CRIMINOLOGY THEORIES ACTUAL TEST
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS
COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW PACKAGE
●● What comes under Genetic theories?
Answer: 'XYY' theory, twin study, adoption study
●● What is the 'XYY' theory?
Answer: A male having an extra Y chromosome also known as super
males
●● What did Jacob et AL (1965) suggest about XYY?
Answer: Males with XYY chromosomes are more aggressive and thus
more inclined to be more violent then males with a single Y
chromosome
●● What did Jacob et al (1965) find out about the prison population?
Answer: A significant of men in prison had XYY sex chromosomes
instead of the normal XY.
●● Individuals with XYY syndrome also have low levels of...
Answer: Intelligence
,●● However what reason may be resulting in the XXY syndrome
affecting crime rates?
Answer: However, they are at an increased risk of developmental delay
and learning difficulties....it has been found that there is a small
association between learning difficulties and criminal behaviour.
●● What contradictory evidence was found that has questioned the XXY
syndromes theory?
Answer: that testosterone and aggression levels amongst XYY men are
no different from XY men
●● What is the main idea of the Twin Studies?
Answer: The main idea of the twin studies is that a heritable trait may
increase the risk for criminal behaviour.
●● What are the types of twins
Answer: Identical = monozygotic MZNon identical= dizygotic DZ
●● What is concordance rate?
Answer: When both twins share a characteristic, it can help to indicate a
possible genetic tendency
●● What did Christiansen find about the twin study?
,Answer: Over 3500 twins. Concordance rate of 35% MZ and 13% DZ
for males 21% MZ and 8% DZ for females
●● What are adoption studies?
Answer: Adopted child compared to the biological family and their
adopted family
- Want to see if environment plays a big role.
●● How would a genetic basis be suggested within the adoption studies?
Answer: If in criminal behaviour the child is more similar to their
biological parents than adoptive parents (with whom they share the same
environment) then it is genetic
●● How would an environmental basis be suggested within the adoption
studies?
Answer: If a child is more similar to their adoptive parents than
biological parents, an environment argument is preferred
●● What research support is there for the adoption studies?
Answer: Hutchings and mednick 1975- studies 14000 adoptive children
and found that a high proportion of boys with criminal convictions had
biological parents with criminal convictions too.
, ●● Further support for the adoption studies...
Answer: Mednick et al (1994) later found no relationship between the
number of criminal convictions of adoptive parents and their adoptive
children but did find a significant correlation between the number of
criminal convictions of the biological parents and their offspring
●● What comes under physiological theories?
Answer: Lombroso, Sheldon, Brain abnormality, nurochemical
●● who created the atavistic form theory?
Answer: Cesare Lombroso 1876
●● What did Lombroso claim?
Answer: Lombroso (1876) claimed that criminality was heritable. He
suggested that there was a distinct biological class of people which were
prone to criminality
●● What determined the born criminal according to Lombroso?
Answer: The physical shape of the head and face.
●● What atavistic features did Lombroso suggest a criminal would
have?
Answer: -high cheekbones
-facial asymmetry
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS
COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW PACKAGE
●● What comes under Genetic theories?
Answer: 'XYY' theory, twin study, adoption study
●● What is the 'XYY' theory?
Answer: A male having an extra Y chromosome also known as super
males
●● What did Jacob et AL (1965) suggest about XYY?
Answer: Males with XYY chromosomes are more aggressive and thus
more inclined to be more violent then males with a single Y
chromosome
●● What did Jacob et al (1965) find out about the prison population?
Answer: A significant of men in prison had XYY sex chromosomes
instead of the normal XY.
●● Individuals with XYY syndrome also have low levels of...
Answer: Intelligence
,●● However what reason may be resulting in the XXY syndrome
affecting crime rates?
Answer: However, they are at an increased risk of developmental delay
and learning difficulties....it has been found that there is a small
association between learning difficulties and criminal behaviour.
●● What contradictory evidence was found that has questioned the XXY
syndromes theory?
Answer: that testosterone and aggression levels amongst XYY men are
no different from XY men
●● What is the main idea of the Twin Studies?
Answer: The main idea of the twin studies is that a heritable trait may
increase the risk for criminal behaviour.
●● What are the types of twins
Answer: Identical = monozygotic MZNon identical= dizygotic DZ
●● What is concordance rate?
Answer: When both twins share a characteristic, it can help to indicate a
possible genetic tendency
●● What did Christiansen find about the twin study?
,Answer: Over 3500 twins. Concordance rate of 35% MZ and 13% DZ
for males 21% MZ and 8% DZ for females
●● What are adoption studies?
Answer: Adopted child compared to the biological family and their
adopted family
- Want to see if environment plays a big role.
●● How would a genetic basis be suggested within the adoption studies?
Answer: If in criminal behaviour the child is more similar to their
biological parents than adoptive parents (with whom they share the same
environment) then it is genetic
●● How would an environmental basis be suggested within the adoption
studies?
Answer: If a child is more similar to their adoptive parents than
biological parents, an environment argument is preferred
●● What research support is there for the adoption studies?
Answer: Hutchings and mednick 1975- studies 14000 adoptive children
and found that a high proportion of boys with criminal convictions had
biological parents with criminal convictions too.
, ●● Further support for the adoption studies...
Answer: Mednick et al (1994) later found no relationship between the
number of criminal convictions of adoptive parents and their adoptive
children but did find a significant correlation between the number of
criminal convictions of the biological parents and their offspring
●● What comes under physiological theories?
Answer: Lombroso, Sheldon, Brain abnormality, nurochemical
●● who created the atavistic form theory?
Answer: Cesare Lombroso 1876
●● What did Lombroso claim?
Answer: Lombroso (1876) claimed that criminality was heritable. He
suggested that there was a distinct biological class of people which were
prone to criminality
●● What determined the born criminal according to Lombroso?
Answer: The physical shape of the head and face.
●● What atavistic features did Lombroso suggest a criminal would
have?
Answer: -high cheekbones
-facial asymmetry
