AC3.2 Evaluate the effectiveness of criminological theories to explain causes of criminality
Bandura's social learning theory
Strengths
Experiment conducted in a lab where researchers could control and manipulate the variables allowing them to establish the cause and effect.
Weaknesses
Only tested children right after exposure to the model. Unclear whether the children engaged in behaviours they 'learnt' ever again after leaving the lab.
Aim
To prove that children who will watch an adult model act aggressively towards a Bobo doll would imitate their behaviour when given the same chance to play with the doll.
Bandura repeated the study several times in the 60s. Found the studies to remain consistent.
Likely that the children had never seen a Bobo doll and didn't know what to do with it, therefore leading them to imitate the adult.
Freud's Psychodynamic theories
Strengths
Weaknesses
Aim
Contributed to research about crime and behaviour - the focus on childhood experiences and the importance of them on future behaviour shouldn't be underestimated.
The id, ego and superego relate to different parts of the brain, their functions and development making Freud's theory arguably based on science.
Theories of offending are no longer accredited by psychologists due to the difficulty of testing the unconscious mind.
Arguably unscientific as they are very subjective and lack objective interpretation.
Forces outside of a person's awareness explain why they behave a certain way.
Eysenck's theory of criminal personality
Strengths
Weaknesses
Aim
Researched soldiers in hospital to support his theory - he predicted that the most traumatised soldiers would score high on neurotic (organic disease - symptoms of stress and anxiety).
If his theory is correct, it could lead us to being able to detect criminality in children and intervene at an early age to prevent development of such behaviour (parenting intervention).
Lack of reliability - people may not respond exactly the same to the same questions every day of every time.
Theory suggests that personality is genetic and fails to consider that it may change over time.
He believed personality is largely governed by biology, and he viewed people as having two specific personality dimensions: extroversion vs. introversion and neuroticism vs. stability.
Lombroso's theory of the 'born criminal'
Strengths
Weaknesses
Aim
To identify distinguishing physical features among criminals, which set them apart as offenders based on biological principles.
Was the first person to give criminology scientific credibility - his work also challenged the idea that people choose criminality and heralded the beginnings of offender profiling..
Lombroso labelled prisons 'criminal universities' and suggested that prisoners come out much worse than they went in- this is supported by today's re-offending rate.
Lack of control group so no comparisons can be made.
Lack of accuracy due to possible disfigurements.
Not everyone with atavistic features is criminal and not all criminals have them.
Sheldon's theory of criminal body types
Strengths
A number of other studies support this theory:
Putwain and Sammons (2002) found a small association between bodily build and criminality.
Sheldon used a good-sized sample (200) and had a control group of non-offenders (students) to compare his results to.
Weaknesses
Could not really explain how ectomorphs and endomorphs could also be criminal.
Does not consider that mesomorphs may be dared and drawn into delinquent activities because of the way that people view them.
Does not take into account that people's somatotype is not fixed- bodies change throughout people's lives.
Aim
Understanding criminal behaviour.
XYY Theory
Strengths
Weaknesses
Aim
Jacob et al. (965) found that a significant number of men in prison had XYY sex chromosomes rather than the normal XY.
Adler et al (2007) indicated that it is possible that aggressive and violent behaviour is at least partly determined by genetic factors.
Studies have found that genetic abnormalities are widespread throughout the general population and therefore do not explain aggression.
Focusing too heavily on genetics ignores the behaviourist approach.
To prove the XYY (supermale) chromosomal syndrome may act on the brain's limbic system (which regulates man's most primitive drives, including his impulses toward violence) and somehow help trigger violent criminal acts.