Canadian Criminology Today, Theories and Applications, Fifth Edition

Canadian Criminology Today Theories and Applications Canadian 5th Edition

Schmalleger
Full download at:
Solution Manual:
https://testbankpack.com/p/solution-manual-for-canadian-criminology-today-theories-
and-applications-canadian-5th-edition-schmalleger-and-volk-isbn-0132935759-
9780132935753/
Test bank:
https://testbankpack.com/p/test-bank-for-canadian-criminology-today-theories-and-
applications-canadian-5th-edition-schmalleger-and-volk-isbn-0132935759-
9780132935753/

Chapter 6
Biological Roots of Criminal Behaviour
Learning Outcomes
After reading this chapter students should be able to:
6.1 Identify the basic principles that characterize biological theories of crime
causation.
6.2 Understand how biological perspectives might explain human aggression.
6.3 Be aware of the research linking genetics and crime.
6.4 Consider the contribution of sociobiology to the study of criminality.
6.5 Explain how criminality can be explained from a biosocial perspective.
6.6 Identify modern-day social policy which reflects the biological approach to
crime causation.
6.7 Assess the shortcomings of the biological theories of criminal behaviour.

Chapter Outline
Introduction
Major Principles of Biological Theories
Biological Roots of Human Aggression
Early Biological Theories
Body Types
Chemical and Environmental Precursors of Crime
Hormones and Criminality
Genetics and Crime
Criminal Families
The XYY “Supermale”
Chromosomes and Modern-Day Criminal Families
Twin Studies

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.

41
 Canadian Criminology Today, Theories and Applications, Fifth Edition

Male-Female Differences in Criminality

Sociobiology
Biosocial Criminology
Policy Implications of Biological Theories
Critique of Biological Theories
Summary

Lecture Outline
I. Introduction.
A. Discuss the possibility of a brain tumour causing dramatic personality changes
that would lead to criminal behaviour.
B. Note that criminologists critically question biological explanations for criminal
behaviour.
II. Major Principles of Biological Theories.
A. The central features of biological theories of crime causation include certain
fundamental assumptions:
1. The brain is the organ of the mind and the locus of personality.
2. The basic determinants of human behaviour, including criminal tendencies,
are, to a considerable degree, constitutionally or genetically based.
3. 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.
4. The basic determinants of human behaviour, including criminality, may be
passed on from generation to generation.
5. Much of human conduct is fundamentally rooted in instinctive behavioural
responses characteristic of biological organisms everywhere.
6. The biological roots of human conduct have become increasingly disguised,
as modern symbolic forms of indirect expressive behaviour have replaced
more primitive and direct ones.
7. At least some human behaviour is the result of biological propensities inherited
from more primitive developmental stages in the evolutionary process.
8. The interplay between heredity, biology, and the social environment provides
the nexus for any realistic consideration of crime causation.
Biological Theory: Maintain that the basic determinants of human behaviour,
including criminality, are constitutionally or physiologically based and often
inherited.
Discussion Topic: Discuss human characteristics that may be genetically
based and possibly passed on from parent to a child. E.g. intelligence,
temperament.
III. Biological Roots of Human Aggression.
A. Konrad Lorenz, in his work entitled On Aggression, said aggression ensures an
“even distribution of animals of a particular species over an inhabitable area” and
provides for a defence of the species from predators. He also concluded that:

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.

