Questions and answers for the written exam during year 1 of WJEC level 3 Applied Diploma in criminology (the same for certificate in criminology).
Unit 2:criminological theories including LO1, LO2, LO3, LO4 from AC1.1 to AC3.2.
With reference to examples, analyse how laws change due to time,
place and culture (9)
Time: Views and opinions can change over time or campaigns can
promote change and change occurs due to medical knowledge
advances. Homosexuality, Sexual Offences Act 1967. Smoking age/in
public July 2007.
Place: The same criminal offences are not necessarily in place
throughout the world or even policed in the same way within England
and Wales. Smoking cannabis,UK/states of America., Durham
Constabulary prioritise grow cannabis personal use, Cheshire or
Gwent.
Culture: Different cultures view crimes differently even at the same
point in time. Adultery, UK/Florida. Honour killings, western
countries/Turkey Jordan.
Compare criminality and deviance with reference to relevant
examples. [5]
Crime is a behaviour that breaks the formal laws of a society and can lead to
formal sanctions or punishment; for example, theft or murder.
Deviance is any violation of society’s norms or going against expected
behaviour; for example, excessive tattoos or piercing.
While most crimes are seen as deviant, many deviant acts are not crimes; for
example, sharing a house with 50 cats.
Some deviant acts can become the norm and be accepted; for example, illegal
downloading of music.
Some behaviour may be seen as deviant over time; for example, smoking.
There have been calls to decriminalise possession of cannabis – possible
argument of it not being a deviant act.
Describe the main features of one physiological theory of criminality [5]
An Italian psychiatrist and military medical doctor who developed
theories about criminals. He pioneered the use of scientific methods in
criminology.
Lombroso argued that the criminal is a separate species, a species that
is between modern and primitive humans.
He argued that the physical shape of the head and face determined the
‘born criminal’. He claimed that criminality was heritable.
Criminals had ‘atavistic’ (primitive) features which were ‘throwbacks’ or
biological characteristics from an earlier stage of human development
that manifested as a tendency to commit crimes.
Such features included low sloping foreheads, large jaws or forward
projection of jaw, receding chins, twisted nose, long arms relative to
lower limbs, large monkey like ears, excessive wrinkles on the skin.
, Evaluate the effectiveness of a physiological theory as an explanation of
criminality [5]
The associations given by Lombroso were later shown to be highly
inconsistent or non-existent. Lombroso had not used a control group,
therefore he had nothing of any substantial nature to which he could
compare his results. Physical appearance determining criminality cannot be
wholly accurate, as people who have disfigurements to their face could have
them because of accidents earlier in their life. Not everyone who has an
abnormality is a criminal and Not all criminals have abnormalities.
Charles Goring (1913) used a non-criminal control group and found no
significant differences in terms of behaviour. When criminals are sentenced
for crimes, the less attractive individuals are more likely to be considered
guilty-50% more so than attractive people(Bath Spa University 2007).
Describe one genetic explanation for criminality [5]
The XYY theory suggests that criminality can be attributed to a
chromosomal abnormality. Chromosomes are structures in cell nuclei
that contain our genes.
Usually, each person has 46 chromosomes. Gender is determined by
the pattern of the person’s sex chromosomes: XX in a woman and XY
in a man.However, there is a genetic condition in which a male has an
extra male (Y) chromosome, giving a total of 47 chromosomes. Such a
condition occurs once in 1 000 male births.
Theilgaard found that men with the XYY syndrome were more
aggressive than 'XY' men.
XYY men are overrepresented in the prison population. There are 15
XYY men out of 1,000 prisoners.
Evaluate one genetic explanation for criminality [6]
One strength of XYY theory is that there is evidence to suggest that it is
accurate. One study by Jacob et al (1965) found that a significant
number of men in prison had XYY sex chromosomes rather than the
normal XY. People that have the XYY gene may be more likely to
commit crime than people with normal sex chromosomes.
However, studies have found that genetic abnormalities are widespread
throughout the general population and there are a number of people in
the normal population that have XYY but not have committed crime.
This is therefore not a full explanation.In addition to this, the theory is
reductionist as it only focuses on one potential cause of crime – the
genetic explanation. It ignores other explanations of crime that focus on
environment and upbringing such as social learning theory.
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