Biological Theories - Advanced Criminology - Lecture Slides, Slides of Criminology

Download Biological Theories - Advanced Criminology - Lecture Slides and more Slides Criminology in PDF only on Docsity! Biological Theories docsity.com Are Criminals Fundamentally Different from Non-criminals? • Classical School – No • Biological positivists – Yes docsity.com 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) docsity.com 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 docsity.com Renewed Interest in Biological Criminology • Focus on hybrid explanations that combine sociology and biology • Soft determinism, limited free will docsity.com Ethical and Policy Issues • Blaming the victim docsity.com The Shift to Positivism • Shift from rational choice to prior causes • Shift from punishment to rehabilitation • Shift from responsibility to medicalization docsity.com