42
 Canadian Criminology Today, Theories and Applications, Fifth Edition

1. Human aggression meets many of the same purposes but can take on covert
forms.
2. Much of what we today call crime is the result of overcrowded living
conditions, combined with a lack of legitimate opportunity for the effective
expression of aggression.
3. These explanations appear more applicable to violent crime than to other
forms of criminal offence, but we must recognize that modern frustrations and
concomitant manifestations of aggression may be symbolically, rather than
directly, expressed.
B. Early Biological Theories.
1. Franz Joseph Gall, in his theory of phrenology (also called craniology),
hypothesized that the shape of the human skull was indicative of the
personality and could be used to predict criminality.
Phrenology: The study of the shape of the head to determine anatomical
correlates of human behaviour.
Criminal Anthropology: The scientific study of the relationship between
human physical characteristics and criminality.
2. Gall's student, Johann Gaspar Spurzheim, brought phrenological theory to
North America and, through a series of lectures and publications on the
subject, helped to spread its influence.
3. Cesare Lombroso, of the Positivist school of crime causation, suggested in
1876 that criminality was the result of primitive urges that survived the
evolutionary process. His theory, termed “atavism,” implies the notion that
criminals are born that way.
a. Lombroso’s scientific work consisted of the study of executed and
deceased offenders as well as living inmates to identify physical
differences or abnormalities.
b. Lombroso identified a number of bodily features which he felt were
indicative of criminalistic tendencies including long arms, an index finger
as long as the middle finger, fleshy pouches in the cheeks “like those in
rodents”, eyes that were either abnormally close together or too far apart,
large teeth, ears that lack lobes, prominent cheekbones, a crooked nose, a
large amount of body hair, protruding chin, large lips, a non-standard
number of ribs, and eyes of differing colours or hues.
Positivism: The application of scientific techniques to the study of crime and
criminals.
Atavism: A concept used by Cesare Lombroso to suggest that criminals are
physiological throwbacks to earlier stages of human evolution. The term is
derived from the Latin term atavus, which means “ancestor.”
Born criminals: individuals who are born with a genetic predilection toward
criminality.
Criminaloids: a term used by Cesare Lombroso to describe occasional
criminals who were pulled into criminality primarily by environmental
influences.

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.

43
 Canadian Criminology Today, Theories and Applications, Fifth Edition

Discussion Topic: Discuss the implications of an “atavistic” being for

society. How would being a “biological throwback” influence behaviour?
4. Charles Buckman Goring, at about the turn of the twentieth century,
concluded in a well-controlled statistical study of Lombroso's thesis of
atavism that “the whole fabric of Lombrosian doctrine, judged by the
standards of science, is fundamentally unsound.”
5. In a study conducted between 1827 and 1839, Earnest A. Hooton compared
prison inmates with non-incarcerated individuals. He reported finding not only
different physiological features between the two groups but also differences
based on characteristics of specific criminal types in individual states.
C. Body Types.
1. Ernst Kretschmer studied body types (somatotyping) in the early and mid-
twentieth century matching personality types with certain body shapes.
2. Influenced by Kretschmer, William H. Sheldon utilized measurement
techniques to connect body type with personality, calling his types
endomorph, mesomorph, and ectomorph.
a. Endomorph: A body type originally described as soft and round, or
overweight.
b. Ectomorph: A body type originally described as thin and fragile, with
long, slender, poorly muscled extremities, and delicate bones.
c. Mesomorph: A body type described as athletic and muscular.
d. Balanced type: A body type that is of average build, without overweight,
thin or exceedingly muscular traits.
3. The work of early biological theorists such as Sheldon, Lombroso, and Gall is
generally discredited today; modern biological theories of crime are far more
sophisticated.
Constitutional Theories: Those theories that explain criminality by reference
to offenders' body types, genetics, and/or external observable physical
characteristics. Somatotyping: The classification of human beings into types
according to body build and other physical characteristics.
Cycloid: the cycloid personality, which was associated with a heavyset, soft
type of body, was said to vacillate between normality and abnormality.
Schizoid: a person characterized by a schizoid personality disorder. Such
disordered personalities appear to be aloof, unresponsive, humourless, dull,
and solitary to an abnormal degree.
Displastics: a mixed group of offenders described as highly emotional and
often unable to control themselves.
Endomorph: body type described as soft and round or overweight.
Mesomorph: body type described as athletic and muscular.
Ectomorph: body type described as thin and fragile, with long slender, poorly
muscled extremities and delicate bones.
Discussion Topic: Discuss the proposed connection between personality and
body type. Do you think that this concept has any validity?

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.

