1. Biological theory

2.  Physiognomy – a person’s character can be seen in their face and head

3. The size and shape of your head effects your brain growth. The shape of your head therefore determines your mental abilities This is innate, and therefore fixed

4. The criminal is a separate species, a species that is between modern and primitive humans. The physical shape of the head and face determined the "born criminal".

5. Lombroso (1876) Characteristics of a criminal – Narrow sloping brow – Prominent jaw – High cheekbones – Large ears – Extra nipples, toes or fingers

10.  No evidence to support these claims  Criminals often mentally disturbed or deformed  Goring (1972) compared 3000 convicts with 3000 others and found no difference in features

11. There is a strong correlation between body morphology (shape) and criminal behaviour in teenagers

12. Criminal body  SHELDON (1949) suggests three body types: Endomorphs (fat and soft) Relaxed and pleasure loving Enjoy food and others company

13. Criminal body  Ectomorphs (thin and fragile)  Solitary  Restrained  Self-conscious

14. Criminal body  Mesomorph (muscular and hard)  Aggressive  High pain tolerance  Callous and uncaring

15. Convicts were most likely to mesomorphic, and least likely to be ectomorphic

16.  Each body is rated according to how much of the 3 types they contain  Sheldon rated 200 students and 200 criminals and found: Body buildStudentsDelinquentsCriminal delinquents Endomorph3.23.53.4 Ectomorph3.42.71.8 Mesomorph3.84.65.4

17.  Class – delinquents from lower classes  BNS contradicts these findings  Cause and effect  Convicted criminals – are the students innocent?

18. Jacobs et al (1965) suggested that men with the XYY syndrome were more aggressive than normal 'XY' men. XYY men are over-represented in the prison population. There are 15 sufferers per 1,000 in prisons and 1 per 1000 in the general population.

19.  How do we tell if someone has ‘the gene’ or the genetic influence to behave a certain way?

20.  Cloninger and Gottesman  Heritability for property offences was found to be.78  Heritability for violent offences was.50.  The data suggest that violent offences may also have a heritable underlying component. Criticism – raised in the same environment

21.  Heston studied 47 children born to schizophrenic mothers and adopted  23% of these children were imprisoned for violent offences  As they were not raised by schizophrenic mother, this suggested the possibility that mental illness and criminal violence may share a common genetic basis.

22.  1966 – killed 14 and wounded 32 during university shooting  Murdered his mother and wife at home first  Post-mortem found large tumour in amygdala (fight or flight response)  Been receiving drugs for headaches and mood swings

23. PET Scanner

24. Method: Used PET Scan on violent killers

25.  Method: He made them complete a cognitive task which involved sustained attention.  It involved watching a screen for 32 minutes and responding every time a 0 appeared.  Result: The impulsive killers missed many of the 0s.  Damage was also found in the pre-frontal cortex, which controls impulsive behaviour.  Qu. What does this study therefore suggest?

26. Charles Whitman – large tumour in amygdala Yeudall (1982) study of 2000 offenders (post- mortem)  90% had some damage to frontal or temporal regions Criticism – Cause or Effect? Do we all have this damage?

27. Qu. Which drug is most associated with criminality? Why? Qu. Do drugs influence crime?

28. Individuals who take large amounts of steroids can become extremely violent (known as "roid rage"). Horace Williams, a body builder, beat a man to death after taking 2000 x the recommended dosage of steroids.

29. Do you think that people who commit crime are physically or mentally different from the rest of us? Hans Eysenck, 1950 I think they are!

30.  Claims that it is an interaction between genes and environment  Three dimensions to personality: ◦ Extraversion – Introversion ◦ Neuroticism – Stability ◦ Psychoticism - Normality

31. Who is more likely to commit crime? Who is likely to not commit crime?

32. Why are extroverts more likely to commit crime? Extraverts need excitement so they are more likely to be risk takers – leading to crime Extraverts do not condition easily. BUT – Little supporting research

33.  Eysenck claims that most criminals are extraverts – they gain arousal from crime  Zuckermann suggests that there is no relationship (using extravert type ‘sensation seeking’)  Smith et al says that extraverts are simply more aroused / arousable

35.  Abusive father  High achiever at school but dismissed from university following a prank  Joined marines and promoted quickly  Court martialled for gambling, demoted then discharged  Returned to university and got a job as a traffic surveyor  Parents divorced – mother moved away

36.  Visited doctors and psychiatrists for help with severe headaches and irrational thoughts  Murdered mother and wife – left notes to say he had freed them from the tortures of this world  Wrote a suicide note asking for a post-mortem to help find what was wrong with his mind and to donate all his money to mental health charities

37.  Body types has some validity  Cannot explain crime alone  Simplistic  Reductionist  Ignores social factors, e.g. childhood, role models