Sheldons somatotype theory

Endomorph
1. Soft, fat and rounded
2. Social, relaxed character
Mesmorph
1. Hard and muscular
2. Aggressive and adventurous - criminal type
Ectomorph
1. skinny and fragile
2. Shy and introverted
Argued that there are three body types and each has a associated temperament
Study of 200 male delinquents, rated a full length picture out of 7 - Sheldon found male criminal delinquents had a mesomorphic body type
The theory established and reinforced the idea of the criminal stereotype
Even if theres a link between body type and criminality it isn't necessarily casual. It is possible that muscular people are treated tougher and so become tougher due to a self-fufilling prophecy
High testosterone levels could effect both body shape and aggressive behaviour - Blackburn
Evidence to support the theory is mixed -
1. glueck - found a link between body shape and delinquency
2. West and Farrington - Found no such link between body shape and delinquency
Cortes and Gatti argued that sheldon's classification of the somatotypes was unreliable
Sutherland criticised Sheldons sample of delinquents suggesting he did not use legal criteria in defining delinquent.
1. When data was reanalysed with legal criteria, Sutherland found that the link was no longer present
Even though some research has shown a link between mesomorphy and criminal behaviour there could be other explanations
1. Individuals with a mesomorphic body type may learn from an early age that behaving aggressively is the only way to get what hey want.
2. Muscular body tpe may be aggressive to gangs and so mesomorphs would be more likely to join a gang

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Sheldons somatotype theory

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	Created by issiscott12 almost 9 years ago