44
 Canadian Criminology Today, Theories and Applications, Fifth Edition

Discussion Topic: What were the major biological explanations of criminality

that emerged in the early 20th century? How were these explanations received
by social scientists?
D. Chemical and Environmental Precursors of Crime.
1. Recent research has made some significant strides in linking violent or
disruptive behaviour to eating habits, vitamin deficiencies, genetics,
inheritance, and other conditions, which impact body tissues.
2. One of the first studies to focus on chemical imbalances in the body as a cause
of crime linked murder to hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar. Other studies
have looked at the impact of excess sugar consumption.
a. To some degree, even courts have accepted the notion that excess sugar
consumption may be linked to crime.
b. More recent research has concluded that there is a limited link between
sugar and hyperactivity; the evidence concerning sugar’s impact on
behaviour is unclear.
3. Allergic reactions to common foods can lead to a swelling of the brain and the
brain stem. Some investigators have reported this as a cause of violence and
aggressive behaviour.
4. Some studies have implicated food additives such as food dyes, artificial
flavourings etc. The role of food and diet in producing criminal behaviour,
however, has not been well established.
5. Industrial and other forms of environmental pollution have also been cited as
causes of people committing violent crimes.
Hypoglycemia: a condition characterized by low blood sugar.
Discussion Topic: Discuss the 1980’s case of Dan White and the infamous
“Twinkie defence”.
Discussion Topic: Discuss whether or not excessive consumption of sugar
should excuse deviant or criminal behaviour.
E. Hormones and Criminality
1. Hormones have also come under scrutiny as potential behavioural
determinants. Studies on the subject have consistently shown an apparent
relationship between high blood testosterone levels, the male sex hormone,
and increased aggressiveness in men.
2 Fluctuations in the level of female hormones may also bear some relationship
to law violation. Evidence linking PMS (premenstrual syndrome) to violent
and/or criminal behaviour is far from clear, but some researchers believe that
a drop in serotonin levels in the female brain just prior to menstruation might
explain the agitation and irritability sometimes associated with premenstrual
syndrome.
Testosterone: the primary male sex hormone, produced in the testes, its
function is to control secondary sex characteristics and sexual drive.

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.

45
 Canadian Criminology Today, Theories and Applications, Fifth Edition

Discussion topic: In the case of “Who’s Responsible – The Individual or

Society?” do you believe that blood chemistry can ever be an explanation for
behaviour and crime?
IV. Genetics and Crime.
A. Criminal Families
1. Some scholars suggest that a penchant for crime may be inherited and that
criminal tendencies are genetically based. (Cite Richard L. Dugdale’s study of
the Jukes family and Henry H. Goddard’s similar study of the Kallikak
family.)
2. Studies focused on inherited mental degeneration, led to the eugenics
movement of the 1920s and early 1930s during which mentally handicapped
women were frequently sterilized to prevent their bearing additional offspring.
Eugenics: The study of hereditary improvement by genetic control.

Juke family: a well-known “criminal family” studied by Richard L. Dugdale.

Kallikak family: a well-known “criminal family” studied by Henry H.
Goddard.
Discussion Topic: Discuss factors other than genetics that could explain the
exhibition of intergenerational criminal behaviour.
B. The XYY “Supermale.”
1. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes; males have an XY pair, females have
an XX pair.
2. The 1965 study by Patricia A. Jacobs of 197 Scottish prisoners found
chromosomal abnormalities in twelve of the prisoners. Seven of the twelve
were found to have an XYY chromosome.
3. The XYY males, whose incidence in the prison population was placed at
around 3.5 percent, were quickly identified as potentially violent and termed
supermales.
4. Nearly 200 studies of XYY males tend to show that supermales share
common traits such as being taller than average, suffering from skin disorders
and possessing lower than average intelligence. Little evidence suggests that
XYY men actually commit crimes of greater violence than do other men.
Supermale: a male individual displaying the XYY chromosomal structure.
Discussion Topic: Discuss the possible impact of unusual appearance on
social acceptance and whether social exclusion can in itself lead to deviant
and/or criminal behaviour.
C. Chromosomes and Modern-Day Criminal Families.
1. After a decade of study, Hans-Hilger Ropers and Han G. Brunner announced
the isolation of the specific mutation that causes criminality. It is the gene that
is responsible for production of an enzyme called monoamine oxidase A
(MAOA). MAOA breaks down the chemicals serotonin and noradrenaline,

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.

