LOMBROSO
He argued that criminals were physically different
INFORMATION from non-criminals and he spent many years
measuring and recording details of the heads and
faces of thousands of prisoners. From his research,
he concluded that criminals could be identified by
their distinctive physical features, such as enormous
jaws, high cheek bones, handle-shaped ears,
prominent eyebrow arches, exceptionally long arms,
large eye sockets and extremely acute eyesight.
Lombroso saw criminals as atavistic, that is, as
throwbacks to an earlier, primative stage of
evolution.
Lombroso was the first person to study crime
STRENGHTS
scientifically, using objective measurements to
gather evidence. Previously, crime was seen as a
moral or religous issue.
his research showed the importance of examining
clinical and historical records of criminals.
His later work took some limited account of social
and environmental factors, not just heredity.
by arguing that offenders were not freely choosing
to commit crime, lombroso helps us to focus on
how we might prevent further offending rather
than simply punishing offenders
Research since lombroso has failed to show a link
WEAKNESSES
between facial features and criminality.
Lombroso failed to compare his findings on
prisoners with a control group of non criminals. Had
he done so,he may have found the same
characteristics among general population; in which
case, his explanation would be invalid.
By describing criminals as like ‘primative savages’,
Lombroso equates non-western societies with
criminals.
,SHELDON
Sheldon defined three body types believed to be
INFORMATION associated with criminality: mesomorphs, who are
athletically fit; endomorphs, who are overweight,
and ectomorphs, who are characterized by fragility
and thinness. Sheldon argued that mesomorphs are
the somatotype most likely to engage in crime.
STRENGHTS Other studies have replicated Sheldons findings.
Glueck and Gleuck found that 60% of offenders in
their study were mesomphs.
The most serious deliquents in sheldons sample
were the ones with the most extremely
mesomorphic body shapes
WEAKNESSES .Gleuck and glueck found that criminality was best
explained not by biology alone, but by a combination
of biological, pyschological and environmental
factors.
Criminals may develop a mesomorphic build as a
result of needing to be physically tough to succeed.
if so, criminality causes somatotype, rather than
somatotype causing criminality.
Social class may be the true cause of offending and
of mesomorphy.
Labelling may play a part.
Sheldon doesnt account for those endomorphs and
ectomorphs who do commit crimes.
, TWIN STUDIES
Genetic theories have used studies of identical
INFORMATION twins as a way to test their theory of criminality.
This is because identical or monozygotic twins share
exactly the same genes - they both came from the
same fertilised egg. Therefore if one twin is
criminal, the other twin is ought to be criminal too
Because Mz twins are genetically identical, it is
STRENGHTS
logical to examine whether their offending
behaviour is also identical.
Twin studies give some support to genetic
explanations. Ishikawa and raine found a higher
concordance rate for identical than non identical
twins.
If genes were the only cause of criminality, identical
WEAKNESSES twins would show 100% concordance rate.
Parents treat mz twin more similar than dz.
It is impossible to isolate and measure the effect of
genes separately from environmental effects.
In early studies, there was no way of knowing for
certain if twins were in fact genetically identical.
He argued that criminals were physically different
INFORMATION from non-criminals and he spent many years
measuring and recording details of the heads and
faces of thousands of prisoners. From his research,
he concluded that criminals could be identified by
their distinctive physical features, such as enormous
jaws, high cheek bones, handle-shaped ears,
prominent eyebrow arches, exceptionally long arms,
large eye sockets and extremely acute eyesight.
Lombroso saw criminals as atavistic, that is, as
throwbacks to an earlier, primative stage of
evolution.
Lombroso was the first person to study crime
STRENGHTS
scientifically, using objective measurements to
gather evidence. Previously, crime was seen as a
moral or religous issue.
his research showed the importance of examining
clinical and historical records of criminals.
His later work took some limited account of social
and environmental factors, not just heredity.
by arguing that offenders were not freely choosing
to commit crime, lombroso helps us to focus on
how we might prevent further offending rather
than simply punishing offenders
Research since lombroso has failed to show a link
WEAKNESSES
between facial features and criminality.
Lombroso failed to compare his findings on
prisoners with a control group of non criminals. Had
he done so,he may have found the same
characteristics among general population; in which
case, his explanation would be invalid.
By describing criminals as like ‘primative savages’,
Lombroso equates non-western societies with
criminals.
,SHELDON
Sheldon defined three body types believed to be
INFORMATION associated with criminality: mesomorphs, who are
athletically fit; endomorphs, who are overweight,
and ectomorphs, who are characterized by fragility
and thinness. Sheldon argued that mesomorphs are
the somatotype most likely to engage in crime.
STRENGHTS Other studies have replicated Sheldons findings.
Glueck and Gleuck found that 60% of offenders in
their study were mesomphs.
The most serious deliquents in sheldons sample
were the ones with the most extremely
mesomorphic body shapes
WEAKNESSES .Gleuck and glueck found that criminality was best
explained not by biology alone, but by a combination
of biological, pyschological and environmental
factors.
Criminals may develop a mesomorphic build as a
result of needing to be physically tough to succeed.
if so, criminality causes somatotype, rather than
somatotype causing criminality.
Social class may be the true cause of offending and
of mesomorphy.
Labelling may play a part.
Sheldon doesnt account for those endomorphs and
ectomorphs who do commit crimes.
, TWIN STUDIES
Genetic theories have used studies of identical
INFORMATION twins as a way to test their theory of criminality.
This is because identical or monozygotic twins share
exactly the same genes - they both came from the
same fertilised egg. Therefore if one twin is
criminal, the other twin is ought to be criminal too
Because Mz twins are genetically identical, it is
STRENGHTS
logical to examine whether their offending
behaviour is also identical.
Twin studies give some support to genetic
explanations. Ishikawa and raine found a higher
concordance rate for identical than non identical
twins.
If genes were the only cause of criminality, identical
WEAKNESSES twins would show 100% concordance rate.
Parents treat mz twin more similar than dz.
It is impossible to isolate and measure the effect of
genes separately from environmental effects.
In early studies, there was no way of knowing for
certain if twins were in fact genetically identical.
