For example in the study of Mednick (1983). Mednick looked at 4065 adopted males to whether they had a criminal record or not. He then looked to see whether their biological and adoptive parents also had criminal records. The results are gathered and calculated into percentages which makes it very obvious to see the difference between the biological and the adoptive parents’ criminal record compared to the participants. We can conclude that biological approach has a big role to cause criminal behaviour.
Principles of Crime Causation: Biological and Psychological Basic Principles- Biological Perspectives of crime causation: • The brain is the organ of the mind and the locus of personality. In the words of the well-known bio-criminologist Clarence Ray Jeffery, "The brain is the organ of behavior; no theory of behavior can ignore neurology and neurochemistry. "(1) • The basic determinants of human behavior, including criminal tendencies, are, to a considerable degree, constitutionally or genetically based. • Observed gender and racial differences in rates and types of criminality may be at least partially the result of biological differences between the sexes and/or between racially distinct groups. • The basic determinants of human behavior, including criminality, may be passed on from generation to generation.
Address the relationship between personality and criminal behavior as viewed in the selected theory. The sociobiological theory seeks to explain criminal behavior through a lens of biological and genetic basis (McShane, Williams, 2010). It promotes the idea that behavior and personality are partly inherited and that this premise can be affected over time by natural selection (Crossman, A. 2010). Sociobiology argues that the same natural selection pressure that led to animals evolving useful ways of dealing with their environment also equally contributes to human behavior
-The interplay between heredity, biology, and the social environment provides the nexus for any realistic consideration of crime causation. • 2. What biological factors does this lesson suggest might substantially influence human aggression? -Like Charles Darwin in the nineteenth century, Konrad Lorenz in the twentieth century proposed that aggression is found throughout the animal kingdom and is also inherent in human beings. -Lorenz also claimed that instinct provides motivation and direction to human thought, and that humans value
Walmsley et al found that a third of UK prisoners claim to have a family member also in prison. However, this means the explanation could actually relate to the genetic influence, as families are involved- we might not necessarily be copying our families behaviour, but just acting as we've been genetically influenced to do. Also, the DAT doesn't explain why all people raised around criminal behaviour offend- as shown in Osborne and West's study, 40% of sons with fathers of criminal behaviour do offend but the other 60% do what? It also doesn't explain why some stop offending after adolescence, like Harry, he is a reformed criminal who has seemed to learnt what he did is wrong and moved on from his offending behaviour. The DAT cannot explain this due to focusing on the attitudes they learn early and then
Biology and Crime: Andrea Yates, Charles Whitman, and John Hinckley Jr. Jose A. Melendez Jr. Week 2 CJS/231 Criminology 1 December 2014 Kenneth Bitting Biological theory is the theory that attempts to explain criminal behavior through biological traits. It explains the cause of criminality in offenders to be due to biological inferiority compared to noncriminal. These biological inferiorities are the result of physiological influences and genetic inheritances. There isn’t any researched proof that isolates a single genetic factor or source that influences criminality. There is, however, research that indicates certain genetic and non genetic markers “control the propensities of individuals to exhibit aggressive or impulsive
Another major point is that our justice system shows more sympathy for criminals than it does victims. DNA testing and other methods of modern crime scene science can now effectively eliminate almost all uncertainty as to a person's guilt or innocence. Prisoner parole or escapes can give criminals another chance to kill. This contributes to the problem of overpopulation in the prison system. Has one ever thought of the victim’s family when the whole court cases are going on?
Bias in the records has been noted in terms of geography, index offence, and ethnicity. What is not known, however, is the extent that the original 150 prisoners on the list, and thus those who were interviewed, are representative of the wider population of convicted violent gang members in prison. For example, a sample drawn from another city is firstly likely to have a differing ethnic composition. The desk research discussed how the ethnic composition of gangs tends to reflect the ethnic composition of the areas where they are based. Secondly, it may be the case that gangs have different experiences in different cities and regions.
Outline and evaluate the research into eyewitness testimony. There has been a vast amount of interest into eyewitness testimony (EWT). EWT investigate the accuracy of memory following a crime or incident worth interrogating and the types of errors make in such situations. Sometimes EWT can be unreliable, which can lead to horrific consequences in a court of law. Rattner (1988) reviewed 205 cases of wrongful arrest (such as the case of Edward Honaker) and found that in 52% of cases, this was due to mistaken EWT.
Eyewitness testimony has found to be responsible for more convictions of innocent people then all other factors combined. According to the Innocence Project 75% of all exonerations in America are due to eye witness misidentification. This paper addresses eyewitness testimony and its accuracy and use in the criminal justice system. The evidence in this paper is used to argue that eyewitness testimony is not always accurate but still an important part of the justice system. Eyewitness testimony is heavily relied on in the criminal justice system as it is used to investigate and prosecute crimes.