SOC 2700 Exam(Chapter 3- Biological
Factors and Criminal Behavior)
Questions and Answers.
Biological Determinism - Answer The belief that men and women behave differently due to
inherent sex differences related to their biology
Biosocial Theories - Answer -Theories that examine the combined effects of biology, behavior,
and the environment on criminal behavior.
-Biological and sociological and how they interact with each other. How your biological traits
combine with your social environment
Physiognomy - Answer -the art of judging human character from *facial features*
-people with these characteristics are said to become criminal
-Socrates has these features but he has been aid to overcome them and not become criminal
Phrenology - Answer The study of the *shape of the skull* based on the belief that it is
indicative of *mental faculties and character*
-phrenologists assumed that the shape of the skull revealed the shape of the brain and
therefore, believed that that would indicate how the mind functioned
Cesare Lombroso - Answer -An Italian doctor who collected data to support his Darwinist-
based theory that criminal behavior is a characteristic of humans who have *failed to develop
normally from their primitive origins*
-he combined physiognomy and phrenology and studied all parts of the human body
-"father of modern criminology"
Atavistic - Answer Going back to behavior found in a remote ancestor
-Lombroso used this to explain his theory of people not being fully developed- which makes
them criminal in his eyes
Criminal Characteristics, according to Lombroso - Answer -deviations in head size and shape
-large or small ears
-abnormal teeth
-receding chin
-long arms
-^he said these characteristics resembled those of *monkeys and chimpanzees*
, Born Criminals - Answer -Lombroso's term for people whose deviance he attributed to their
more primitive biology/form of development
-he said they constituted 1/3 of offenders- rare compared to criminaloids
Insane Criminals - Answer -Lombroso described these people as having imbeciles, paranoiacs,
epileptics, dementia, alcoholism, drug users, etc.
-he said these were *rare* compared to Criminaloids
Criminaloids - Answer -Lombroso described these people as being people who *didn't have
physical or mental characteristics*, but whose *mental and emotional makeup* were such that
under certain circumstances, they engage in criminal behaviour
-a term used by Cesare Lombroso to describe *occasional criminals* who were pulled into
criminality by *environmental influences*
-he said these were the *majority of criminals*
Multiple-Factor Causation - Answer -"Criminaloids"
-this causation includes factors that are *biological, psychological, and social*
-all these factors were used to explain increases or decreases in the probability that someone
would engage in criminal behaviour
-this approach came to be known as *"Positivist Criminology"*
Anomalies - Answer -something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected
-Goring wanted to test Lombroso's theories by comparing criminals and non-criminals based on
physical appearances, actions, and different types of offenders
-Goring found *NO SIGNIFICANT* difference between criminals and non-criminals or between
different types of criminals
Physical Criminal Type - Answer -the only physicality that Goring found was that criminals
tended to be shorter and weigh less than non-criminals
But:
*Criminologists now have found and concluded "that there is no such thing as a physical
criminal type"*
Somatotypes - Answer Personality traits/classification based on body type
-a theory developed by William Sheldon
Factors and Criminal Behavior)
Questions and Answers.
Biological Determinism - Answer The belief that men and women behave differently due to
inherent sex differences related to their biology
Biosocial Theories - Answer -Theories that examine the combined effects of biology, behavior,
and the environment on criminal behavior.
-Biological and sociological and how they interact with each other. How your biological traits
combine with your social environment
Physiognomy - Answer -the art of judging human character from *facial features*
-people with these characteristics are said to become criminal
-Socrates has these features but he has been aid to overcome them and not become criminal
Phrenology - Answer The study of the *shape of the skull* based on the belief that it is
indicative of *mental faculties and character*
-phrenologists assumed that the shape of the skull revealed the shape of the brain and
therefore, believed that that would indicate how the mind functioned
Cesare Lombroso - Answer -An Italian doctor who collected data to support his Darwinist-
based theory that criminal behavior is a characteristic of humans who have *failed to develop
normally from their primitive origins*
-he combined physiognomy and phrenology and studied all parts of the human body
-"father of modern criminology"
Atavistic - Answer Going back to behavior found in a remote ancestor
-Lombroso used this to explain his theory of people not being fully developed- which makes
them criminal in his eyes
Criminal Characteristics, according to Lombroso - Answer -deviations in head size and shape
-large or small ears
-abnormal teeth
-receding chin
-long arms
-^he said these characteristics resembled those of *monkeys and chimpanzees*
, Born Criminals - Answer -Lombroso's term for people whose deviance he attributed to their
more primitive biology/form of development
-he said they constituted 1/3 of offenders- rare compared to criminaloids
Insane Criminals - Answer -Lombroso described these people as having imbeciles, paranoiacs,
epileptics, dementia, alcoholism, drug users, etc.
-he said these were *rare* compared to Criminaloids
Criminaloids - Answer -Lombroso described these people as being people who *didn't have
physical or mental characteristics*, but whose *mental and emotional makeup* were such that
under certain circumstances, they engage in criminal behaviour
-a term used by Cesare Lombroso to describe *occasional criminals* who were pulled into
criminality by *environmental influences*
-he said these were the *majority of criminals*
Multiple-Factor Causation - Answer -"Criminaloids"
-this causation includes factors that are *biological, psychological, and social*
-all these factors were used to explain increases or decreases in the probability that someone
would engage in criminal behaviour
-this approach came to be known as *"Positivist Criminology"*
Anomalies - Answer -something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected
-Goring wanted to test Lombroso's theories by comparing criminals and non-criminals based on
physical appearances, actions, and different types of offenders
-Goring found *NO SIGNIFICANT* difference between criminals and non-criminals or between
different types of criminals
Physical Criminal Type - Answer -the only physicality that Goring found was that criminals
tended to be shorter and weigh less than non-criminals
But:
*Criminologists now have found and concluded "that there is no such thing as a physical
criminal type"*
Somatotypes - Answer Personality traits/classification based on body type
-a theory developed by William Sheldon
