1. Biological theories

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch ?v=b73j6QnbJuc 2 ½ mis.
The Great Debate: which offers the best explanations: biology, psychology or sociology?
Mass shootings
08/24/12 Jeffrey Johnson, 58, a self-employed NYC man shot and killed a former coworker in front of the Empire State Building. Officers fired sixteen rounds, killing Johnson and injuring nine bystanders.
08/08/12 Wade Michael Page, 40, opened fire in a Milwaukee-area Sikh temple, killing six and wounding three including a police officer. He died from a self-inflicted wound to the head. Page was a well-known white supremacist and sang in a white-power band.
07/20/12 A troubled graduate student burst into a Colorado theatre during a midnight showing of “A Dark Knight,” threw gas grenades and opened fire with a shotgun, a rifle and two pistols, wounding fifty-eight and killing twelve. James Holmes, 24, was arrested without incident.
“Conventional” violent crime
05/04/12 A neo-Nazi who led an Arizona border militia shot and killed his live-in girlfriend, her daughter, granddaughter and daughter’s boyfriend, then killed himself. Ex-Marine Jason Ready had a history of domestic violence.
Bank robberies
“Ordinary” gang violence (drive-by’s, etc.),
Organized crime “hits”
?v=b73j6QnbJuc 2 ½ mis.

3. Biology: somatotypes Sheldon linked physique and temperament
Endomorph: Soft physique  relaxed and comfort-seeking
Mesomorph: Muscled physique  active and assertive
Ectomorph: Lean, frail physique  introverted
Gluecks found correlation between mesomorph somatotype and aggressive/antisocial/uninhibited behavior
BUT…might there be a psychological connection between body build and temperament?
Think of a psychological variable that might go between (“intervene between”) physique and temperament
Physique  ___(variable)___  Temperament

4. Biology: Goring’s family studies
Four factors: Heredity, Environment, F (frequency - how often) and L (length) of imprisonment
Goring examined relationship between these factors. His findings:
Parents and children are similar in terms of F & L of imprisonment
Environmental factors not correlated with F & L of imprisonment
Poverty, broken homes, education, nationality, birth order
Biological factors are correlated with F & L imprisonment
As F & L increase, physical size smaller, mental inferiority worse
Current research
Current data does not suggest that crime “runs rampant” in families
Family members do seem to share criminal propensities
BUT, they have usually been exposed to similar environmental factors (e.g., family member role models, shared poverty, etc.)
Difficult to distinguish between hereditary and environmental effects

5. Biology: twin studies Difficult to control environmental variables
So, control heredity
Fraternal twins: different eggs, different DNA
Can inherit different biological factors
Identical twins: one egg, same DNA
Biological factors the same
Look for similarities and differences in behavior
Similarities between identical twins could be inherited or a product of the environment
Differences between identical twins cannot be inherited – cannot be hereditary
If behavior of sets of identical twins is more alike than behavior of sets of fraternal twins, heredity may be important
2 mis.

6. Identical twins – Christiansen
6,000 pairs of male twins
Higher concordance for identical twins
Male identical twins: 67 pairs where at least one was registered as a criminal.
In 36% of these pairs (n = 24) both were criminals
Male fraternal twins: 114 pairs where at least one was registered as a criminal
In 12% of these pairs (n=14) both were criminals
Higher concordance for serious crimes
BUT…could higher concordance of behavior for identical twins be due to a more similar environment? (e.g., supportive, well-educated parents)

7. Twins reared apart
Similar environments might make identical twins act alike
So – compare behavior of identical twins reared apart
Grove (32 pairs separated shortly after birth); Christiansen (8 pairs).
Both found evidence that antisocial behavior can be inherited
Identical twins reared apart behave similarly
Walters – 1992 meta-analysis of 13 twin adoption studies
Considered sample size, quality of research design
Support for hereditary basis to criminality
BUT…adoptive parents may be less criminal than biological parents
So, adoptees may be exposed to less criminogenic (crime causing) environments

8. Adoption studies – Hutchins and Mednick
How to remove (“control”) effect of home environment? Study adoptees
Number of court convictions of biological parents (not adoptive parents) influences youth criminality
BUT…might only apply to property crimes
Other influencers
Socioeconomic status of biological and adoptive parents
Personality disorders of biological parents
Number of placements before adoption
Criminality of biological and adoptive fathers
Issues with adoption studies
Low sample sizes
Recent studies found link between heredity and behavior for minor and property crime, but not for violent crime
Adoptive parents may be much less criminal than biological parents
Adoptees may be exposed to less criminogenic (crime causing) environments

