1. Chapter 5 Biological Roots of Criminal Behavior
Frank Schmalleger
PowerPoint presentation created by
Ellen G. Cohn, Ph.D.

2. Major Principles of Biological Theories
The brain is the organ of the mind and the locus of the personality
The basic determinants of human behavior are constitutionally or genetically based
Observed gender/racial differences in rates/types of criminality may be at least partially the result of biological differences

3. Major Principles of Biological Theories
The basic determinants of behavior may be inherited
Much human conduct is rooted in instinct
The biological roots of human conduct have become increasingly disguised

4. Major Principles of Biological Theories
Some behavior is the result of biological propensities inherited from more primitive developmental stages
The interplay among heredity, biology, and the social environment must be considered

5. Theory in Perspective Early Positivism Period: 1880s – 1930
Built on evolutionary principles
First to apply scientific techniques to study of crime
Criminals as evolutionary throwbacks
Period: 1880s – 1930
Concepts: phrenology, atavism, born criminals, criminaloids

6. Early Biological Theories
Criminal anthropology:
The scientific study of the relationship between human physical characteristics and criminality
Physiognomy:
The “science” of reading personality characteristics from facial features

7. Early Biological Theories
Phrenology:
The shape of the skull indicates the personality and can be used to predict criminality
Franz Joseph Gall
Located the roots of personality in the brain
Theory of phrenology accepted because it was a move away from theology toward scientific understanding

8. The Positivist School Positivism is built on two principles
Acceptance of social determinism
Application of scientific techniques to the study of crime and criminology
Rooted in the work of Auguste Comte
Reality consists of a world of objectively defined facts that can be scientifically measured and, ultimately, controlled

9. Cesare Lombroso (1836-1909) Developed concept of atavism
Criminality is the result of primitive urges that survived the evolutionary process
Atavistic individuals are throwbacks to a more primitive biological state
Criminaloids – people pulled into breaking the law by environmental influences

10. Cesare Lombroso Also studied female offenders Masculinity hypothesis
Criminal behavior among women derive from atavistic foundations
Masculinity hypothesis
Criminal women exhibited masculine features and mannerisms

11. Theory in Perspective Constitutional theories
Crime relates to offenders’ body types, inheritance, genetics, external, observable physical characteristics
Period: Classical, 1930s – 1940s; modern, 1960s – present
Concepts: Somatotyping, mesomorph, ectomorph, endomorph, XYY, supermale, twin studies, behavioral genetics, heritability

12. Body Types Constitutional theories/somatotyping
Body types indicative of criminal tendencies
Ernst Kretschmer – relationship between body build and personality type
Cycloid: heavyset, soft body; commit nonviolent property crimes
Schizoid: athletic, muscular body; commit violent crimes
Displastics – emotional, out of control; commit sexual offenses, crimes of passion

13. Body Types
William H. Sheldon outlined four body types and associated temperaments
Endomorph: soft, round, overweight, sociable
Mesomorph: athletic, muscular; most likely to be associated with delinquency
Ectomorph: thin, fragile, shy, inhibited
Balanced type: average build
Later research by Shelden and Eleanor Glueck also supported mesomorph/delinquency link

14. Theory in Perspective Body chemistry Period: 1940s – present
Uses chemical influences, including weather, to explain criminal behavior
Period: 1940s – present
Concepts: Weather and crime, hypoglycemia, vitamins, food allergies, seratonin, PMS, MAOA

15. Hypoglycemia Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)
Some research linked excess sugar consumption to hyperactivity and aggressiveness
Current evidence on sugar/behavior link unclear
PET scans found lower glucose levels in prefrontal cortex of murderers

16. Food Allergies and Additives
Allergic reactions may affect brain
Reduce learning during childhood
Contribute to delinquency, adult crime
Food additives (MSG, dyes, artificial flavorings) may be linked to violence
Caffeine and sugar may trigger antisocial behavior
Vitamins, other nutrients may have behavioral impact

