Deck 3: Biological and Biosocial Theories

Question 1

Recent scientific discoveries in genetics, neurology, and biochemistry have supported many of the hypotheses about crime of the 19th-century biological positivists.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

According to Lombroso's theory of the born criminal, inherited characteristics make the person prone to commit crime, but the nature of these characteristics cannot be objectively identified.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

The idea that physiological factors may play a role in criminal behavior is no longer taken seriously by modern criminologists.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

The most common finding of twin studies is that concordance rates are higher among identical than fraternal twins.

Question 5

According to Lombroso, born criminals possess a physical makeup resembling that of lower animals and primitive peoples, marking them as atavistic throwbacks to a lower stage of evolution.

Question 6

The policy implications of biological theories of criminal behavior depend upon whether they are based on the older, highly deterministic theories or the newer theories that are less deterministic about the biological causes of crime.

Question 7

The emphasis in modern biological theory has shifted from speculation over physical stigmata and constitutional makeup of the born criminal characteristic of earlier theory to focus more on biochemistry, genetics, and neurophysiology.

Question 8

E. A. Hooton's theory of habitual criminals as biologically inferior led him to recommend removal of such offenders to criminal reservations and selective breeding to keep them from having offspring.

Question 9

Delinquency has been found to be negatively related to IQ, but the effects of IQ on delinquency are relatively weak, indirect, and do not hold over time.

Question 10

Harris's theory of the interaction of genetic heritability and group socialization proposes that the family's effect on one's behavior comes primarily from genetic transmission of predispositions from parent to child and that the effects of social environments come mostly from outside the family, especially peer groups.

Question 11

Research by Tibbetts and Piquero found that for children reared in "disadvantaged environments," low birth weight is a modest predictor of the early onset of delinquency in male adolescence.

Question 12

The policy implications of modern sociobiological theories assume that genetic traits are unchangeable by environmental intervention and that social programs addressing family interaction and peer associations will not have any effect on genetic propensities toward crime and delinquency.

Question 13

According to Rowe, individuals' behavioral reactions to environments are influenced by their genetic predispositions, but those predispositions do not themselves affect or change environments.

Question 14

Mears and Cochran (2014) have recently demonstrated that the IQ-delinquency relationship may be a purely linear relationship.

Question 15

Research has revealed a link between low resting heart rate and involvement in crime.

Question 16

Concordance is a qualitative measure of the degree to which the unobserved behavior or attribute of one twin (or sibling) matches that of the other.

Question 17

Modern biological theories of crime and delinquency:

A) propose that biological variables interact with sociological and psychological variables in criminal behavior
B) have been largely supported as explanations of most crime and delinquency
C) hypothesize that specific criminal behavior is inherited
D) focus on essentially the same biochemical and genetic variation in body types, mental defects, and biological abnormalities as did earlier biological theories
E) have become the dominant theoretical perspective in criminology

Question 18

Early criminological positivists viewed crime as:

A) rooted in social disorganization and moral decay
B) a product of supernatural forces
C) physiological in origin
D) a product of hedonistic calculus
E) essentially random behavior that was inadvertently reinforced

Question 19

The most important of the early biological theories of crime was put forth by:

A) Mednick
B) Bentham
C) Freud
D) Lombroso
E) Hirschi and Hindelang

Question 20

According to Lombroso:

A) the major source of criminal behavior is to be found in physiological traits of the born criminal
B) crime cannot be explained scientifically
C) the vast majority of criminals are mentally ill
D) serious crime is caused primarily by social and environmental factors
E) faulty parental discipline is the source of much criminal behavior

Question 21

The term "atavism" refers to:

A) defective intelligence
B) a stunting of physical growth
C) moral deficiency
D) an abnormal chromosomal configuration
E) a more primitive life form who appears to be human

Question 22

Goring's early study comparing English inmates with samples of nonoffenders led him to conclude that:

A) Lombroso's theory was substantiated by the findings
B) the criminal inmate is biologically inferior to the noncriminal
C) Jeffrey's biology/environment interaction hypothesis is invalidated
D) the criminal inmate is feebleminded
E) the criminal inmate's body type is predominantly mesomorphic

Question 23

In interpreting the correlation between IQ scores and delinquency, Hirschi and Hindelang take the position that:

A) IQ is directly related to delinquency; those low in intelligence are more apt to miscalculate the risks and consequences associated with illegal behavior
B) IQ is related to delinquency indirectly through its impact on school performance
C) IQ is related to official delinquency, but there is no connection between IQ and self-reported delinquency; what this suggests is that those high in intelligence are more adept at evading detection by official agents of social control
D) There is an interaction between IQ and social class; within the most socioeconomically disadvantaged segments of American society, it is those with high intelligence who are most likely to commit crime
E) IQ tests are so racially and culturally biased that they are virtually useless in shedding light on the connection between intelligence and delinquency

Question 24

Mednick, Ellis, and others suggest that persons who become offenders are more difficult to socialize than nonoffenders because:

A) they tend to have abnormally high testosterone levels
B) they suffer disproportionately from learning disabilities
C) they tend to have unusual delta brain wave activity, which may interfere with cognitive functioning
D) they have inadequately developed superegos that lower their self-control
E) their autonomic nervous systems tend to be slow in responding to stimuli

Question 25

Comparisons of the concordance rates of identical and fraternal twins suggest that:

