Biology and Crime
•Early Positivism: the legacy of the early1900s
•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” wasridiculed, ignored, treated as “taboo.”
–Current Sociologists? Criticism was warranted
–Current Psychologists? “Knowledgedestruction techniques”
•1990s-present: rebirth of biologicalresearch
–Is modern biological research or theory anybetter?
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. adoptiveparents
Cross Fostering AnalysisMednick et al. (1984)
Molecular Genetics
•Gene Linkage Analysis
–Hans Brunner and associates and the crazyDutch 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 “noveltyseeking” and ADD/ADHD
•Combinations of genes may “nudge” behavior
Biological Harms
•Prenatal or Perinatal insults
–Maternal drinking/smoking, deliverycomplications, 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 isinherited 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 seekout thrills (such as crime)
–Related = higher level of fearlessness
•Others = arousal may relate toconditioning
–Mednick’s biosocial theory
Mednick’s biosocial theory
•Children refrain from crime when consistentlysocialized 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