criminology unit 2 AC 3.1 analyse
situations of criminality
analyse situations of criminality - correct answer-apply knowledge of theories of criminality to
a case study
structure of answers - correct answer-1. identify the theory or theories evident in the case
study and relevant to the question
2. make use of key terms/vocabulary and people - ensuring to fully explain them
3. apply material from the case study to the answer regularly
biological: neurophysiology, raine et al - correct answer-neurophysiology: concerned with the
study of the nervous system
raine et al wanted to look into differences between the neurophysiology of criminals and
non-criminals
he looked into the limbic system and the frontal lobe
limbic system: emotion
frontal lobe: rational thought
studied 41 murderers and used PET scanning to highlight brain activity - then compared to a
control group of non-criminals
found that offenders had abnormalities in the limbic system and the frontal lobe - meaning
their emotions and rational thought is affected (they're overly or less emotional, and they
cannot react appropriately to certain situations or weigh up the consequences of their
actions)
biological: genetic, christiansen - correct answer-twin studies
examined monozygotic (identical) twins who share 100% of the same DNA and dizygotic
(non-identical) twins who share 50% of the same DNA to find concordance rates
(percentages showing the amount of twins that shared the same, criminal, behaviour)
he examined over 3.5k twins in denmark and found:
monozygotic male: 35%
dizygotic male: 13%
monozygotic female: 21%
dizygotic female: 8%
this study finds a degree of inheritance on criminality, due to the fact that results show
monozygotic twins share more behaviour than dizygotic
but the rates are still low - only 35% of identical male twins shared criminal behaviour - which
isn't 100% meaning there's other factors involved
also, questions about the effect of gender are raised - why are male and female rates so
different?
biological: genetic, crowe - correct answer-adoption studies
is a way of considering environment too
compared a group of adopted children with a criminal biological mother to a group of adopted
children with a non-criminal biological mother
situations of criminality
analyse situations of criminality - correct answer-apply knowledge of theories of criminality to
a case study
structure of answers - correct answer-1. identify the theory or theories evident in the case
study and relevant to the question
2. make use of key terms/vocabulary and people - ensuring to fully explain them
3. apply material from the case study to the answer regularly
biological: neurophysiology, raine et al - correct answer-neurophysiology: concerned with the
study of the nervous system
raine et al wanted to look into differences between the neurophysiology of criminals and
non-criminals
he looked into the limbic system and the frontal lobe
limbic system: emotion
frontal lobe: rational thought
studied 41 murderers and used PET scanning to highlight brain activity - then compared to a
control group of non-criminals
found that offenders had abnormalities in the limbic system and the frontal lobe - meaning
their emotions and rational thought is affected (they're overly or less emotional, and they
cannot react appropriately to certain situations or weigh up the consequences of their
actions)
biological: genetic, christiansen - correct answer-twin studies
examined monozygotic (identical) twins who share 100% of the same DNA and dizygotic
(non-identical) twins who share 50% of the same DNA to find concordance rates
(percentages showing the amount of twins that shared the same, criminal, behaviour)
he examined over 3.5k twins in denmark and found:
monozygotic male: 35%
dizygotic male: 13%
monozygotic female: 21%
dizygotic female: 8%
this study finds a degree of inheritance on criminality, due to the fact that results show
monozygotic twins share more behaviour than dizygotic
but the rates are still low - only 35% of identical male twins shared criminal behaviour - which
isn't 100% meaning there's other factors involved
also, questions about the effect of gender are raised - why are male and female rates so
different?
biological: genetic, crowe - correct answer-adoption studies
is a way of considering environment too
compared a group of adopted children with a criminal biological mother to a group of adopted
children with a non-criminal biological mother
