‘Born Bad’ Workshop
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Born bad?
What are the
causes of crime?
Julia Russell
Is menacing
behaviour like
stalking a product
of nature or
nurture?
Are some people
biologically
predisposed to
become
criminals?
Do psychological factors affect the
incidence of criminality?
Is antisocial
behaviour a
product of social
factors?
Biological explanations
Atavism
narrow
sloping
brow
prominent
eyebrow
ridges

X
large
ears
protruding
chin
?

Facebook group:
Worst Passport Photos In the Wrold
Yahoo group
Body build: somatotypes
SOMATOTYPE ACTIVITY
mesomorphic
muscular and hard
aggressive, adventurous
…and criminal
endomorphic
fa and soft
sociable, relaxed
ectomorphic
thin and fragile
introverted, restrained
William Sheldon
somatotypes
XYY
Family studies
grandparents
parents
25%
50%
25%
aunts/uncles
siblings
50%
Here are 33 families
Hearty, the Captain; Snuffet, the Undertaker; Snoot, the First Class Passenger; Deck,
the Swabhand; Stitches, the Sailmaker; Block, the Barber; Bones, the Butcher; Brush,
the Artist; Wig the lawyer; Bud, the Florist; Bun, the Baker ; Bung, the Brewer; Chalk,
the Teacher; Chip, the Carpenter; Constable, the Policeman; Creep, the Crook; Dose,
the Doctor; Dip, the Dyer; Byte the programmer; Field, the Farmer; Flea, the vet;
Green, the Greengrocer; Grits, the Grocer; Jumbo, the pilot; Mug, the Milkman; Pipe,
the plumber; Sole, the Fisherman; Soot, the Sweep; Stamp, the Postman; Tape, the
Tailor; Teeth, the dentist; Tuckin, the Chef; Pots, the Painter.
How many of the families would you expect to be responsible
for half of all the crimes committed?
Farrington et al (1991) 6% of families responsible for 50% of crimes
Here are 33 ‘Happy Families’
Hearty, the Captain; Snuffet, the Undertaker; Snoot, the First Class Passenger; Deck,
the Swabhand; Stitches, the Sailmaker; Block, the Barber; Bones, the Butcher; Brush,
the Artist; Wig the lawyer; Bud, the Florist; Bun, the Baker ; Bung, the Brewer; Chalk,
the Teacher; Chip, the Carpenter; Constable, the Policeman; Creep, the Crook; Dose,
the Doctor; Dip, the Dyer; Byte the programmer; Field, the Farmer; Flea, the vet;
Green, the Greengrocer; Grits, the Grocer; Jumbo, the pilot; Mug, the Milkman; Pipe,
the plumber; Sole, the Fisherman; Soot, the Sweep; Stamp, the Postman; Tape, the
Tailor; Teeth, the dentist; Tuckin, the Chef; Pots, the Painter.
How many of the families would
you expect to be responsible for
half of all the crimes committed?
The Creeps and just one other…
Farrington et al (1991) 6% of families
responsible for 50% of crimes
Non-criminal families
(the Blocks, the Tapes
and the Boneses)
13% criminal sons
Criminal
families (the
Crooks)
40% criminal sons
Osborn & West (1979) Only 13% of sons of non-criminal fathers
had convictions, but 40% of sons of criminal fathers had convictions…
But what about the other 60%?
Twin and adoption studies
Adoption studies
Mednick et al. (1987) surveyed court convictions in Denmark
which included 14,427 adoptees. The criminal records of their
biological and adoptive parents showed that many of these
adoptees had criminal biological parents (especially for those
with chronic offender parents and for father/sons) –
supporting the biological explanation (although the type of
crime was unrelated).
Where there was an improvement in social conditions there was
a reduction in crime – contradicting the biological
explanation.
However, if the biological parents’ conviction occurred before
adoption, the adoptive parents were informed. This might
have had and effect…
Percentage of offspring convicted
adopted after
conviction
sons
adopted
before
conviction
15.6
daughters
4
4
16.1
…but we aren’t saying that
environment doesn’t matter
biological
adoptive
% of sons with % of sons with
parents have
parents have
criminal record criminal record
criminal record criminal record (Mednick, 1987) (Bohman, 1995)
no
no
13.5
3
no
yes
14.7
7
…but environmental and biological
factors together…
biological
adoptive
% of sons with % of sons with
parents have
parents have
criminal record criminal record
criminal record criminal record (Mednick, 1987) (Bohman, 1995)
no
yes
no
yes
no
no
yes
yes
13.5
20.0
14.7
24.5
3
12
7
40
Genes
neurotransmission
Potentiation by
nitric oxide
Nelson et al. (1995) found
that male mice with the
nNOS2/2 gene deleted were
more aggressive than normal.
Demas et al. (1999) found
that deleting eNOS2/2
eliminated aggression in male
mice – even though they had
extra-strong front legs!
Test yourself
Test yourself: Impulsiveness
NON-PLANNING
MOTOR
IMPULSIVENESS
COGNITIVE
IMPULSIVENESS
TOTAL IMPULSIVENESS
PERCENTILE
35
30
27
24
21
25
23
21
19
17
22
20
18
16
14
75
70
65
60
55
85
70
50
30
15
Impulsive behaviour and criminal
behaviour appear to be linked
impulsivity
Reif et al. (2009) impulsivity in humans is linked to NOS1. One variant in
participants from psychiatric clinics (including 182 criminals) was more
frequent in adults with ADHD, some personality disorders, and
aggressive behaviour. In these individuals, the gene variant also reduced
activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (which processes information
about emotion and reward).
Brains and neurotransmitters
prefrontal cortex
hypothalamus
amygdala
Psychological explanations
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Monday’s child is fair of face,
Tuesday’s child is full of grace,
Wednesday’s child is full of woe,
Thursday’s child has far to go,
Friday’s child is loving and giving,
Saturday’s child works hard for his living,
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.
Sally
Dave
Jenny
Betty
Kevin
Belinda
Angela
Tracey
Sandra
Mike
Alan
Yasmin
Jade
Valerie
Karen
Monday
Monday
Monday
Tuesday
Tuesday
Tuesday
Wednesday Wednesday Wednesday
Thursday
Thursday
Thursday
Friday
Friday
Friday
Saturday
Saturday
Saturday
Sunday
Sunday
Sunday
Signs of the zodiac
Aries
Taurus
Gemini
20 March – 20 April
20 April – 21 May
21 May – 21 June
Cancer
Leo
Virgo
Libra
21 June – 22 July
22 July – 23 August
23 August – 23 September
23 September – 23 October
Scorpio
Sagittarius
Capricorn
23 October – 22 November
22 November – 22 December
22 December – 20 January
Aquarius
Pisces
20 January – 18 February
18 February – 20 March
Jahoda (1954) boys’ names
Children in Ashanti and other Akan areas of
Ghana, West Africa are given ‘soul names’
which relate to a day of the week:
Monday: Kwadowo mild-mannered and peace-loving
Wednesday: Kwaku aggressive and violent
13.5% of boys
referred to the courts
had Wednesday as
part of their
name...but they were
responsible for much
more (22%) of the
violent crimes.
Only 6.9% of juvenile
delinquents were
Monday boys,
although Monday
boys were 13% of
the population
Madon et al. (2003)
community
payback
community
payback
Psychoticism
Hans Eysenck
Social explanations
Social learning
Children See, Children Do
video
St
StHelena
Helena
Island
Island