biological and psychological explanations

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1Criminology: A Sociological Understanding, 5/eSteven E. Barkan

Biological and Psychological Explanations

Lesson 5



Biological and Psychological Explanations Lesson Overview

• Biological Explanations• Nineteenth Century Views• Psychological Explanations• Evaluation of Psychological Explanations



Biological Explanations

• Attribute crime to traits inside the individual• Nineteenth Century Views

– Phrenology: Study of skull size in relation to criminality

– Cesare Lombroso, founder of positivist schoolAtavism: Criminals are throwbacks to earlier stage

of evolution Criminals were evolutionary accidents who

resembled primitive people more than modern people




• Evidence of atavism– Measurements of bodies of men in Italian

prison vs. measurements of bodies of Italian soldiersPrisoners looked more like primitive men

Arms were abnormally long Skulls and jaws were abnormally large Bodies were very hairy Etc.



Lombroso on Women

• Explanations of female criminality rested on antiquated notions of women’s biology and physiology

• The Female Offender (1895)– Women were more likely than men to be

atavists– The female criminal is monotonous and uniform

compared with her male companion– Why do women commit so little crime?



• Early Twentieth Century Views– Earnest Hooton: Biological Inferiority

Criminals were physiologically different Cause of crime was biological inferiority Advocated sterilization of criminals or exile

– William Sheldon: Body ShapesSomatology: Body shapes affect personalities

Endomorphs Mesomorphs Ectomorphs




• Contemporary Explanations– Family, Heredity, and Genes

Early research on the Juke family 140 of 1,000 were criminals; problem? No control group

Twin studies High concordance among identical twins; problematic

because they spend more time together, tend to have same friends, more attached to each other, etc.

Adoption studies, also inconclusiveEvolutionary biology, evolutionary predisposition for

rape?




• Contemporary Explanations– Family, Heredity, and Genes

Chromosomal abnormalities Neurochemical factors

Hormones Testosterone Premenstrual syndrome

Neurotransmitters Diet and nutrition Pregnancy and birth complications Early puberty




Arousal Theory

• For a variety of genetic and environmental reasons, some people’s brains function differently in response to environmental stimuli and we seek to maintain an optimal level of stimulation.



Biomedical Conditions of Crime• Chemical and Mineral Influences

– Under or over supply can cause depression, mania, cognitive problems, etc.

• Diet and Crime– Artificial additives– Sugar– Twinkie Defense

• Hypoglycemia– Low blood sugar

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinkie_defense

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hostess_twinkies.jpg



• Evaluation of these explanations– Crime is too diverse for biological explanations to

account for all behavior– Methodological problems in research studies– Cannot easily account for group rate differences– Social policy implications

We cannot change biology– Potential justification for appalling acts




Psychological Explanations

• Tries to explain why a few people commit serious crimes, whereas most do not– Explains individual behavior– Says little about the larger social and structural

forces also at work



Cognitive Components?

• Cognitive theorists are psychologists who focus on how people perceive and mentally represent the world around them and solve problems. They also examine individual reasoning processes influence behavior and how reasoning is influenced by the way people perceive their environment.



Psychological Explanations• Psychoanalytic Explanations

– Crime arises from internal disturbances from early childhood

– Sigmund Freud, founder of psychoanalysis– Mental disorders derive from conflict between society

and instinctive needs of the individual IdEgoSuperego



Psychoanalytic Explanations

• Freud: People are inherently pleasure seeking because of the id, but that too much pleasure seeking can translate into antisocial behavior– The ego and superego thus need to restrain the

id



• Psychoanalytic explanations limited in explaining criminal behavior– Suggests antisocial behavior is mentally disordered

behavior– Neglects social factors and overemphasizes childhood

experiences– Research in this area relies on case histories

• Sexist in their explanation of females and their behavior




• Moral Development and Crime– Jean Piaget: Mental and moral development in

childrenFour stages of development

Sensorimotor: Birth to 2 years; learn through senses

Preoperational: 2-7 years; learning language, drawing, other skills

Concrete operations: 7-11 years; logical thinking and problem solving

Formal operations: 11-15 years; abstract ideas




• Lawrence Kohlberg: Ability to distinguish right from wrong– In early stages, moral reasoning related solely

to punishment– Later stages begin to realize society and

parents have rules– People recognize universal moral principles

supercede laws of any one society– Not everyone makes it through all stages of

moral development

Theory of Moral Development



• Intelligence and Crime– Is low IQ to blame for criminal behavior?– Low IQ linked to delinquency

Poor school performance leads to less attachments to school

Lower self-esteemLower ability to engage in moral reasoningLess able to appreciate consequences of actions




• Intelligence and Crime– Race, IQ, and Crime

Troubling racial overtones in contemporary research

Differences in IQs between blacks and whites Methodological flaws in research




• Rorschach tests: Ink blot tests/personality inventories – Showed greater personality problems in

offenders• Temperament

– Attention deficits– Impulsivity– Hyperactivity– Irritability– Coldness

Personality and Crime



Personality and Crime

• New personality research has important implications for reducing crime– Preschool and early family intervention programs– Address aspects of social environment to reduce crime

• Problems with new personality research – Cannot adequately account for relativity of deviance; do

not help understand why one behavior instead of the other is chosen

– Some people with personality problems do not break the law



• Evaluation of these explanations– Fill in smaller picture of crime– Psychological studies often use small,

unrepresentative samples; results should be interpreted cautiously

– Generally disregard structural factors (i.e. poverty)

– Causal order remains unclear– Rarely study white-collar offenders




• Psychological approaches suggest crime/criminals are psychologically abnormal

• Studies show that violent criminals have far higher levels of abnormal EEG recordings than non-violent or one time offenders

• Can still commit crime and be “psychologically normal”

• Milgram: Shock experiments• Zimbardo: Mock prison experiments

Abnormality or Normality?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdk9-zbk6XQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkmQZjZSjk4

biological and psychological explanations

Documents

sociological understanding

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pearson education

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differentcause of crime

bodies of men

criminals problem