Unit 12: Crime and its effects on society Marcus Chadwick
Assignment 2
The effects of criminal behaviour on communities
Criminal Behaviour Theories:
It’s important when crime occur to understand why and the theories behind it so that in future it can
be prevented. Criminology is the study of crime however has many other aspects such as sociology,
psychology, biology, geography, law and anthropology. Why crime happens is split into three
sections which are biological, sociological and psychological.
Biological
Biological theories mainly question whether people were born to commit crime especially the
serious ones like rape or murder. The only way to really understand is to see the mind of a criminal.
However there are similarities when it comes to people committing murder such as ritualistic and
compulsive behaviour, suicide attempts, having a past of serious assaults against them, history of
drugs or alcohol abuse to themselves or from their parents, animal cruelty, unnatural arousal of
firearms and even emotional behaviour signs such as depression. A man named Cesare Lombroso
made a research in 1835 -1901 on Italian prisoners and no criminal military personnel regarding their
physical features such there head and face shape. Lombroso believed that if you had a hawk nose or
blood shot eyes you were born a criminal. Charles Buckman Goring performed a research in 1913
which referred to him taking physical measurements of 3000 convicts and 3000 non-convicts
however Goring found nothing to support Lombroso’s theory and instead was found that Buckman
was using people with learning difficulties rather than poverty being a reason for physical
appearance. The problem with finding similarities to physical appearance and what a criminal looks
like is that it’s stereotypical and deemed as prejudice. In 1940 William Sheldon performed a research
of body shape and whether it had any link to committing crimes. His research consisted of collecting
over 4000 photos of male students and 650 personality traits in which he came up with3 main body
types. These are endomorph, ectomorph and mesomorph. His research lasted 8 years in which he
found on average that the body type to commit crime was mesomorphs however he then concluded
that the most likely to commit more serious crimes were the people smaller in size.
Genetic determinism
Genetic determinism is where people believe that genes determine the physical features of a living
organism whether it is height, hair colour and intelligence. The chromosomes carry the genetic
material and produce them the nucleus. DNA makes up the chromosomes and allows them to
function, repair reproduce. Female cells contain two X chromosomes and males contain XY
chromosomes. In some cases some people have an extra Y chromosome which can result in high
levels of aggression in certain individuals. This aggression this can lead to criminal behaviour.
Biological Determinism
Biological determinism is the belief that biology of the human body controls factors such as
behaviour. Biological determinists believe that children of criminal will more than likely be criminals
themselves. There is also a blank slate belief that the new born baby decides how he or she acts.
Endomorph-Body shape=Plump Character= Sociable, Relaxed,Funny
Mesomorph-Body shape=Muscular Character= Vibrant,Selfish,Active
Assignment 2
The effects of criminal behaviour on communities
Criminal Behaviour Theories:
It’s important when crime occur to understand why and the theories behind it so that in future it can
be prevented. Criminology is the study of crime however has many other aspects such as sociology,
psychology, biology, geography, law and anthropology. Why crime happens is split into three
sections which are biological, sociological and psychological.
Biological
Biological theories mainly question whether people were born to commit crime especially the
serious ones like rape or murder. The only way to really understand is to see the mind of a criminal.
However there are similarities when it comes to people committing murder such as ritualistic and
compulsive behaviour, suicide attempts, having a past of serious assaults against them, history of
drugs or alcohol abuse to themselves or from their parents, animal cruelty, unnatural arousal of
firearms and even emotional behaviour signs such as depression. A man named Cesare Lombroso
made a research in 1835 -1901 on Italian prisoners and no criminal military personnel regarding their
physical features such there head and face shape. Lombroso believed that if you had a hawk nose or
blood shot eyes you were born a criminal. Charles Buckman Goring performed a research in 1913
which referred to him taking physical measurements of 3000 convicts and 3000 non-convicts
however Goring found nothing to support Lombroso’s theory and instead was found that Buckman
was using people with learning difficulties rather than poverty being a reason for physical
appearance. The problem with finding similarities to physical appearance and what a criminal looks
like is that it’s stereotypical and deemed as prejudice. In 1940 William Sheldon performed a research
of body shape and whether it had any link to committing crimes. His research consisted of collecting
over 4000 photos of male students and 650 personality traits in which he came up with3 main body
types. These are endomorph, ectomorph and mesomorph. His research lasted 8 years in which he
found on average that the body type to commit crime was mesomorphs however he then concluded
that the most likely to commit more serious crimes were the people smaller in size.
Genetic determinism
Genetic determinism is where people believe that genes determine the physical features of a living
organism whether it is height, hair colour and intelligence. The chromosomes carry the genetic
material and produce them the nucleus. DNA makes up the chromosomes and allows them to
function, repair reproduce. Female cells contain two X chromosomes and males contain XY
chromosomes. In some cases some people have an extra Y chromosome which can result in high
levels of aggression in certain individuals. This aggression this can lead to criminal behaviour.
Biological Determinism
Biological determinism is the belief that biology of the human body controls factors such as
behaviour. Biological determinists believe that children of criminal will more than likely be criminals
themselves. There is also a blank slate belief that the new born baby decides how he or she acts.
Endomorph-Body shape=Plump Character= Sociable, Relaxed,Funny
Mesomorph-Body shape=Muscular Character= Vibrant,Selfish,Active
