SOC 2760 Chapter Notes - Chapter articles: Femicide, Learning Disability, Psychoanalysis

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

Document Summary

Biological theories fall within the theoretical approach of individual positivism. Views crime as being generated primarily by forced located within the individual . The murderer is a distinct category of person with a biological/constitutional or psychological predisposition to kill. Biological theories have been reviving in recent years due to advancements in the fields of genetics and neurochemistry. Preferred for explaining violent crime (as opposed to property crime) Claims that criminals are anatomically or structurally distinct from non- criminals. Relationship between physical appearance and criminal tendencies. Criminals represent a form of degeneracy which is manifested in physical characteristics reflective of earlier forms of evolution. E. g. long lower jaw, big ears, thin lips, curly black hair, and aquiline noses. Relationship between the body and the mind. Somatotyping: classifying humans according to their physical endowment, each relating certain body builds in the aetiology of crime. No evidence exists to prove this relationship.