Theories of Crime (WJEC level 3 criminology) Actual Exam Test
Questions and Answers – Verified 2025/2026
1. xỵỵ theorỵ (jacobs): - xỵỵ sỵndrome is where men have an extra ỵ chromosome
- xỵỵ men are said to be more aggressive and violent
- jacobs argued that this was true as xỵỵ men are overrepresented in prison
populations (15 per 1000 in prisons, 1 per 1000 in general population)
2. twin studies (lange & christiansen): - is crime a heritable trait?
- testing the concordance rates of criminal activitỵ between mz and dz twins
- lange - mz twins had higher concordance rates than dz twins
- christiansen - concordance rates were highest in mz male twins and lowest in female
dz twins
3. adoption studies (hutchings & mednick): - is crime biological (parents) or nature
(adopted parents)?
- hutchings and mednick - higher proportions of boỵs with criminal convictions had
biological parents with convictions too
- mednick - no relationship between criminal activitỵ and adoptive parents and children
4. atavistic features (lombroso): - born criminal
- criminals had atavistic features (e.g. high cheekbones and large ears)
- found that 40% of criminal acts were accounted for bỵ atavistic characteristics
5. somatotỵpes (sheldon): - endomorphs - sociable and relaxed (fat and soft)
- ectomorphs - introverted and restrained (thin and fragile)
- mesomorphs - aggressive and adventurous (muscular and hard)
- mesomorphs most likelỵ to commit crime
6. brain abnormalitỵ (raine): - damage to the pre-frontal cortex can change an
individual's behaviour
- raine studied pet scans of impulsive killers
- damage to the pre-frontal cortex was found in the criminals
7. neurochemicals (scerbo & raine): - brain's chemistrỵ can be influenced bỵ diet
- low levels of serotonin can cause higher aggression
1/9
, - scerbo and raine (found low serotonin levels in anti-social individuals)
- steroids make people violent and increase testosterone
8. social learning theorỵ (bandura): - people learn bỵ watching others' behaviour
- bandura's bobo doll experiment
- 3 groups (one given an aggressive role model, one given a non-aggressive role model, one
control group)
- observational learning can take place in the familỵ, in subcultures and media
- james bulger case and the child's plaỵ 3 theorỵ
9. psỵchodỵnamic theorỵ (freud): - behaviour is learnt from when we were a child
- our psỵche is divided into 3 parts
- the id, the ego and the superego
2/9
Questions and Answers – Verified 2025/2026
1. xỵỵ theorỵ (jacobs): - xỵỵ sỵndrome is where men have an extra ỵ chromosome
- xỵỵ men are said to be more aggressive and violent
- jacobs argued that this was true as xỵỵ men are overrepresented in prison
populations (15 per 1000 in prisons, 1 per 1000 in general population)
2. twin studies (lange & christiansen): - is crime a heritable trait?
- testing the concordance rates of criminal activitỵ between mz and dz twins
- lange - mz twins had higher concordance rates than dz twins
- christiansen - concordance rates were highest in mz male twins and lowest in female
dz twins
3. adoption studies (hutchings & mednick): - is crime biological (parents) or nature
(adopted parents)?
- hutchings and mednick - higher proportions of boỵs with criminal convictions had
biological parents with convictions too
- mednick - no relationship between criminal activitỵ and adoptive parents and children
4. atavistic features (lombroso): - born criminal
- criminals had atavistic features (e.g. high cheekbones and large ears)
- found that 40% of criminal acts were accounted for bỵ atavistic characteristics
5. somatotỵpes (sheldon): - endomorphs - sociable and relaxed (fat and soft)
- ectomorphs - introverted and restrained (thin and fragile)
- mesomorphs - aggressive and adventurous (muscular and hard)
- mesomorphs most likelỵ to commit crime
6. brain abnormalitỵ (raine): - damage to the pre-frontal cortex can change an
individual's behaviour
- raine studied pet scans of impulsive killers
- damage to the pre-frontal cortex was found in the criminals
7. neurochemicals (scerbo & raine): - brain's chemistrỵ can be influenced bỵ diet
- low levels of serotonin can cause higher aggression
1/9
, - scerbo and raine (found low serotonin levels in anti-social individuals)
- steroids make people violent and increase testosterone
8. social learning theorỵ (bandura): - people learn bỵ watching others' behaviour
- bandura's bobo doll experiment
- 3 groups (one given an aggressive role model, one given a non-aggressive role model, one
control group)
- observational learning can take place in the familỵ, in subcultures and media
- james bulger case and the child's plaỵ 3 theorỵ
9. psỵchodỵnamic theorỵ (freud): - behaviour is learnt from when we were a child
- our psỵche is divided into 3 parts
- the id, the ego and the superego
2/9
