Transcript Biology and Crime

Biology and Crime
• Early Positivism: the legacy of the early
1900s
• Sociological Criticism and Dominance
• New Directions in Biological research
– Heredity research
– Biological Harms
– Biological Correlates
– Biosocial Theory
Early Biological Positivism
• Lombroso’s “born criminal”
– Darwinist theory of “atavism”
• Various theories of the “feeble-minded”
• Charles Goring, E.A. Hooten
– body stature and weight
• The XYY supermale
• Commonality of all these theories?
Biology from 1940-1980s
• Any hint of “biological research” was
ridiculed, ignored, treated as “taboo.”
– Current Sociologists? Criticism was warranted
– Current Psychologists? “Knowledge
destruction techniques”
• 1990s-present: rebirth of biological
research
– Is modern biological research or theory any
better?
The Heritability of Crime
• Family Studies
– “Jukes,” and “Killikaks” (major flaws)
– BUT – crime does appear to run in families
• Twin Studies
– Christianson (1977)
– “Concordance” rates: MZ (36%), DZ (12%)
– Criticism of twin studies?
• Adoption studies
– “cross fostering” analyses
– criminal history of biological parents vs. adoptive
parents
Cross Fostering Analysis
Mednick et al. (1984)
Adoptive
Parents
Criminal?
YES
NO
Biological Parents
Criminal?
YES
NO
24.5%
14.7%
20.0%
13.5%
Molecular Genetics
• Gene Linkage Analysis
– Hans Brunner and associates and the crazy
Dutch family
• However, such “one gene one disorder” (OGOD)
situations unlikely to explain much crime
• The Human Genome Project
– Genome = the total DNA in an organism
• Some evidence for genes related to “novelty
seeking” and ADD/ADHD
• Combinations of genes may “nudge” behavior
Biological Harms
• Prenatal or Perinatal insults
– Maternal drinking/smoking, delivery
complications, low birthweight, etc.
• Exposure to toxins– lead
– Especially for kids (brain/CNS still developing)
• Sources of Lead Exposure
• Cincinnati Lead Study (and others)
Assuming that something is
inherited or harmed...
• Biological Correlates of Crime
– Brain Activity & Central Nervous System
• PET scans
• Neurochemicals (serotonin)
• Frontal Lobe = planning, self-monitoring, etc.
– Autonomic Nervous System
• Heart rate, skin conductance
– Indirect measures (IQ, neuro-psych tests)
– ADD/ADHD, personality traits .....
Many things point to “arousal”
• Simple explanation = under aroused seek
out thrills (such as crime)
– Related = higher level of fearlessness
• Others = arousal may relate to
conditioning
– Mednick’s biosocial theory
Mednick’s biosocial theory
• Children refrain from crime when consistently
socialized to do so (similar to?)
– Parental efficacy (consistent rewards/punishment)
and social context of parenting
– Children have different “learning ability”
• Some do not feel the “sting” of punishment
• Low cortical arousal, low nesting heart rate, etc.
• Potent mix = poor parenting and low arousal
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
• Early Positivism
– Eugenics (quotes from Hooten, others)
• Biosocial Criminology
– Biology may identify “high risk” kids
– Prevention can target “social” factors