CCJ-4614 Lecture Notes - Monoamine Oxidase A, Twin Study, Xyy Syndrome
23 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Ch. 6: Biological and Psychological Explanations
● Biological Explanations
○ 19th c as science and positivism replaced religion as the basis for understanding
natural and social phenomena
○ Biological explanations lost prominence by mid-twentieth century before renewed
popularity today
○ Phrenology
■ Criminality based on skull’s size and shape
■ Franz gall
■ 3 types of behavior and personality
● Intellectual
● Moral
● Lower (associated with criminality)
○ Atavism
■ Cesare Lombroso (founder of positivist school of criminology)
■ Multi-level models, multiple things that can cause crime
■ Criminality=atavism
● Evolutionary throwbacks
● Criminals are evolutionary accidents
● Evidence was extensive measurements of italian prisoners
■ Very popular theory
■ Methodologically flawed
● Noncriminal inmates
● Refuted his own work by the end of his career
● Goring’s research on english prisoners
■ Lombroso and women
● 1st criminologist to include women in his research
● Explanation of female criminality as flawed
○ Due to sexism of 19th c
○ Women were more likely to be atavists
○ Earnest Hooten
■ Revived interest in physiological explanations in 1939
■ Measured 14000 American prisoners with a control group of non-criminals
■ Lots of the same methodological flaws
■ Looking for organically inferiority
● Such as narrow jaws and small eyes
■ Argued for sterilization for criminal
○ William Sheldon
■ Somatotypes
● Body shapes related to criminality
■ Delinquents tend to be mesomorphic and research had similar
methodologial issues
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
19th c as science and positivism replaced religion as the basis for understanding natural and social phenomena. Biological explanations lost prominence by mid-twentieth century before renewed popularity today. Criminality based on skull"s size and shape. Cesare lombroso (founder of positivist school of criminology) Multi-level models, multiple things that can cause crime. Evidence was extensive measurements of italian prisoners. Refuted his own work by the end of his career. 1st criminologist to include women in his research. Women were more likely to be atavists. Revived interest in physiological explanations in 1939. Measured 14000 american prisoners with a control group of non-criminals. Such as narrow jaws and small eyes. Delinquents tend to be mesomorphic and research had similar methodologial issues. While many were criminals, dugdale couldnt definitively conclude it was due to heredity. Evaluated when twins are raised by biological parents. Research shows support for genetic explanations of crime. When twins raised by different adopted parents/ guardians.
