SOC 2760 Chapter Notes - Chapter N/A: Positron Emission Tomography, Cholesterol, Prefrontal Cortex

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 2760
• Professor: Rob Shearer

Document Summary

Biological theories fall within the theoretical approach of individual positivism (meaning they focus almost exclusively upon the individual offender and share a basic premise that the murderer some kind of predisposition to kill) Biological theories have had a revival in recent years due to advancements in the fields of genetics and neurochemistry. One of the main problems with biological theories is that they explain too few acts of homicide and tend to neglect the social context within which lethal violence occurs. Over 100 years ago, explanations focused on biological determinants of criminal behaviour, claiming that the criminal was anatomically or structurally distinct from the non-criminal. Cesar lombroso founding father of criminology; was among the first people to claim a relationship between appearance and criminality: influenced by darwin. Criminals are degenerates (reflective of earlier forms of evolution) long and low jaws, big ears, thin lips, curly black hair: this theory was later modified by raffaele garofalo and enrico ferri.