CRIMINOLOGY II -THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION

MIDTERM
CHAPTER III
THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION

Several theories attempt to explain criminal behavior. Some theories assume:

o Crime is part of human nature.
o Crime is based on biological, psychological, sociological and/or economic aspects.
Theories – An assumption (or set assumptions) that attempt to explain why or how things are related to each
other.

BIOLOGICAL THEORIES
Biological theories of crime causation (biological positivism) are based on the belief that criminals are
physiologically different from non – criminals.
This refers to the set of theories that point to physical, physiological and other natural factors as the
causes for the commission of crimes of certain individuals.
This explanation for the existence of criminal traits associates an individual’s evil disposition to physical
disfigurement or impairment.

Criminal Anthropology or the study of “criminal” human beings is associated with the work of cesare Lombroso
who published his theory of a physical criminal type in 1876.
1. Criminals are, by birth, a distinct type.
2. That type can be recognized by physical characteristics, or stigmata, such as enormous jaws, high
cheekbones, and insensitivity to pain.
3. The criminal type is clearly distinguished in a person with more than five stigmata, perhaps exists in a
person with three to five stigmata, and does not necessarily exist in a person with fewer than three
stigmata.
4. Physical stigmata do not cause crime, they only indicate an individual who is predisposed to crime.
such a person is either an atavist or a result of degeneration.
5. Because of their personal natures, such person cannot desist from crime unless they experience very
favorable lives.

Atavist – A person who reverts to a savage type.

Limbic System – is a structure surrounding the brain stem that is believed to moderate expressions of violence. A
structure surrounding the brain stem that, controls the life functions of heartbeat, breathing and sleep.

Physiognomy – the study of facial features and their relation to human behavior.
1. Giambiattista Dela Porta
- Founder of human physiognomy
- According to him criminal behavior may be predicted based on facial features of the person.
2. Johann Kaspar Lavater
- Supported the belief of Dela Porta
- He believed that a person’s character is revealed through his facial characteristics.

Phrenology, Craniology or Cranioscopy – the study of the external formation of the skull in relation to the person’s
personality and tendencies toward criminal behavior.
1. Franz Joseph Gall – he developed cranioscopy which was later renamed as phrenology.
2. Johann Kaspar Spurzheim
- Assistant of Gall in the study of phrenology.
- He was the man most responsible for popularizing and spreading phrenology to a wide audience.

Physiology or Somatotype – refers to the study of body built of a person in relation to his temperament and
personality and the type of offense he is most prone to commit.
1. Ernst Kretschmer – became popular, in the field of criminology, for his work on body physique and
character in 1925, which advanced the theory that certain mental disorders were common among people
of specific physical types. The idea of somatotyping was originated from his work, who distinguished four
(4) principal types of physique as:
a. Asthenic – characterized as thin, small and weak.
b. Athletic – Muscular and strong.
c. Pyknic – Stout, round and fat.
d. Dysplastic – combination of any of the two (2) body types.
 Kretschmer suggested that the lanky asthenics, and to a lesser degree the athletic types, were more prone
to schizophrenia, while the pyknic types were more likely to develop manic – depressive disorders.
According to him, pyknic persons are friendly and interpersonally dependent (manic types). The thin
physique is associated with introversion and timidity (withdrawn types).
2. William Herbert Sheldon – was an American Psychologist, born on November 19, 1898, Rhode Island,
United States. He was best known for his theory associating Physique, Personality, and crime or
delinquency known as Somatotyping Theory outlined in his book The Varieties of human Physique,
published in 1940.
- Sheldon’s “Somatotyping theory” maintains the belief of inheritance as the primary determinants of
behavior and the physique is a reliable indicator of personality.