9. More biological factors: brain and body chemistry  aggression
Neurotransmitters
Chemicals that transmit electrical impulses in the brain
Levels affected by medication, diet, drug use, stress
Alcoholism can affect neurotransmitter levels
Imbalance may promote aggressive or compulsive behavior
Violence, drug use
Hormones
Testosterone: Documented role in animal aggression, effects found in human research
BUT…
Reverse causal order: Aggression  high hormone levels?
Booth and Osgood study
Association between testosterone and adult deviancy
BUT – effect of high levels of testosterone may be mediated by an “intervening variable”, social integration: High levels of testosterone  lack of social integration  aggression

10. CNS – Central nervous system
Brain and spinal cord
Cerebral cortex - outer portion of the brain
Four lobes
Frontal and temporal lobes control goal-directed behavior, impulses and emotions
Some evidence that abnormalities in the lobes may be associated with violent and sexual offending
Frontal dysfunction may be associated with violent offending
Temporal dysfunction may be associated with sexual offending
Violent sexual offenders may have both dysfunctions
BUT…
Methodology – no random selection, so samples may be biased
Precise path is unknown – exactly how does a dysfunction turn into committing crimes?

11. Biology + environment: ANS – Autonomic nervous system
ANS controls involuntary functions: Blood pressure, heart activity, intestinal activity, hormone levels
Anxiety
“Fight/flight” situations: ANS prepares body to respond
Blood goes from stomach to muscles
Increases respiration
Stimulates sweat (increases electrical conductivity of skin)
Anxiety may be provoked by the conditioned fear of punishment
Being bad  parent punishes  kid is “conditioned” to expect punishment  kid avoids being bad to avoid anxiety
Anxiety may be the primary socializing agent for children
They behave properly to avoid anxiety caused by fear of punishment
Defective anxiety responses can interfere with socialization
Antisocial persons might for various reasons (i.e., bad learner) be more difficult to “condition”
So, they might be less likely to fear punishment

12. Biology + psychology: drugs and alcohol
Alcohol in lower dosages increases aggressive behavior, especially in males
Relationship between alcohol & violence is strongest of any drug
Marijuana does not appear to increase aggression
NAS: Chronic use can affect learning and trigger serious mental problems
Opiates (and prescription painkillers) may reduce aggression
But chronic use may increase aggression
Withdrawal from opiates may also increase aggression
Methamphetamine, PCP and LSD may increase aggression
May be especially true for those predisposed to violence
Police anecdotes about extreme violence and strength displayed by persons high on Meth and PCP
No direct evidence of effect of cocaine on violence
Association between violence and areas where rock cocaine is used (inner cities)
So…is the environment also important?
3 mis.

13. Addiction is a disease
In August 2011 the prestigious American Society of Addiction Medicine announced that addiction is a disease.
Addiction is a primary disease with organic origins
Not simply a product of psychiatric or emotional problems.
Addiction involves reward circuits in the brain. Cravings for food, sex, alcohol and drugs are triggered by memories of their effects, affecting judgment and impulse control, and leading to behaviors including some that are defined as crimes.
Like conventional diseases, sufferers can take steps to make things better, so there is choice, but providing assistance and opportunities for treatment are crucial.

14. Chemicals and trauma can affect behavior
Lead in diet may affect brain functions
May cause hyperactivity and antisocial behavior in children
Head injury with brain damage may cause violent behavior
Decrease cognitive and social skills
Headaches and irritability
Damage frontal and temporal lobes, increasing anxiety, anger and hostility
Delivery complications correlated with violent offending
Particularly when parents had psychiatric problems
Evidence that premature births can pose risk for mental illness
Study of young adults born at less than eight months’ gestation
Risk of hospitalization for schizophrenia was 2X-plus; for major depression was nearly 3X, and for bipolar disorder was more than 7X

15. Nature v. nurture – how things stand today
Inheritance (nature) & environment (nurture) may not “cause” as much as they “predispose”
Crime is a social definition – Malum in se v. mala prohibita
Not all maladaptive behaviors are illegal
Behavior is affected by ...
Inherited characteristics (biological factors)
Inherited characteristics + psychology + environment
Injury, pollution, poor diet, drinking, poverty, single-parent family, etc.
General agreement that biology, psychology and environment interact
BUT sociologists, including criminologists, tend to minimize biological and psychological factors
As we learn more about the human organism, more and more winds up being explained (at least partially) by chemistry, biology and genetics
Nature v. Nurture
2 mis.