Introduction to Criminology
CRJ 270
Instructor: Jorge Pierrott
Chapter Objectives
After reading this chapter, students should be able to
answer the following questions:
• What are the differences between historical biological
and contemporary biosocial theories of crime?
• What are the basic principles of biological theories of
crime?
• How does the positivist school explain criminality?
• How does sociobiology explain crime, and what is the
importance of altruism, territoriality and tribalism in
that perspective
• What are the policy implications of biological theories?
• What are some criticisms of early biological theories of
criminal behavior?
Traditional Biological versus
Modern Biosocial Theories
• Criminology has been slow to give
credence to biological theories
• Roots grounded in the social sciences
• Criminology today is interdisciplinary
and recognizes contributions from
many disciplines
Diet and Behavior
• 2012 – Dutch Ministry of Justice examined the link
between good nutrition and antisocial behavior
among prison inmates.
• Bernard Gesch’s research – Oxford University
 500 inmates were studied
 Good diets with low sugar content
 26.3% fewer offenses
 35.1% reduction in overall offenses in groups
receiving supplements
 37% drop of violent offenses
Principles of Biological Theories
• Early biological theorists focused mainly
on physical features and heredity
• Contemporary biosocial theorists take a
more in-depth look at human biology
• Major distinction is the emphasis placed
on the interplay between biology and
the social and physical environments
Figure 4-2 Fundamental Assumptions of Biological
Theories of Crime Causation
Source: Schmalleger, Frank J., Criminology. Printed
and Electronically reproduced by permission of Pearson
Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Early Biological Theories
• Built on scientific tradition of positivism
• Positivism
 Associated with the belief that all valid knowledge is
acquired only through observation.
 Build on:
• An unflagging acceptance of social determinism or
consider free will and external forces as the cause of
behavior
• The application of scientific techniques to the study of
crime and criminology.
Early Biological Theories
• Key principles
 Social determinism
• Early biological theories consider the role
of the social environment to be relatively
minor
 Application of scientific techniques to
the study of crime
Physical Features and Crime
• Focus on identifying physical
abnormalities that could be used to
distinguish offenders from others
continued on next slide
Known Killers
Physical Features and Crime
• Phrenology
 The study of the shape of the head to
determine anatomical correlates of
human behavior
 Franz Joseph Gall – located the roots of
personality in the brain
 Johann Gaspar Spurzheim – brought
phrenology to the U.S.
The Italian School
• Cesare Lombroso - atavism
 Criminality is the result of primitive
urges that survived the evolutionary
process
 Stigmata of degeneration – physical
features indicative of criminality
continued on next slide
The Italian School
• Criminaloids
 “occasional criminals,” people led into
crime by environmental influences
• Masculinity hypothesis
 Criminal women exhibited masculine
features and mannerisms
Evaluations of Atavism
• Earnest A. Hooton
 Criminals are physiologically inferior to
the general population
• Canadian atavism study (2000) found
subtle physical abnormalities were
associated with an increased risk of
behavioral and psychiatric problems
among boys
Constitutional Theories
• Explain criminality by reference to
offenders' body types; genetics; or
external, observable physical
characteristics
• Somatotyping
 Ernst Kretschmer
 William H. Sheldon
Figure 4-3 Sheldon’s Body Types
Source: Printed and Electronically reproduced by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey.
Criminal Families
• Sir Francis Galton – systematic study of
heredity  field of behavioral genetics
• Criminal families
 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.”
 Buck v. Bell (1927)
The XYY Supermale
• Research in 1965 led to concept of
“supermale” with XYY chromosome –
considered potentially violent
• Chromosome-based defense in court
• Recent research demonstrates
conclusively that XYY males are not
predictably aggressive
Twin Studies and Heredity
• Twin studies compare MZ and DZ twins
to examine role of heredity in crime
causation
• Research supports relationship between
heredity and risk of criminality
• Minnesota Twin Family Study found MZ
twins reared apart are about as similar
as those reared together
Biological Roots of Human
Aggression
• Charles Darwin:
 Interspecies aggression favors the
strongest and best animals in the
reproductive process
• Konrad Lorenz – On Aggression (1966)
 Human aggression serves other
purposes but takes on covert forms
(drive to acquire wealth and power)
 Human behavior is adapted instinctive
behavior
Sociobiology: The New Synthesis
• Introduced by Edward O. Wilson in
1975
• Systematic study of the biological basis
of all social behavior
• A new paradigm in criminological
theories
Sociobiology
• The main determinant of behavior is
the need to ensure the survival and
continuity of genetic material
throughout generations
• Altruism facilitates the continuity of the
gene pool
continued on next slide
Sociobiology
• Territoriality as an explanation of
human conflict
• Used to explain both intergroup
aggression (tribalism) and intragroup
aggression
Criticisms of Sociobiology
• Fails to consider the significance of
culture, social learning, individual
experiences
• Fundamentally wrong in its depiction of
basic human nature
• Rationalizes labeling, stigmatization of
minorities
continued on next slide
Criticisms of Sociobiology
• Humans are too different from other
animal species to apply findings from
animal studies to human behavior
Critique of Early Biological
Theories of Human Behavior
• Disregard the role of free will in human
behavior
• Crime is a social construct and its
meaning varies over time and place
• Unlikely that any biological feature or
combination of features could explain
the wide variety of crime today