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| Question | Answer |
| CRIME | Any behaviour intended to break the law that causes damage or harm to another person or their property. |
| CRIME CAN BE DIFFICULT TO DEFINE BECAUSE OF TIME | - TIME. What is regarded as criminal changes over time... For example, - Homosexuality was illegal in the UK until 1967. - Incest was legal in the UK until 1908. - Fox hunting was legal in the UK until 2004. |
| CRIME CAN BE DIFFICULT TO DEFINE BECAUSE OF CULTURE | - CULTURE. What is regarded as criminal varies from culture to culture... For example, - Euthanasia is illegal in the UK but legal in Switzerland. - Abortion is legal in the UK but illegal in the Republic of Ireland. |
| THERE ARE THREE MAIN REASONS WHY CRIME IS DIFFICULT TO MEASURE... | - People are often unaware that they have been a victim of crime and therefore do not report it. (E.g. credit card fraud) - Victims of crime do not always want to report the crime. - Crime statistics count the number of criminal acts rather than the number of criminals. This could be misleading because we don't know if a single criminal has committed numerous crimes (e.g. serial killer) or if numerous crimes have been committed by numerous criminals. |
| CRIMINAL PERSONALITY | A collection of traits that make a person different from 'normal', law-abiding people. |
| COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF A CRIMINAL PERSONALITY | - Impulsiveness - Lacking in feelings of guilt - Pleasure-seeking - Being over-optimistic - Self-importance |
| CORE THEORY: BIOLOGICAL THEORY | - Biological psychologists believe that criminal behaviour is inherited. - They believe that a person is genetically programmed through their DNA to become a criminal. - They believe that criminal genes effect brain development. This can lead to brain dysfunction which is when the brain does not operate normally. |
| PRE-FRONTAL CORTEX | - Where humans are conditioned to form an association between fear and anti-social behaviour. - This area of the brain is underactive in some criminals. - This means that the criminal has no fear of the consequences of committing a crime. |
| LIMBIC SYSTEM | - Controls aggressive and sexual behaviour. - This part of the brain is overactive in some criminals. - This means that criminals are more likely to commit violent and sexual offences (e.g. murder or rape). |
| CORPUS CALLOSUM | - Allows the rational side of the brain to communicate with the irrational side. - This part of the brain is underactive in some criminals. - This means that criminals are more likely to experience irrational thoughts and therefore behave irrationally. |
| TEMPORAL LOBE | - Controls language, learning, emotions and memory. - Research has shown that the brain-wave activity is more likely to be slower in the temporal lobe of criminals compared with that in the normal population. - This means that criminals find it difficult to learn and remember laws, control emotions and communicate with others. |
| Biological psychologists also believe that criminal genes effect facial features | CRIMINAL FACIAL FEATURES: - Asymmetrical faces - Low and sloping foreheads - Glinting or glassy eyes - High cheekbones - Large, protruding, handle-shaped ears - Crooked, flat or upturned noses - Fleshy lips - Strong jaws - Prominent chins - Lots of hair |
| CRITICISMS OF THE CORE THEORY | - Critics argue that there cannot be one criminal gene that accounts for all criminal behaviour. There must be different genes for different crimes: - Violent crimes (rape) - Intellectual crimes (fraud) - Crime against property (theft) Also, crime changes across culture (e.g. abortion) but genetics don't. |
| CRITICISMS OF THE CORE THEORY | - Brain dysfunction is only evident in some criminals, and it may not necessarily be genetic. Other possible causes of brain dysfunction: - Pregnancy and birth complications - Diet - Pollution - Illness -Injury |
| CRITICISMS OF THE CORE THEORY | - The idea that criminals have a different set of facial features to other people is not well supported by evidence. - Society may be prejudiced against certain looks and this is why certain types of people end up turning to crime, being arrested or being sent to prison. |
| CRITICISMS OF THE CORE THEORY | - The biological theory ignores the influence of the social environment on criminal behaviour. - The fact that crime seems to run in families can be explained by the theory that children learn their criminal behaviour from their parents and others and so it continues through generations. |