17. Hormones and Criminality
Testosterone – male sex hormone
Relationship between high blood levels of testosterone and increased male aggressiveness
Combined with low brain levels of serotonin
Changes in testosterone levels in women may also be linked to personality changes

18. Hormones and Criminality
Female hormone fluctuations may also be linked to crime
Drop in brain serotonin levels before menstruation may be linked to PMS
Evidence linking PMS to violent or criminal behavior far from clear

19. Weather and Crime
Temperature is the only weather variable consistently related to crime
Relationship moderated by temporal factors
Consistent with routine activities theory

20. Genetics and Crime Criminal families Eugenic criminology
The Juke family – Richard L. Dugdale
The Kallikak family – Henry H. Goddard
Eugenic criminology
Root causes of criminality were passed down in the form of “bad genes.”
Eugenics movement: 1920s – 1930s
Buck v. Bell (1927)

21. The Kallikak Family
When Martin Kallikak, Sr. was a young soldier, he had a liaison with an "unnamed, feeble-minded tavern girl." This tryst resulted in the birth of an illegitimate son, Martin Kallikak, Jr. The Kakos (bad) strain of the Kallikak family descended from this line. Later in his life, Martin Kallikak, Sr., married a Quaker woman from a good family. The Kallos (beauty) line descended from this marriage.
Goddard's genealogical research revealed that the union with the feeble-minded tavern girl resulted in generations of "mental defectives" who were plagued by illegitimacy, prostitution, alcoholism, epilepsy, and lechery. His investigation of the other Kallikak branch revealed precisely the opposite: The marriage of Martin Kallikak, Sr., to the respectable Quakeress yielded generations of society's finest citizens. Goddard believed that the striking schism separating the two branches of the family was due entirely to the different genetic input from the women

22. The Juke family (1915)
Dugdale studied 709 persons, 540 being of Juke blood and 169 of "X" blood who had married into the Juke family. He estimated that the Juke family would consist of 1,200 persons were it possible to have traced all the lines of descent from the original 6 sisters. Of the 709 whom he studied, 180 had either been in the poorhouse or received outdoor relief to the extent of 800 years. There had been 140 criminals and offenders, 60 habitual thieves, 7 lives sacrificed by murder, 50 common prostitutes, 40 women venereally diseased contaminating 440 persons, and 30 prosecutions in bastardy.

23. The Juke family
In the present investigation, 2,820 people have been studied, inclusive of all considered by Dugdale; 2,094 were of Juke blood and 726 of "X" blood who married into the Juke family; of these 366 were paupers, while 171 were criminals; and 10 lives have been sacrificed by murder. In school work 62 did well, 288 did fairly, while 458 were retarded two or more years. It is known that 166 never attended school; the school data for the rest of the family were unobtainable. There were 282 intemperate and 277 harlots.

24. Buck v. Bell
Buck v. Bell, 274 U.S. 200 (1927), was the United States Supreme Court ruling that upheld a statute instituting compulsory sterilization of the mentally retarded "for the protection and health of the state." It was largely seen as an endorsement of negative eugenics—the attempt to improve the human race by eliminating "defectives" from the gene pool.
In 1924, the commonwealth of Virginia adopted a statute authorizing the compulsory sterilization of the mentally retarded for the purpose of eugenics.
The ruling legitimized Virginia's sterilization procedures until they were repealed in 1974.

25. The XYY “Supermale”
Research in 1965 led to concept of “supermale” with XYY chromosome – considered potentially violent
Supermale characteristics
Taller than average
Acne
Less than average intelligence
Overrepresented in prisons, mental hospitals
Families have lower than average history of crime, mental illness

26. Chromosomes and Modern-Day Criminal Families
Dutch research found male descendants of a “criminal family” had high proportion of violent crime arrests
Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA):
Enzyme that breaks down serotonin and noradrenaline, chemicals linked to aggressive behavior
Excess amounts of MAOA linked to aggression

27. Behavioral Genetics Behavioral genetics
Study of genetic and environmental contributions to individual variations on human behavior
Sir Francis Galton-pioneer in eugenics
Twin studies compare MZ and DZ twins
Twins occur in about 1 in 85 human births. Twins come in two types: fraternal or dizygotic (DZ) and identical or monozygotic (MZ).
Research supports relationship between heredity and risk of criminality

