3. Biological- theories that claim that your biological inheritance or genes may have an influence on your criminal behaviour. Biological theory; William Sheldon Body Shape Theory (1897-1998) William Sheldon’s work originated from Cesare Lombrosso’s work. Lombrosso looked at a large amount of prisoners and concluded that a person’s character could be determined by the shape of their skull and other physical characteristics; he believed that criminals were less evolved than normal people. This is no longer a satisfactory explanation of crime, this is because William Sheldon didn’t think this was a valid theory and wanted to get more in depth and produce a valid theory.
Cesare Lombroso (CL) was a Psychiatrist that believed that criminals had common facial characteristics and that they were “born criminals” which he also referred to as “atavisms”. His theory was that genetic factors or abnormalities that are inherited influence individuals to commit crime and that it was the individuals destiny to become a criminal`. This can be identified through the shape of their skulls, large ears and lips, long arms and a flattened nose. He also believed that men were more likely to commit crime than woman as they were more narrow-minded of their interests. CL theory has been largely criticised as it is very much descriptive based rather than experimental.
Before, that individuals were believed to have control over their moods and directional approaches. Relating a criminal’s action to biology was not considered a defense. It was believed that crime originated from sin and moral failing. This view was changed when advancements in the social and natural sciences, mainly in genetics started to happen and more people started to accept that certain biological traits can cause crime, such as hormones or genetics. (Ferris, David, August 25, 2013) Hormones are not determined by the environment but instead biologically.
DNA is an impressive technology, and can solve crimes that traditional policing methods cannot; however mass DNA sampling does not work, in fact DNA sampling follows the laws of diminishing returns. In my the more DNA that is taken, the less useful it is, as the more likely it is that a false match is made. For example, if DNA is taken from a murder scene the DNA of the murder victim, the murderer, anybody who went to the scene will be there. If 100% of the population is on the DNA database, there is a 100% chance that, if there are 3 DNA samples at the murder scene, one will be a false match. First, violent crimes are often committed by people with a prior criminal history.
Which is the better explanation that elucidates the question: Are criminals born or made? Research has shown that criminal behaviour tends to run in families, it is likely that biological factors play a fundamental role in criminality. In order for psychologists to discover whether criminal behaviour results in the child’s genes or their surrounding environment, they need the information required by adoption studies. For example, if the criminal’s behaviour duplicates that of their adoptive parents then this could lead to the fact that the criminality is present in the environment. Mednick et al.
When a performance is rewarded, a subject will produce more of it and naturally when a performance is not rewarded, a subject will produce less of it. It is also known that the government rewards crime labs verifying unknown substances to be illegal narcotics, for finding a driver’s blood alcohol content to be over a certain number and determining a package of drugs is over a certain weight so a heavier charge can be imposed. Police often share their suspicions regarding suspects with lab workers before forensic examinations are performed. This introduces prejudice to lab personnel in areas such as fingerprint examination and chemical testing for accelerants in arson investigations. Some lab examiners feel they are part of the prosecution
That usually means reverting to street crimes. These crimes include burglary, vandalism, and selling drugs. Those individuals feel that street crime is the only way they will obtain material success. Merton's theory may stand true when comparing social status with street crime; however, his theory becomes weak when the crimes include white-collar and business crimes. Therefore, Merton's theory has become an “anomie theory”.
Despite this, Positivists see official crime statistics as a reliable indicator of crime patterns. Positivists seek the causes of crime and over time can compare social groups and look for patterns in crime. The groups that are most likely to be convicted are young males, some ethnic minorities, inner city dwellers and working class. As not all crime is reported however, the statistics do not give a true picture. (Hallam et al.
Definitions of Crime Defining crime is not as easy as one would perhaps think. Put your own definition of crime below: Most people would explain crime as being something that involves breaking the law. Criminologists have had a number of discussions as to where laws come from how do they become established? As with most academic areas there are a number of different view points. Most people would agree that behaviours that harm other people should be prohibited and therefore made criminal.
The rewards can involve money or even a sense of gratification according to sociologist Jack Katz in the text book Criminal Justice in action when said “’rewards’ of crime may be sensual as well as financial. The inherent Danger, according to Katz, increases the ‘rush’ a criminal experiences on successfully committing a crime” (pg32). Not all Crimes are fun and games. They do have their costs such as probation and jail time this is because it deters the thought process in doing right from wrong. This can be found in the text Criminal Justice in Action when stated “Because crime is seen as the end result of a series of rational choices, policy makers have reasoned that severe