Biological Theories
Are Criminals Fundamentally
Different from Non-criminals?
• Classical School
– No
• Biological positivists
– Yes
Emergence of Positivism
• Scientific revolution
– Optimism about science soars in the1800s
• Empiricism replaces abstract speculation
– Knowledge through measurement
• Determinism replaces free will
– Search for prior causes, de-emphasize choice
Positivist Criminology in Born
• Lombroso’s theory of atavism
– Influenced by Darwin
• Observed physical differences between
criminals and non-criminals
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Large jaw and cheekbones
Shifty eyes, “hard” expression
Hairy
Ears/head too large or too small
• Criminals are throwbacks, atavists
– Too primitive for modern society
Heredity and Crime
• Crime runs in families, twins (2x greater)
– Physical and moral deficits are inherited
• Eugenics: goal is to breed better humans
– A scientific movement, 1910-1940
– To prevent the unfit from breeding
• Can we control the selection process?
– “the elimination of crime can be effected only
by the extirpation of the physically, mentally,
and morally unfit” (Hooton, 1939)
Sheldon’s Biological Theories
• Sheldon’s (1949): constitutional psychology
– Body type and personality are related
• Three somatotypes – separate scores
– Endomorph (soft and round)
– Mesomorph (muscular)
– Ectomorph (lean)
• Delinquents high in mesomorphy, low in
ectomorphy
Renewed Interest in
Biological Criminology
• Focus on hybrid explanations that combine
sociology and biology
• Soft determinism, limited free will
IQ and Crime:
A Persistent Finding
• Offenders tend to have lower (verbal) IQ
• To this day, the IQ-crime association
remains largely unexplained
• How might we explain the relationship?
Testosterone:
Booth and Osgood (1993)
• High testosterone leads children to behave
in ways that alienate others (aggression)
• This leads to fewer social bonds, which
over time, increase crime (control theory)
• Conclusions: testosterone affects crime
indirectly by reducing social bonds
Ethical and Policy Issues
• Blaming the victim
The Shift to Positivism
• Shift from rational choice to prior causes
• Shift from punishment to rehabilitation
• Shift from responsibility to medicalization