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Criminology, 3e

Criminology

CHAPTER 4

Biosocial and Other

Contemporary

Perspectives—

Interaction is Key

Chapter Objectives

Criminology, 3e

Frank Schmalleger

• Describe the purpose of the Human

Genome Project (HGP), and explain its

significance for modern biological theories of crime.

• Identify the role of genetics and

heritability in contemporary explanations for crime.

• Show how brain dysfunction relates to

criminality.

Chapter Objectives

Criminology, 3e

Frank Schmalleger

• Describe how body chemistry theories –

including those involving diet, blood

sugar levels, environmental contaminates, and hormones – explain crime.

• Discuss biosocial theories and the role

of the gender ratio problem in contemporary criminology.

Chapter Objectives

Criminology, 3e

• Describe the policy implications of

modern biological theories of crime.

• Identify critiques of biological and

biosocial approaches to explaining crime.

Criminology, 3e

Learning Objective 4.1

Describe the purpose of the Human Genome Project (HGP), and explain its significance for modern biological theories

of crime.

Criminology, 3e

The Human Genome Project

• The Human Genome Project (HGP) is

an international research program

designed to construct detailed maps of the human genome.

• The knowledge developed by the HGP is

likely to have momentous implications for both individuals and society.

Criminology, 3e

The Human Genome Project

• In the area of crime-control policy,

HGP-related information is expected to

support the development of public policy options related to crime prevention and treatment of offenders.

Criminology, 3e

Learning Objective 4.2

Identify the role of genetics and heritability in contemporary

explanations for crime.

Criminology, 3e

Genetics and Heritability

• Ropers and Brunner

 Because men have only one X chromosome, they are especially vulnerable to any defective gene.

 Women (with two X chromosomes) have a backup gene where one defective gene may be compensated for by a

correctly functioning one in the second

X chromosome.

Criminology, 3e

Genetics and Heritability

• Neurophysiology

 Research that examines the relationship between neurotransmitters and behavior.

Criminology, 3e

Genetics and Heritability

• In some cases, genetic predispositions

plus interaction with the surrounding

social and physical environments combine to produce delinquency.

Criminology, 3e

Genetics and Heritability

• Heritability

 The proportion of variation in a trait within a group of people that can be attributed to variations in their genes rather than to their environment

• Genes may simply influence the way in which people respond to their surroundings.

Criminology, 3e

Genetics and Heritability

• Epigenetics

 The study of the chemical reactions that occur within a genome, and that switch parts of the genome on or off at strategic times and locations.

• Stress, diet, behavior, toxins, and other factors activate chemical switches that regulate gene expression.

Criminology, 3e

Genetics and Heritability

• The explanatory power of heritability

appears to be limited by the fact that it

may apply only to specific environments that existed at the time of a given study.

Criminology, 3e

Genetics and Heritability

• Genes are both the cause and

consequence of our actions, and they

do not so much determine human action as enable it.

Criminology, 3e

Learning Objective 4.3

Show how brain dysfunction relates to criminality.

Criminology, 3e

Brain Dysfunction

• Prefrontal cortex dysfunction must be

evaluated in terms of how individuals

who exhibit the condition interact with features of the environment, including social and psychological influences.

Criminology, 3e

Brain Dysfunction

• Neurocriminology

 A perspective that examines the neurological links between the organism, social factors, and criminal behavior

Criminology, 3e

Brain Dysfunction

• Frontal Brain Hypothesis

 A perspective that references physical changes in certain parts of the brain to explain criminality

• Neuroplasticity

 The ability of the brain to alter its structure and function in response to experience

Criminology, 3e

Brain Dysfunction

• Some suggestion that the interplay

between heredity, biology, and the

social and physical environments may be much more complicated than once thought and may provide the key nexus in any consideration of crime causation.

Criminology, 3e

Learning Objective 4.4

Describe how body chemistry theories – including those involving diet, blood sugar levels, environmental contaminants, and

hormones – explain crime.

Body Chemistry Theories

Criminology, 3e

• Hypoglycemia and Hyperglycemia

 One of the first studies to focus on chemical imbalances in the body as a cause of crime was a link between hypoglycemia and murder.

 More recent studies have linked hyperglycemia to crime.

continued on next slide

Body Chemistry Theories

Criminology, 3e

• Hypoglycemia and Hyperglycemia

 Variations in blood sugar are linked to impaired ability of the brain to reason effectively or judge long-term consequences of behavior.

Body Chemistry Theories

Criminology, 3e

• Some studies have implicated food

additives in producing criminal violence.

• Other studies appear to show diets

deficient in various vitamins and other nutrients can increase aggressiveness and agitation, and can open the door to crime.

Body Chemistry Theories

Criminology, 3e

• Environmental Pollution

 Various substances found in our environment have been shown to be linked to criminal behavior.

 When brain chemistry is altered by exposure to heavy metals and other toxins, people lose the natural restraint that holds their violent tendencies in check.

Body Chemistry Theories

Criminology, 3e

• More recent studies focusing in prenatal

substance exposure found increases in

conduct disorder symptoms.

Body Chemistry Theories

Criminology, 3e

• Pyschobiotics

 The study of the psychological and behavioral effects that bacteria (primarily those found in the human gut) can have on the mind, feelings, emotions, and behavior

Body Chemistry Theories

Criminology, 3e

• Heart Rate and Crime

One of the clearest biological

relationships established to date

between resting heart rate and

criminality.

is that

continued on next slide

Body Chemistry Theories

Criminology, 3e

• Heart Rate and Crime

 Low resting heart rate appears to be associated only with antisocial behavior among males and not females.

