Biological Theory Of Crime Research Paper

Cesare Lombroso, one of the founding fathers of the biological theory of criminology in the 19th century, describes that criminals are biologically different from non-criminals. Today, Lombroso's theory is being explored in two major areas: genetics and neuroscience. Contemporary Trait Theory's claims that criminality is the product of abnormal biological or physical traits. According to this theory, there is a link between behavior patterns and chemical changes in the brain and nervous system. According to Trait Theory, criminal tendencies can be: inherited, neurological problems, blood-chemistry disorders that heighten anti-social activity. Therefore, Human DNA, environmental contaminants, nutrition, hormones, trauma to the brain, exposure to drugs and alcohol during pregnancy and body chemistry can all contribute to criminal behavior.

The behavior of a criminal individual is a major center point for psychologists. Many experts have researched and debated the outcome of criminal behavior. Is it genetic makeup that makes an individual a criminal or is it their upbringing and background that influences their behavior? Studies and laboratory experiments have been used to try to determine the conclusion of an individual’s deviant behavior. The debate of this topic has resulted in concepts that both DNA and the conditions of an individual’s environment do play an important factor in the misconduct of an individual. There are also criminology theories such as classical theory, positivist theory, and deterrence of theory that help support the study of criminal behavior. These theories

This essay will outline how crime theories are able to assist in recognizing the causes of criminal activity, as well as demonstrating two criminological theories to two particular crimes. Overviews of trends, dimensions and victim/offenders characteristics of both crime groups will be specified. The two particular crimes that will be demonstrated throughout this essay are; Violent Crime (focusing on Assault) being linked with social learning theory and White Collar crime (focusing on terrorism) being linked to General Strain theory. In criminology, determining the motive of why people commit crimes is crucial. Over the years, many theories have been developed and they continue to be studied as criminologists pursue the best answers in eventually diminishing certain types of crime including assaults and terrorism, which will be focused on.

William Sheldon emerged biological and psychological factors of crime to link criminal behaviour with physical characteristics. William Sheldon claimed that there was a high correlation between an individual body build and there temperament. He found that “Individuals mesomorphs or individuals who had muscular builds and tended to be more risk taking were more delinquent and criminal than others” .

There are many theories for why criminals are criminals. These theories have been developed, changed, and even thrown out over the years. Each one has been contradicted and reaffirmed, until eventually there is a consensus for both biological and sociological reasons which would explain why a person would act criminally or participate in a criminal act/behavior. I argue that the most relevant theories to answering why a person would do these things are social disorganization and neurological factors, specifically testosterone levels in males.

Although they have not made any recent discoveries in terms of genetics, neuroscience, on the other hand, seems to strike up some controversy. A recent study shows that there are specific areas of the brain in which there is less activity in criminals than there is in non-criminals, these areas are associated with fear and arousal (Boyd). So basically the biological theory states that there is a different genetic makeup that makes a criminal, a criminal, it is just yet to be found. The next theory that will be introduced is the sociological

For many years, criminological theories have been dominated by sociological and political perspectives to explain crime than biological and genetic factors. Not to state that all sociological and political perspectives are flawed, but these perspectives within traditional criminology are not complete and do not offer a full assessment of all the contributions of criminal behavior. This paper aims to offer why traditional Criminology avoids biological explanations, what traditional Criminology attempts to explain criminal behavior, and how Criminology has traditionally overlooked biology and genetics and what the potential consequences may be.

The biological theories are essential to the criminal justice profession so that they won't assume that a person's genetic characteristics cause a person to commit a crime. However, there are born criminals and “these types of criminals are the most dangerous, and can be identified through his or her stigmata or identifying characteristics” (Akers, Sellers, See, & Kieser, 2013, p. 10). Biological theories are the bases for severe criminal behavior mostly found among people who are born with an innate impulse to commit a

First, psychological theory suggests that a person’s environment and past can influence their ability and desire to commit crime while biological theory suggest a person’s DNA makeup could influence their ability to commit crime. “Biological theories within the field of criminology attempt to explain behaviors contrary to societal expectations through examination of

Human behavior is known to be a mixture of both environment and genetic influences, but what psychologist have trouble deciding is which variable is more impactful in the case of criminality. Nature plays a huge role to a person’s DNA, and how the person reacts to certain things. For example, a study

However, while the overstimulation of the Id and the failure to acquire and develop the the Ego and SuperEgo leads to criminal tendencies, while aggression may be out of adaptive values, and while genetic studies have pointed towards the influence of genes and criminal behaviour, these theories alone are insufficient to account for crime. Evolutionary theory does not explain or predict for the extreme degrees of aggression in individuals nor has the genetic theory proven for 100% heritability; which raises the need for us to examine the Nurture camp of crime theories as well.

Framework of the Study There are three approaches that are being used to explain the reasons why individuals are committing crimes such as biological approaches, sociological approaches, and psychological approaches. The first one is the biological approach and following are theories that explains criminal behavior: The first of which is the Biological theory by Cesare Lombroso states that, biological explanation of crime assume that some people are ‘born criminals’, who are physiologically distinct from non-criminals. In the 19th Century Lombroso, an Italian prison psychiatrist drew on the idea of Charles Darwin and suggested that criminals were atavistic: essentially ‘evolutionary throwbacks’.

All the biological theories are based on the notion that biological markers foreordain criminal behavior. The core of all these theories is that genetic factors or any abnormalities which are inherited or acquired throughout the life, predispose individuals to the criminal behavior. Lombroso’s theory gave life to probably almost every single biological theory that appeared afterward.

First off, there have been ample amounts of disapproval in relation to the general theory of crime, because many scholars feel that Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990) failed to include the

What makes a criminal a criminal? Can anyone become a criminal? Answering and understanding these questions is the core work of criminologists as most criminologists attempt to make sense of why people do certain things (Garland, Sparks 2000). This essay will consider the notion that any person could become a criminal and in so doing consider the initial question. This essay will outline a range of theories that attempt to describe human behavior in relation to criminal behavior given the complexities of behaviour. Several theories will be considered as no single theory of behavior can account fully for the complexities and range in criminal behaviour. The theories range from social-control, to classical, to biological, to personality