ectomorphy

7
Renewed Interest inBiological Criminology

• Focus on hybrid explanations that combine
  sociology and biology
• Soft determinism, limited free will

8
IQ and CrimeA Persistent Finding

• Offenders tend to have lower (verbal) IQ
• To this day, the IQ-crime association remains
  largely unexplained
• How might we explain the relationship?

9
TestosteroneBooth and Osgood (1993)

• High testosterone leads children to behave in
  ways that alienate others (aggression)
• This leads to fewer social bonds, which over
  time, increase crime (control theory)
• Conclusions testosterone affects crime
  indirectly by reducing social bonds

10
Ethical and Policy Issues

• Blaming the victim

11
The Shift to Positivism

• Shift from rational choice to prior causes
• Shift from punishment to rehabilitation
• Shift from responsibility to medicalization