• Low heart rates are often found in well- conditioned athletes, and no one has suggested athletic conditioning plays a role in crime causation.

Body Chemistry Theories

Criminology, 3e

• Hormones and Criminality

 Hormones have come under scrutiny as potential behavior determinants.

Body Chemistry Theories

Criminology, 3e

• Testosterone

 The primary male hormone.

 Has been linked to aggression, and appears to play an important role in increasing the propensity toward violence and aggression among men

 Women’s bodies manufacture one-tenth the amount secreted by men; relatively high levels in women are associated with aggressively dominant behavior.

Body Chemistry Theories

Criminology, 3e

• Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)

 Can cause irritable, aggressive, and confused behavior with a loss of self- control possibly explained by drops in serotonin

• Serotonin has been called a “behavior- regulating chemical”.

• Link between low levels and aggressive behavior

Criminology, 3e

Learning Objective 4.5

Discuss biosocial theories and the role of the gender ratio problem in

contemporary criminology.

Criminology, 3e

Biosocial Criminology

• A theoretical perspective that sees the

interaction between biology and the

physical and social environments as key to understanding human behavior, including criminality.

Biosocial Criminology

Criminology, 3e

• Walsh observes that biosocial

perspectives are theories of criminality,

not crime.

 Crime

• Legal label placed on specific behaviors that violate criminal law

continued on next slide

Biosocial Criminology

Criminology, 3e

• Walsh observes that biosocial

perspectives are theories of criminality,

not crime.

 Criminality

• Property of individuals, a continuous trait that is an amalgam of other continuous traits and belongs to a more inclusive kind of criminology

Biosocial Criminology

Criminology, 3e

• Biological criminology attempts to

recognize the complexity of the

relationship between biology, behavior and the social environment by embracing the role of a multitude of factors leading to criminality.

All R1ghts Reserved 1- .l;rl""'l"-_;, t Frank Schmalleger

Pearson Education. Used by permission of Pearson Education.

Prenatal Substance

Exposure (Including Controlled Substances)

Gender iet (Including Poor Nutrition and Vitamin Deficiencies)

Body Type Body Chemistry

(Including Hormones and Blood Sugar)

Age,Intelligence,

Personality Weather (Including Temperature, Barometric

Pressure,etc.)

continued on next slide

Biosocial Criminology

Criminology, 3e

• Gender Differences in Criminality

 With few exceptions, the number of crimes committed by men far exceeds the number of crimes committed by women.

 When women commit crimes, they are far more likely to assume the role of followers rather than leaders.

Biosocial Criminology

Criminology, 3e

• Gender Ratio Problem

 The need for an explanation of the fact that the number of crimes committed by men routinely far exceeds the number of crimes committed by women in

almost all categories.

Biosocial Criminology

Criminology, 3e

• One of the primary contemporary

paradigms useful in understanding

gender differences in criminality is the concept of sexual selection.

Biosocial Criminology

Criminology, 3e

• Evolutionary Perspective

 A theoretical approach that:

• Seeks to explain behavior with reference to human evolutionary history

• Recognized the influence that genes have over human traits

Criminology, 3e

Learning Objective 4.6

Describe the policy implications of modern biological theories of crime.

Criminology, 3e

Policy Implications of Biological Theories

• Many genes may affect brain functioning

in ways that either increase or reduce the changes of individual learning various complex behavior patterns, including those so offensive to others that criminal sanctions have been instituted to minimize their

recurrence.

Criminology, 3e

Learning Objective 4.7

Identify critiques of biological and biosocial approaches to explaining

crime.

Criminology, 3e

Critiques of Biological and Biosocial Theories

• Many perspectives of biological and

biosocial approaches have been criticized because they fail to accurately predict criminality while purporting to understand its causes.

• Biosocial theories are criticized for

methodological problems.

Criminology, 3e

Critiques of Biological and Biosocial Theories

• Biosocial theories fail to explain

regional and temporal variations in crime rate.

• Biological theories that focus on

environmental and chemical precursors to crime cannot explain why certain kinds of crime are more likely to occur in certain areas and specific subcultures

and not others.

Criminology, 3e

Critiques of Biological and Biosocial Theories

• Theories involving criminal precursors

cannot account for changes in crime rates over time.

• Some biosocial criminologists have

been accused of racial and class bias for failing to explain why. disproportionate numbers of certain kinds of crime are committed by poor people and by racial and ethnic minorities.

Criminology, 3e

Chapter Summary

• The Human Genome Project (HGP)

corresponds to the start of a new era of

biosocial theories in criminology.

• The contemporary study of human

genetics builds upon a model of gene- environment interaction and employs the concept of heritability to help explain law-violating behavior.

Chapter Summary

Criminology, 3e

Frank Schmalleger

• Brain dysfunction references physical

changes in certain parts of the brain to

explain criminality.

• Body chemistry theories say violent or

disruptive behavior can sometimes be linked to nutrition, vitamin deficiencies, and other conditions that affect the body.

Chapter Summary

Criminology, 3e

Frank Schmalleger

• Biosocial criminology sees the

interaction between biology and the

physical and social environments as key to understanding human behavior, including criminality.

• A contemporary crime-prevention

program needs to be based on modern understandings of the link between biology and crime.

Chapter Summary

Criminology, 3e

• Biological criminology has suffered from

the lack of a workable definition of

criminality.