CRJ110 Chap4 Early Biological.pdf

Criminology Today
An Integrated Introduction
CHAPTER
Criminology Today: An Integrated Introduction, 8e
Frank Schmalleger
Copyright © 2017 by Pearson Education, Inc.
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Early Biological
Perspectives on
Criminal Behavior
4

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Frank Schmalleger
Traditional Biological versus
Modern Biosocial Theories
• Criminology has been slow to give
credence to biological theories.
• Roots grounded in the social sciences
• Criminology today is interdisciplinary
and recognizes contributions from
many disciplines.

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Frank Schmalleger
Principles of Biological Theories
• Early biological theorists focused mainly
on physical features and heredity.
• Contemporary biosocial theorists take a
more in-depth look at human biology.
• Major distinction is the emphasis placed
on the interplay between biology and
the social and physical environments.

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Frank Schmalleger
Figure 4-2 Fundamental Assumptions of Biological Theories of Crime Causation
Source: Schmalleger, Frank, Criminology. Printed and Electronically reproduced by permission of Pearson
Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

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Frank Schmalleger
Early Biological Theories
• Built on scientific tradition of positivism
• Positivism
 Associated with the belief that all valid
knowledge is acquired only through
observation
• Key principles
 Social determinism
 Application of scientific techniques to
the study of crime

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Frank Schmalleger
Physical Features and Crime
• Phrenology
 The study of the shape of the head to
determine anatomical correlates of
human behavior
 Franz Joseph Gall located the roots of
personality in the brain.
 Johann Gaspar Spurzheim brought
phrenology to the U.S.

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Frank Schmalleger
The Italian School
• Cesare Lombroso
 Atavism
• Criminality is the result of primitive urges
that survived the evolutionary process.
 Stigmata of degeneration – physical
features indicative of criminality
continued on next slide

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Frank Schmalleger
The Italian School
• Lombroso's work contributed to field of
criminal anthropology.
 Scientific study of relationship between
physical characteristics and criminality

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Frank Schmalleger
The Italian School
• Lombroso's categories of offenders
 Atavists, or born criminals
 Insane
 Criminaloids
• "Occasional criminals" led into crime by
environmental influences
 Criminal incited by passion

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Frank Schmalleger
The Italian School
• Masculinity hypothesis
 Criminal women exhibited masculine
features and mannerisms.

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Frank Schmalleger
Evaluations of Atavism
• Charles Buckman Goring
 Failed to find support for thesis of
atavism
• Earnest A. Hooton
 Criminals are physiologically inferior to
the general population.

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Frank Schmalleger
Evaluations of Atavism
• Canadian study (2000) found subtle
physical abnormalities were associated
with an increased risk of behavioral and
psychiatric problems among boys.

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Frank Schmalleger
Constitutional Theories
• Explain criminality by reference to:
 Offenders' body types
 Genetics
 External, observable physical
characteristics

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Frank Schmalleger
Constitutional Theories
• Ernst Kretschmer
 Proposed relationship between body
build and personality type
• William H. Sheldon
 Endomorph
 Mesomorph
 Ectomorph

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Frank Schmalleger
Figure 4-3 Sheldon’s Body Types
Source: Printed and Electronically reproduced by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey.

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Frank Schmalleger
Criminal Families
• Sir Francis Galton
 Systematic study of heredity
contributed to field of behavioral
genetics
• Criminal families
 The Juke family
• Richard L. Dugdale
 The Kallikak family
• Henry H. Goddard

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Frank Schmalleger
Criminal Families
• Eugenic criminology
 Root causes of criminality were passed
down in the form of "bad genes."
• Genetic determinism
 Genes are the major determining factor
in human behavior.
• Buck v. Bell (1927)
 Supported Virginia statute permitting
sterilization

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Frank Schmalleger
The XYY Supermale
• Research in 1965 led to concept of
"supermale" with XYY chromosome.
 Considered potentially violent
 Led to attempted use of chromosome-
based defense in court
• Recent research has concluded that
XYY males are not predictably
aggressive.

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Frank Schmalleger
Twin Studies and Heredity
• Twin studies compare MZ and DZ twins
to examine role of heredity in crime
causation.
• Research supports relationship between
heredity and risk of criminality.
• Minnesota Twin Family Study found MZ
twins reared apart are about as similar
as those reared together.

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Frank Schmalleger
Biological Roots of Human
Aggression
• Konrad Lorenz
 On Aggression (1966)
 Human aggression serves other
purposes but takes on covert forms
(drive to acquire wealth and power).
 Human behavior is adapted instinctive
behavior.

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Frank Schmalleger
Sociobiology: The New Synthesis
• Introduced by Edward O. Wilson in
1975
• Systematic study of the biological basis
of all social behavior
• A new paradigm in criminological
theories
 Brought renewed attention to biological
theories in social sciences

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Frank Schmalleger
• The main determinant of behavior is
the need to ensure the survival and
continuity of genetic material
throughout generations.
• Altruism facilitates the continuity of the
gene pool.

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Frank Schmalleger
Criticisms of Sociobiology
• Fails to consider significance of culture,
social learning, individual experiences
• Fundamentally wrong in its depiction of
basic human nature
• Rationalizes labeling, stigmatization of
minorities
• Humans are too different from other
animal species to apply findings from
animal studies to human behavior.

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Frank Schmalleger
Critique of Early Biological
Theories of Human Behavior
• Disregard the role of free will in human
behavior
• Crime is a social construct and its
meaning varies over time and place.
• Unlikely that any biological feature or
combination of features could explain
the wide variety of crime today

CRJ110 Chap4 Early Biological.pdf

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