| ALTERNATIVE THEORY: SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY | - We learn by observing and imitating others - We imitate our role models (people we admire and respect) - We do not necessarily imitate everything we see our role models do - Observing a role model being rewarded makes us more likely to imitate them... - This is called VICARIOUS REINFORCEMENT. |
| VICARIOUS REINFORCEMENT | When someone's behaviour is reinforced (strengthened) because they observe how another person is rewarded for the same behaviour |
| THE NATURE-NURTURE DEBATE | Nature: - Genetic factors explain behaviour - Biological theory of criminal behaviour (core theory) Nurture: - Environmental factors explain behaviour - Social learning theory of criminal behaviour (alternative theory) |
| ADOPTION STUDIES | - One way of investigating the nature-nurture debate is to study people who have been adopted. - If a behaviour is more to do with nature, then an adopted person's behaviour should be more similar to their biological parents' (share the same genes, do not share environment) - If a behaviour is more to do with nurture, then an adopted person's behaviour should be more similar to their adoptive parents' (share the same environment, do not share genes) |
| CORE STUDY: MEDNICK ET AL. (1984) | AIM: - To investigate the origins of criminal behaviour using an adoption study. PROCEDURE: - Adoption study - Denmark - Assessed criminal records of 14,000 adopted males born between 1924-1947 - Compared with criminal records of biological parents and adoptive parents |
| CRITICISMS OF MEDNICK ET AL. (1984) | The sample was gender biased - All participants were male - We can't generalise the findings to females - Females might be more or less likely to inherit criminal behaviour |
| CRITICISMS OF MEDNICK ET AL. (1984) | The study relied on criminal records that may have been unreliable For example, - Some parents may have committed crimes but not been caught - Some parents may have been convicted of crimes unfairly. |
| CRITICISMS OF MEDNICK ET AL. (1984) | Most children spend some time with their biological parents before being removed and placed with an adoptive family. - 90% of adoptees in Mednick et al.'s study were adopted before the age of 2 but their early lives were spent with their biological parents - Our early experiences have a huge effect on our development - Relationship between adoptees behaviour and their biological parents behaviour might be explained by this. |
| APPLICATIONS OF RESEARCH INTO CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR: CRIME REDUCTION | RESTRICTING THE MEDIA: - There is a risk that people will imitate anti-social acts they have seen in the media -Copy-cat crimes -Placing restrictions or bans on what is viewed is one way of trying to reduce copy-cat crimes - If people do not have the opportunity to observe anti-social acts, they will not imitate them |
| APPLICATIONS OF RESEARCH INTO CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR: CRIME REDUCTION | DETERRENTS: - Punishments such as prisons, community orders and fines also act as deterrents. - In the same way that people are more likely to imitate actions that they see as being rewarded (i.e. vicarious reinforcement), they are also less likely to imitate actions that they see are punished. |
| APPLICATIONS OF RESEARCH INTO CRIMINAL BEHAVIOUR: CRIME REDUCTION | EARLY INTERVENTION PROGRAMMES: - Aim to discourage criminal behaviour ad reinforce (reward) appropriate and co-operative behaviour - Delivered through the education system, youth services or social services. |
| CORE STUDY: MEDNICK ET AL. (1984) | PROCEDURE: - Adoption study - Denmark - Assessed criminal records of 14,000 adopted males born between 1924-1947 - Compared with criminal records of biological parents and adoptive parents |
| CORE STUDY: MEDNICK ET AL. (1984) | FINDINGS: - When biological and adoptive parents had not been convicted of any crimes, 13.5% of adoptees were convicted of crimes themselves. - When biological parents had not been convicted of any crimes, but adoptive parents had, 14.7% of adoptees were convicted of crimes themselves. - When biological parents had been convicted of crimes, but adoptive parents had not, 20% of adoptees were convicted of crimes themselves. - When both biological and adoptive parents were convicted of crimes, 24% of adoptees were convicted of crimes themselves. |
| CORE STUDY: MEDNICK ET AL. (1984) | CONCLUSION: - There is a stronger genetic (nature) component to criminal behaviour than an environment (nurture) component. - However, we can't rule out the effect of the environment. |
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