A) some people are born criminals
B) being a twin elevates the risk of criminality
C) in accounting for crime, social factors are much more significant than biological factors
D) biological factors may play a role in crime that has yet to be identified
E) there is no evidence of any biological factor in crime

Question 26

Scientifically valid and clear-cut evidence in support of a theory of inherited criminal behavior comes from:

A) twin studies
B) family tree studies
C) adoption studies
D) in vitro fertilization studies
E) none of the above

Question 27

The neuropsychological model proposed by Moffitt and her associates is intended to explain the behavior of a limited subset of offenders. These offenders are:

A) males who begin committing antisocial behavior at a very young age and continue offending into adulthood
B) males who begin offending at a very young age but who desist (quit) during adolescence
C) females who begin offending as adults
D) youths who engage in repeated acts of violence
E) males who engage in repeated acts of violence

Question 28

The functioning of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is thought by some to play a role in crime. According to Mednick, Brennan, and others, the functioning of the ANS is linked to crime in which of the following ways?

A) Slow ANS responsiveness is associated with lesser ability to learn from reinforcement and punishment
B) Slow ANS responsiveness is linked to low IQ
C) Fast ANS responsiveness is associated with impulsivity
D) Fast ANS responsiveness is linked to inability to control aggressive impulses
E) a and d

Question 29

Twin studies have suggested that there may be a link between heredity and crime. However, recent research by Carey and by Rowe and Gulley indicates that much of the effect previously attributed to heredity may be due to:

A) differences in the ways in which parents treat identical versus fraternal twins
B) the effects of sibling interaction and imitation
C) misclassification of identical and fraternal twins
D) similarities in the food preferences and diets of identical twins
E) police bias in decisions to arrest youths whose identical twins have previously been in trouble with the law

Question 30

Mednick, Ellis, and other biological theorists who propose genetic susceptibility to criminal behavior hypothesize that offenders tend to have:

A) abnormally high testosterone levels that make them overly aggressive
B) abnormal chromosomal patterns that provide a criminal impulse
C) unusual delta brain wave activity that may interfere with cognitive functioning
D) inadequately developed superegos that lower their self-control
E) autonomic nervous systems that are relatively slower in responding to stimuli

Question 31

In presenting his theory and research on criminal man, the anthropologist E. A. Hooton:

A) emphasized the biological inferiority of criminals
B) recommended selective breeding rather than imprisonment to eliminate criminal types
C) emphasized sociological factors in addition to biological inferiority
D) concluded that there was little evidence to support Lombroso's thesis of the born criminal
E) a and b

Question 32

The policy implications of various biological theories of criminal behavior have included:

A) surgery to remove part of the brain
B) hormonal injections
C) removal of offenders to criminal reservations
D) a and b
E) all of the above

Question 33

According to Lombroso, how many "anomalies" does a female have to have in order to be classified as a born criminal?

A) five or more
B) same as males
C) one
D) seven
E) three

Question 34

Which of the following was not one Burt and Simons critiques of twin and adoption studies?

A) equal environment assumption
B) inclusion of kinship pairs
C) poor measurement for self-control
D) reliance on one dataset
E) small confidence intervals for heritability estimates

Question 35

How have "twin" and "adoption" studies been conducted in the effort to detect genetic factors in crime? What are some of the problems associated with these approaches? What do the findings of these studies seem to indicate about the role of heredity in crime?

Question 36

Trace the history of biological theories of crime causation from the late 19th century to the present. What progress has been made over this time period?

Question 37

Explain how the biosocial models of Mednick, Eysenck, and Ellis differ from purely biological explanations of criminal behavior.

Question 38

Compare and contrast the earlier biological theories of crime causation proposed by Lombroso and others with contemporary biological theories proposed by Mednick, Ellis, and others. What distinguishes the more recent biological theories from the earlier ones in terms of theory and policy implications? How much empirical support did the earlier theories have, and what level of empirical support do the modern biological theories have?

Question 39

Assume that you are a fellow at the Ellis Institute for Genetics, Evolution, and Crime. You have been approached by a staff member for Senator Akers (a well-known and influential religious conservative) and asked to help draft a crime control policy statement based on Ellis's theories of suboptimal ANS arousal and r/K evolutionary selection strategies that the senator can use as part of his platform in his upcoming reelection bid. The only stipulation made is that the policy statement must not violate or go counter to the senator's long-standing and publicly professed Christian beliefs that every person has worth in God's eyes, that every person is individually responsible for his or her acts but is redeemable, and that high ethical standards should guide the actions of individuals and government alike. What would be your response to the senator's request? Would you accept? If so, what would be the chief features of your policy proposal? If not, what reasons would you give the senator's staff member for declining?

Question 40

What approaches to genetic susceptibility are defined by the terms "behavioral genetics" and "evolutionary psychology"? Explain the similarities and differences between these two approaches. Identify at least one proponent and example of each approach.

Question 41

Given that many other traits, such as eye color and facial features, are passed down from generation to generation, what argument can be used to explain why criminal behavior is not passed down like physical features are?

Question 42

Explain why the well-established fact that inmates as a population have a lower IQ than the rest of society does not prove a genetic or biological link in understanding crime.

Question 43

Discuss the recent twin and adoption study debate between Burt and Simons and Barnes. Which side do you think has a stronger argument? Why?

Question 44

Compare and contrast the views of the traditional biological theories to modern biosocial theories. What are the main differences between the two?