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EVALUATION - BIOLOGICAL - Coggle Diagram
EVALUATION - BIOLOGICAL
Lombroso
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Charles Goring did find a low - order intelligence in convicts, which suggests some genetic base to criminality
Several pieces of research, for example Butcher & Taylor suggest that less attractive individuals are more likely to be considered guilty
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Sheldon
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A good - sized sample was used and Sheldon had a control condition of non - offenders (students) to compare to
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It does not take into account that people's somatotype is not fixed and that people's bodies change throughout their lives
XYY theory
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One study by Jacob et al found that a significant number of men in prison had XYY sex chromosomes instead of XY
Adler et al indicated that it is possible that aggressive and violent behaviour is at least partly determined by genetic factors
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Studies have found that genetic abnormalities are widespread throughout the general population and therefore do not explain aggression
Adoption studies
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As adoption studies are exposed to different environment to their biological family. It is easier to separate genetic and environmental factors
Studies have concluded that there is a correlation between adopted children and their biological parents
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The adoption process is not always random, as often children are placed with parents similar to their biological families
The age of adoption may mean the adopted children have already been influenced by either their natural parents or their foster environment
Twin studies
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Such studies are natural experiments, as the biological relationships between the twins is a naturally occurring variable
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If twins are brought up in the same environment, criminality could just as easily be related to nurture as to genetics