What are the various suggestions for what makes a criminal?
1.) Testosterone
2.) Low physiological arousal
3.) Genetics
4.) Self-fulfilling prophecy
5.) Social learning theory, operant conditioning, and vicarious reinforcement
6.) Body types (Lombroso)
7.) Low self esteem
What has research shown into the affect of testosterone on crime?
That inmates who had committed crimes of sex or violence had higher testosterone levels than inmates that were jailed for property crimes or drug abuse (Dabbs).
What are 'specialist' criminals?
Those who commit only one type of crime.
What are 'generalist' criminals?
Those who engage in a range of crimes.
What did Lombroso suggest about criminals?
That they had similar features, such as prominent jaws and brow ridges and large ears. Although he did acknowledge the role of other factor such as social ones.
How did Lombroso explain why criminals have certain features?
From the perspective of natural selection, Lombroso saw such characteristics as primitive in terms of evolution.
What did Sheldon identify about criminals?
That the different body types were more likely to be criminals.
What was the ectomorphic body type?
Thin and fragile, introverted and restrained.
What was the mesomorphic body type?
Muscular and hard, aggressive, adventurous and criminal.
What was the endomorphic body type?
Fat and soft, sociable and relaxed.
Which body type did Sheldon suggest was criminal?
Mesomorphic
How did Sheldon's research encourage the self fulfilling prophecy?
The appearance of mesomorphic individuals prejudiced those around them, causing other people, including those in the criminal justice system, to respond to them as 'criminal types', thus encouraging such behaviour.
What is the modern physiological explanation for criminality focusing on?
That there are many hereditary factors that contribute to the risk of criminal behaviour.
Why did psychologists begin looking at the genetic differences between sexes to determine criminal behaviour?
Because men are more likely to exhibit criminal behaviour than women.
What gene did they find were more aggressive?
They found a difference between genetically normal men (XY chromosomes) and genetically abnormal men (XYY chromosomes). XYY men were more aggressive than XY men and, although they only make up 0.001% of the population, they made up 1.5% of prisoners.
How can the XYY hypothesis be discredited?
XYY males are less intelligent than average, so may be more easily swayed towards crime, especially as they may find earning a living more difficult.
What did Osborn and West find out about the hereditary aspects of criminality?
That only 13% of sons of non-criminal fathers had convictions, whereas 40% of sons of criminal fathers had convictions.
What did Lyons' twin study show about criminality and genes?
That monozygotic twins were not a lot more similar than dizygotic twins, suggesting that the environment is important in determining early criminal behaviour. However, records of criminal and aggressive behaviour in adult twins showed that monozygotic twi
How does investigating adoptive children and criminality help us investigate nature and nurture influences independently?
Similarities between biological parents and their children suggest that genes are important, whereas similarities between adoptive parents and their children suggest that the environment is important.
What patterns are there in adoptive studies?
1.) Having biological parents with a criminal record increases the chance of sons also having a criminal record, suggesting that genes influence criminality.
2.) Having adoptive parents with a criminal record increase the chance of sons also having a crim
How can the social learning theory be an explanation of criminal behaviour?
If parents act as models, children acquire criminal behaviour by observing and imitating parental crime.
What is vicarious reinforcement?
The observer sees the model receiving positive reinforcement for their behaviour and learns to copy this behaviour.
How is vicarious reinforcement an explanation of criminal behaviour?
The observer sees the model receiving positive reinforcement for their actions. As this rewards the model, they become a more effective model for learning criminal behaviour.
How is low self esteem an explanation of criminal behaviour?
Research found that adolescents with low self esteem were more likely to engage in criminal activity as adults than those with higher self esteem, even when other factors such as socio-economic status, were controlled for.
How is operant conditioning an explanation of criminal behaviour?
When the individual is rewarded (such as power and status) for criminal behaviour they will reproduce it again.
What did Eron and Huesmann find out about the amount of violence watched on TV?
The children who watched more violence on TV were more likely to be violent criminals.
What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?
The stereotyped beliefs somebody holds can affect the behaviour of another person. This is because beliefs affect behaviour. The holder of the false beliefs may respond in ways that elicit the expected behaviour from the other individual.
What did the research by Ageton and Elliott suggest about criminality and adolescents?
That the treatment of youth offenders by the police and courts could lead to further deviance.
What was the aim of Raine?
To study brain activity in murderers and non-murderers using PET scans to find out whether there were differences in areas though to be involved in violent behaviour.
What is a PET scan?
A brain scanning technique in which the participant is injected with a radioactive tracer that is used in energy production by the brain. The molecules of the tracer travel though the blood and their breakdown is detected by a scanner. The brain scans ind
What is a continuous performance task?
A visual vigilance task. The participants watch a brief stimuli (e.g. numbers or letter) that appear one after the other pressing a button each time a specified stimulus appears.
Why was a continuous performance task used in Raine?
To control for variations in sensory stimulation in the room, which could cause differences in brain activation that could obscure differences between the groups of participants.