28. The Human Genome Project (HGP)
International research project mapping the human genome
HGP may support concept of behavioral genetic determinism
Belief that genes are major determining factor in human behavior

29. The Human Genome Project
Completed in 2003, the Human Genome Project (HGP) was a 13-year project coordinated by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Institutes of Health. During the early years of the HGP, the Wellcome Trust (U.K.) became a major partner; additional contributions came from Japan, France, Germany, China, and others.
Project goals were to
identify all the approximately 20,000-25,000 genes in human DNA,
determine the sequences of the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up human DNA,
store this information in databases,
improve tools for data analysis,
transfer related technologies to the private sector, and
address the ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI) that may arise from the project.

30. The Human Genome Project
ELSI Research Goals
Examine issues surrounding the completion of the human DNA sequence and the study of human genetic variation.
Examine issues raised by the integration of genetic technologies and information into health care and public health activities.
Examine issues raised by the integration of knowledge about genomics and gene-environment interactions in non-clinical settings.
Explore how new genetic knowledge may interact with a variety of philosophical, theological, and ethical perspectives.
Explore how racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic factors affect the use, understanding, and interpretation of genetic information; the use of genetic services; and the development of policy.

31. Male-Female Differences in Criminality
Men are much more criminalistic
Women make up 51% of US population
Arrested for 18% of violent and 31% of property crimes
Explanations
Culture and social environment
Biology and genetics

32. Theory in Perspective Sociobiology Period: 1975 – present Concepts:
The systematic study of the biological basis of all social behavior
Period: – present
Concepts:
Altruism- the deliberate pursuit of the interests or welfare of others or the public interest.
Tribalism-strong loyalty to one's own tribe, party, or group.
Survival of the gene pool

33. Sociobiology
Theoretical synthesis of biology, behavior, and evolutionary ecology
Introduced by Edward O. Wilson in 1975
A new paradigm in criminological theories

34. Sociobiology
The main determinant of behavior is the need to ensure the survival and continuity of genetic material throughout generations
Territoriality as an explanation of human conflict
Altruism facilitates the continuity of the gene pool

35. Criticisms of Sociobiology
Fails to consider the significance of culture, social learning, individual experiences
Fundamentally wrong in its depiction of basic human nature
Rationalizes the labeling and stigmatization of minorities
Humans are too different from other animal species to apply findings from animal studies to human behavior

36. Crime and Human Nature
James Q. Wilson and Richard Herrnstein (1985) – revival of biological criminology
Constitutional factors contribute to crime
Gender
Age
Body type
Intelligence
Personality

37. Crime and Human Nature
Constitutional factors predispose one to specific types of behavior; societal reactions to these predispositions determine the form of continued behavior
Interplay among heredity, biology, social environment crucial in any theory of crime causation

38. Policy Implications of Biological Theories
Steven Pinker claims social scientists unjustly ignore the biological basis of human behavior
Identifies three myths that make up the modern social science model
Myth of the blank slate-holds that that the human mind has no unique structure and that its entire organization comes from the environment via socialization and learning.
Myth of the noble savage-holds that people have no evil impulses and that all malice is a product of the corruption that arises from living in association with artificial, flawed, modern social institutions.
Ghost in the machine myth-hold that people are inhabited by an immaterial soul that is the locus of free will and choice and which, it is held, can not be reduced to a function of the brain.

39. Policy Implications of Biological Theories
C. Ray Jeffrey’s list of effective social policies:
Pre-and post-natal care
Monitoring children through development
Neurological examinations
Biological research in prisons and treatment facilities
One concern is possible re-emergence of the eugenics movement

40. Critiques of Biological Theories
Conceptualization of criminality is inadequate
Twin studies misclassify twins as MZ/DZ
Hard to estimate degree of criminality among sample populations
Many methodological problems
Research conducted outside the US may not be applicable within this country