essay on 8 marker about XYY syndrome as a biological explanation for crime and antisocial behaviour, including 2 PEEL paragraphs and a balanced conclusion for top band marks
Evaluate 1 bio explanation of crime and antisocial bhv (8) - XYY
One strength of XYY as an explanation for crime and antisocial behaviour is
that there is supporting evidence. XYY syndrome is when a male has an additional Y
chromosome, having hence in total 47 chromosomes instead of the normal 46. This
condition is not inherited, but it occurs randomly at conception. The rate for XYY
compared to the general population is 1 in 1000. Stockholm (2012) found that
individual switch XYY syndrome committed more crimes compared to controls with
XY in every type of crime except in drug and traffic related accidents. This suggests
that XYY may be linked to crime and antisocial behaviour. This is a strength as it
provides evidence for the relationship between XYY and criminality, which may be
useful in the real world, where males could be screened for the condition and actions
could be taken to prevent future crime. However, testing for chromosome
abnormality in the male criminal population requires skilled staff, meaning this
method of crime prevention may be expensive and resource intensive.
Additionally, XYY may not seem to be the only factor in criminality since it has
a small presence in the male prison population. XYY syndrome may lead men to
grow faster and taller compared to their siblings without the syndrome, and having a
slightly lower level of intelligence. This may make them more likely to be caught
when committing a crime. However XYY has a rare prevalence rate, therefore other
factors may be driving criminal behaviour in men without XYY. For example,
biological factors such as personality disorders and malfunctioning of certain brain
structures, interact with social-psychological factors such as exposure to violent role
models, to increase the chances of an individual committing crime. This is a
weakness as it implies that the explanation of XYY syndrome for criminality may be
limited to only those who have it, hence it may not be useful for the majority of the
male criminal population. Even so, this biological explanation helps to provide
evidence that genes may be involved in the development of criminal behaviour,
therefore offering support for the role of nature (our biology) in criminality.
In conclusion, XYY syndrome results in the male being slightly less intelligent
and having behavioural problems, which may increase the likelihood of committing
crime. Even so, this does not help to explain why other males without this condition
commit crime, and does not even explain female criminal behaviour as XYY is only
present in males. Nonetheless, this explanation provides evidence for the role of
genes in criminal behaviour, which can help to guide future research into the
genetics of criminals.
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