How many men and women were in Raine's sample?
39 men and 2 women
What had all the murderers in Raine's study pleaded to their convictions of murder of manslaughter?
Not guilty by reasons of insanity.
What was the research method of Raine?
Quasi lab experiment
What was the experimental design?
Matched pairs on sex, age, and those who had schizophrenia.
Why did none of the participants take any medication 2 weeks prior to Raine's study?
So there would be no confounding variable in their brain activity affected by the drugs.
What techniques were used to analyse the PET scans in Raine?
The cortical peel technique and the box technique.
What is the cortical peel technique?
It is used for lateral areas (on the sides/surface of the brain) including the superior frontal, middle frontal, and inferior frontal gyri, and areas of the temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes.
What is the box technique?
Used for the medial areas (inside the brain) including the superior frontal gyrus, anterior medial gyrus, medial frontal gyrus and orbital gyrus.
What is the limbic system?
A collection of structures lying beside the thalamus on both sides of the brain, which includes the amygdala, hippocampus, and hypothalamus. It plays a role in many functions including emotion, processing social information, motivation, learning and memor
What brain areas did the murderers have significantly less activation in compared to non-murderers?
The lateral, medial, and parietal prefrontal cortical areas of the brain and also in the corpus callosum.
In what brain areas did the murderers have asymmetrical activation in?
The limbic system, including the amygdala, and the temporal lobe, including the hippocampus and the thalamus.
What is this area of the cerebral cortex?
The frontal lobe
What is this area of the cerebral cortex?
The parietal lobe
What is this area of the cerebral cortex?
The temporal lobe
What is this area of the cerebral cortex?
The occipital lobe
What were the conclusions of Raine?
1.) The areas identified as having abnormal activity are associated with aggressive behaviour, a lack of fear, impulsiveness, and problems with controlling and expressing emotions. All of these could lead to an increases risk of committing acts of extreme
What evidence is there of established prejudices with criminality and appearance in early childhood?
Handsome princes and ugly villans
What will changing the appearance of criminals improve?
Self esteem
Since what time period has plastic surgery on prisoners been reported as having a positive effect on reoffending?
1950s
What is a reason suggested for the success of plastic surgery on prisoners?
It was the first time that anyone had shown interest or care with respect to their deformity. By bringing the prisoners into close contact with people who care about them as individuals, giving them time and individual attention, and making them feel that
How does plastic surgery prevent the self-fulfilling prophecy?
Their interactions with others breaks the cycle of the self-fulfilling prophecy and gives them a 'new start' in which other people treat them as non-criminals, thus eliciting non-criminal behaviour.
What did Lewinson observe was the immediate affect of plastic surgery on prisoners?
An increase in cooperation with authority and participation in prison activities. They were also more likely to want to learn a trade. Overall it raised morale and reduced hostility. Recidivism rates (reoffending rates) was also significantly lower.
What was a negative effect of plastic surgery on prisoners in some cases?
They would switch from committing violent crimes or theft to subtly anti-social crimes such as confidence tricksters.
What is bio-social intervention?
Programmes that change people's biology to improve their social interaction.
According to researchers, what risk factors affect crime?
1.) Children of mothers that smoke during pregnancy have a high risk of becoming violent offenders.
2.) Birth complications also prevent a risk of future criminal behaviour.
3.) Poor nutrition doubles the rate of anti-social behaviour.
What percentage reduction in convictions did the bio-social intervention cause?
63%
What is the three part intervention programme?
Another bio-social intervention programme focused on nutrition, physical exercise, and cognitive stimulation intervention.
What are the aspects that the three part intervention programme tries to improve?
1.) Nutrition: milk, fruit juice, and a hot meal a day consisting of fish or chicken with salad.
2.) Physical exercise: afternoon sessions in the gym, free play, and structured games.
3.) Cognitive stimulation: Nursery schools provided activities consisti
What are the drugs suggested to prevent criminal behaviour?
1.) Drugs to reduce ADHD
2.) Drugs to reduce testosterone
What does ADHD stand for?
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
How do drugs for ADHD reduce criminal behaviour?
Studies show that reduced ADHD can also reduce criminality in adults with ADHD.
What did the Swedish registry study show about ADHD drug interventions to prevent crime?
A Swedish registry was used to study individuals diagnosed with ADHD and convicted go a crime. The registry also records whether criminals started to receive medication for ADHD after their conviction. ADHD criminals on medication were 30%-40% less likely
What practical suggestion could you suggest with ADHD medication?
To set a timer to remind them to take their medication.
How has it been suggested that drugs to reduce testosterone prevent criminal behaviour?
A reduction in testosterone that is responsible for sexual desire, aggression, and the desire for control has been linked to a reduction in criminal behaviour.
What surgeries and drugs are there to reduce testosterone in males?
Surgical castration and chemical castration has been used on male criminals. Chemical castration involves using female hormones to suppress male hormones.