46
 Canadian Criminology Today, Theories and Applications, Fifth Edition

both of which have been linked to aggressive behaviour when found in excess
in the brain of humans.
2. Their 1993 study concludes that because men have only one X chromosome
they are especially vulnerable to any defective gene.
3. Researchers surmise that because men with the mutated gene do not produce
the enzyme necessary to break down chemical transmitters, their brains are
overwhelmed with stimuli—a situation that results in uncontrollable urges
and, ultimately, criminal behaviour.
D. Twin Studies.
1. In 1968 Karl Christiansen and Sarnoff Mednick found significant statistical
support for the notion that criminal tendencies are inherited.
2. In a study of identical and fraternal twin pairs, they concluded that 52 percent
of the former and 22 percent of the latter displayed the same degree of
criminality within the twin pair.
Dizygotic (DZ) twins: twins who develop from a separate ovum and carry the
genetic material shared by siblings.
Monozygotic(MZ) twins: as opposed to dizygotic (or DZ) twins, develop from
the same egg and carry virtually the same genetic material.
Discussion Topic: Explain how biological approaches help to explain
criminal behaviours.
E. Male-Female Differences in Criminality.
1. With the exception of crimes against the person, the gap between male and
female crime rates has been narrowing in Canada in the past 30 years. Overall,
the percentage of Criminal Code offences committed by females increased
from 9 percent to 18 percent.
2. Biological criminologists suggest that the organic correlates of gender explain
the differences in male/female criminality.
3. Genetically based behavioural differences between males and females
continue to be overshadowed by explanations that are rooted in the social
environment.
Discussion Topic: Discuss whether females who come into contact with the
criminal justice system are treated differently from males.
F. Sociobiology.
1. In 1975, Edward O. Wilson brought sociobiology to the scientific community.
2. Wilson sought to show that the primary determinant of behaviour was the
need to ensure the survival and continuity of genetic material from one
generation to the next.
3. Territoriality, a primary tenant of Wilson's writings, was said to explain much
of the conflict seen between and among human beings. Sociobiologists tell us
that the violence and aggressiveness associated with territoriality is often
reserved for strangers.
Sociobiology: The systematic study of the biological basis of all social
behaviour.

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.

47
 Canadian Criminology Today, Theories and Applications, Fifth Edition

Paradigm: an example, model, or theory.

Discussion topic: Discuss the ways that sociobiology challenges the
traditional environmental explanations of behaviour. Discuss some of the
shortcomings of sociobiology.
V. Crime and Human Nature: A Contemporary Synthesis.
A. In their work entitled Crime and Human Nature, James Q. Wilson and Richard J.
Herrnstein identify constitutional factors, which they cite as contributing to crime.
These include:
1. Gender: Crime is predominantly male behaviour.
2. Age: Criminal activity declines with age.
3. Body Type: The mesomorphic build is disproportionately associated with
criminal behaviour.
4. Intelligence: Criminality is said to be clearly and consistently associated with
low intelligence.
5. Personality: Criminals are typically aggressive, impulsive, and cruel.
B. Wilson and Herrnstein suggest that constitutional factors predispose a person to
specific types of behaviour.
C. The interplay between heredity, biology, and the social environment may be a key
nexus in any consideration of crime causation.
Discussion Topic: How is criminality explained from a biosocial perspective?
VI. Policy Implications of Biological Theories
A. Biological theories of crime causation present unique challenges to policy-
makers.
B. The dangers of an overly large dependence on biological approaches to crime
raises concerns of intervention on every aspect of human social life, from
conception to the grave, including the possible abortion of defective fetuses,
capital punishment in lieu of rehabilitation, and enforced sterilization.
C. Potential links between race and crime, suggested by some researchers, are
especially repugnant to many who criticize biological criminology.
D. Although biological theories of crime may have problems, to entirely ignore the
potential contributions of biological theorists does a disservice to the science of
criminology and denies the opportunity for compassionate and objective
researchers to realistically assist in the process of crime reduction.
Discussion Topic: Discuss the ethical implications of identifying “criminals”
early on in life.
VII. Critique of Biological Theories.
A. Citing a number of specific shortcomings, Glenn D. Walters and Thomas W.
White generally contend that “genetic research on crime has been poorly
designed, ambiguously reported, and exceedingly inadequate in addressing the
relevant issues.”
B. few biological studies adequately conceptualize criminality.

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.

48
 Canadian Criminology Today, Theories and Applications, Fifth Edition

C. Twin studies, in particular, have sometimes failed to properly establish “whether a

twins is monozygotic (MZ) or dizygotic (DZ)”.
D. Problems in estimating the degree or criminality among sample populations.
E. Methodological problems abound in many studies that attempt to evaluate the role
of genetics in crime.
F. Results obtained in other countries may not be applicable to the country in
questions.

Copyright © 2014 Pearson Canada Inc.

49