Lecture 1: Biological and psychological perspectives on crime
Classical criminology:
Enlightenment and 18th Century
Classical criminologists sought to understand criminal behavior through a more rational
and scientific lens.
Many legal principles we use today come from this era
Rational choice: individuals are rational actors who make decisions based on a cost-
benefit analysis by weighing the potential benefits and risks before committing a crime.
Deterrence: the punishment should be proportionate to the severity of the crime and
should serve as a deterrent to potential offenders.
Positivism
August Comte: “Positivism is a theory of knowledge according to which the only kind of
sound knowledge available to human kind is that if science grounded in observation.”
Positivism is based on the idea that the only valid knowledge is scientific knowledge
grounded in empirical observation.
Empiricism vs. divine right
o Positivism rejects explanations based on divine right or metaphysical speculation
o Positivism promotes empiricism, which is the idea that knowledge should be derived
from sensory experience and observation.
o Positivists argue that scientific methods should be applied to the study of social
phenomena.
Secularism
o Secularism is the separation of religion from various aspects of public life
o By focusing on empirical observation and scientific methods, positivism seeks to
provide explanations for human behavior that are not dependent on religious or
supernatural beliefs.
The scientific method is the most reliable way to discover truths about the world,
including the social world.
Contrast with Classical School the approach to punishment
o The Classical School approach focuses on the rationality of individuals and the
deterrence of crime through punishment
o Positivism shifted the emphasis to understanding the causes of criminal behavior by
identifying factors such as biological, psychological, or social conditions that might
contribute to criminal conduct.
Science and the Justice System
Strong interest in “biogovernance”, which explores the relationship between biology and
governance, particularly regarding criminal tendencies.
Is the propensity towards crime coded in our DNA, or can our biology be used to
detect crime?
o Biological advancements: DNA analysis, biometrics (fingerprint and facial
recognition), brain imaging, and analysis of biological processes for lie detection.
, o Psychological advancements: identification, diagnosis, and treatment of what is
recognized as a mental disorder.
“Explanations” of criminality:
In several cases, the criminal had a biological ‘abnormality’ (illness, accident,
predisposition, etc.)
Certain brain functions are (partly) localized in specific regions of the brain. For example:
different areas of the brain are associated with functions such as motor control, language
processing, and emotion regulation.
Personality and behavior find their basis in the brain
Focal damage (= the specific, localized injuries or abnormalities in the brain) leads to
psychological focal defects (= the specific impairments or changes in cognitive or
emotional functioning associated with the damaged brain region).
Older biological explanations of crime:
Phrenology
Atavism
The Italian school approach
Somatotyping
Contemporary biological explanations of crime:
Twin studies
Adoption studies
Genetics: XYY-chromosomes (“supermales”)
Defective genes
Biochemical, endocrinal, and hormonal imbalances
Low IQ or learning disabilities, ADHD
Empirical research:
Many criminologists acquire information about crime which is based on empirical
research
Testable hypotheses that are supported or disproved are determined through empirical
research – data-driven
This research forms the basis for understanding, explaining,
predicting, and preventing crime (policy)
Phrenology (1796):
Franz Jozeph Gall (1758-1828), Physician
Phrenology is the study of the formation of the skull as indicative of
mental capacities and character traits.
The mind is a collection of independent entities housed within the
brain
Specific areas of the skull are associated with particular mental
faculties or traits
, Example: a bump in a certain area might be thought to indicate a strong inclination
towards a specific personality trait or cognitive ability.
Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909):
Professor of forensic medicine, psychiatry, and criminological anthropology
Positivist method: observation, experiment, and controlled samples as method
Atavism refers to the tendency to revert to something ancient or ancestral. In biology, it
often means the recurrence of traits of an ancestor in a subsequent generation.
Certain individuals exhibited traits reminiscent of less evolved, more primitive stages of
human development.
Individuals who possessed 5 out of 18 atavistic stigmata were more likely to exhibit
criminal behavior.
o These individuals were referred to as “hereditary throwbacks to less developed
evolutionary forms”.
The Italian school approach:
Cesare Lombroso, Enrico Ferri, and Raffaele Garafalo
Some (less evolved or degenerate) people are more prone to crime than others due to
biological factors
This approach is at odds with the classical school
(Montesquieu, Beccaria, Rousseau): free will and
rationality vs. social and biological factors.
Free will becomes determination: individuals are
influenced by various factors beyond their control,
including biological and social forces, shaping their
likelihood of engaging in criminal behavior.
Equality gives way to natural differences: natural
differences (biological and psychological factors) could lead to variations in criminal
predispositions among individuals.
Social knowledge and human laws give way to scientific (discovered) laws
Somatotyping
William Sheldon (1898-1977), psychologist
Somatotyping attempts to correlate human body types
with personality traits and criminal tendencies.
Individuals can be classified into three primary body
types:
1. Endomorph: round or soft physique, with a
tendency to store fat. Individuals are guided by
their mouth and stomach which leads to
delinquency and fraud.
2. Mesomorph: muscular and athlethic build, with a higher proportion of muscle
mass. Individuals are more aggressive, assertive, and violent, which leads to
robbery and manslaughter.
, 3. Ectomorph: slim and lean physique, often with a linear or delicate build.
Individuals are vulnerable, thoughtful, and shy, which makes them thieves.
Limitations of early biological perspectives:
Methodological weaknesses, because the methodologies often relied on limited sample
sizes, anecdotal evidence, and subjective interpretations of physical characteristics.
Conceptually limited: “criminal” is a legal definition, not biological. Criminal behavior is
determined by legal and cultural norms, and attributing criminality solely to biological
factors oversimplifies the complex and multifaceted nature of criminal behavior.
Simplistic universal theory: one-size-fital-all approaches disregard the diversity of human
experiences and the varied social, cultural, and economic factors that contribute to
criminal conduct.
Tends to reinforce sexist, racist, and classist beliefs about crime, which contributes to
harmful stereotypes and biases.
Twin studies:
Contemporary biological perspective
Example: a study with 3500 twins in Denmark 52% of identical twins have similar
rates of criminality, while fraternal twins only have 22% similarity.
The mutual influence of twins was recognized as being important, not just genetics.
o Identical twins, who share the same genes, do not always have identical rates of
criminality, which suggests that environmental factors also contribute to criminal
behavior.
Adoption studies:
Contemporary biological perspective
Percentage of children who engage in criminality if…
o … non-criminal biological parents + criminal adoptive parents = 11.5%
o …criminal biological parents + non-criminal adoptive parents = 22%
Adoption agencies often engage in selective placement, which can influence the
environmental conditions to which adopted individuals are exposed.
Prenatal and postnatal habits of the biological mother, such as substance use during
pregnancy or parenting practices after birth, can influence the development of the child.
These habits contribute to the environmental component of the adoption study.
Genetic defects, deletions, duplications XXY chromosomes – “supermales”
Contemporary biological perspective
Rare chromosomal disorder that affects males
Very tall, learning difficulties, impulsive, aggressive
Overrepresented in prison populations
Psychological explanations of crime:
“Crazy insane or insane crazy”
Psychoanalytic approach
o Attachment Theory