Classification of Body Physique by Sheldon:

a. The Endomorphs – a type with predominance of stout and rounded throughout the regions of the body.
They have low specific gravity and commonly persons with typically relaxed and comfortable disposition.
Body Features - Soft body, underdeveloped muscles, round shaped, over – developed digestive system.
Associated Personality Traits – “viscerotonic” types, Extrovert including: love of food, being tolerant,
evenness of emotions, love of comfort, sociable, good humor, relaxed, and need for affection.
Associated Criminal Behavior – Proneness to crime involving deceit and fraud.
b. The Mesomorphs – refers to the athletic types, those with a predominance of muscle, bone and
connective tissue, normally heavy, hard and firm, sting and tough. They are the people who are routinely
active and aggressive.
Body Features- Hard, muscular body, overly mature appearance, rectangular shaped, thick skin, upright
posture.
Associated Personality Traits – “Romotonic” types – active/aggressive: adventurous, desire of power and
dominance, courageous, assertive, bold, zest for physical activity, being competitive, love of risk and
chance.
Associated Criminal Behavior – routinely active and prone to violent crimes, and prone to sexual assault.
c. The Ectomorphs – thin physique, flat chest, delicacy through the body, slender, poorly muscled. They
tend to look more fatigue and withdrawn.
Body Features - Thin/flat chest, delicate build, young appearance, tall but lightly muscled, stoop –
shouldered, large brain.
Associated Personality Traits – “Cerebrotonic” types – Introvert – self - conscious and preference for
privacy, introverted and inhibited, socially anxious, artistic and mentally intense, emotionally restrained.
Associated Criminal Behavior – proneness to crimes against properties.

HEREDITY
Heredity is the Transmission of traits from parents to offspring.
1. Richard Louis Dugdale – Conducted a study of the Jukes Family tree as far back 200 years. He discovered
that most of the ascendants of the Jukes were criminals.
2. Henry Goddard – He traced the descendants of Martin Kallikak from each of his two wives and found a
distinct difference in terms of quality of lives of descendants. He coined the term “moron”.
3. Charles Goring – He believed that criminal traits can be passed from parents to offspring through genes.
He proposed that individuals who possess criminal characteristics should be prohibited from having
children.
Goring most important achievement was the English Convict: A statistical study – one of the most
comprehensive criminological works of his time. It was first published in 1913, and set out to establish whether
there were any significant physical or mental abnormalities among the criminal classes that set them apart
from ordinary men, as suggested by Cesare Lombroso.

Intelligence as a factor in Criminality

The classic studies of the Juke and Kallikak families were among the first to show that feeblemindedness
or low – intelligence can be inherited and transferred from one generation to the next. Numerous tests were also
conducted that lead to the development of the use of IQ tests as a testing procedure for offenders. The very first
result seemed to confirm that offenders had low mental abilities and they were found to be mentally impaired.
Alred Binet – a French psychologist who developed the first IQ test. The test measured the capacity of individual
children to perform tasks or solve problems in relation to the average capacity of their peers.

Modern Biocriminology – Ongoing research has revealed numerous biological factors associated either directly
or indirectly with criminal or delinquent behavior:
o Chemical, mineral, and vitamin deficiencies in the diet.
o Diets high in sugar and carbohydrates.
o Hypoglycemia
o Ingestion of food dyes and leads.
o Exposure to radiation
 o Brain dysfunctions

Brain Neurotransmitters – Some criminal behaviors are believed to be influenced by low levels of brain
neurotransmitters (the substance brain cells used to communicate).
o Low level of serotonin has been found in impulsive murderers and arsonists.
o Norepinephrine may be associated with compulsive gambling.

Hormones – Criminal behaviors have also been associated with hormone abnormalities, especially those involving:
o Testosterone (a male sex hormone)
o Progesterone and estrogen (female sex hormone)
o Administering estrogen to male sex offenders has been found to reduce their sexual drives.

CHAPTER IV

PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES
o Refers to the theories that attribute criminal behavior of individuals to psychological factors, such as
emotion and mental problems.
o Intelligence and Crime – The idea that a crime is a product primarily of people of low intelligence has been
popular occasionally in the U.S.
o Psychoanalytic Theories – Are associated with the work of Sigmund Freud who believed that people who
had unresolved deep – seated problems were Psychopaths.
Psychopaths – Persons characterized by no sense of guilt, no subjective conscience, and no sense of right
and wrong. They have difficulty in forming relationships with other people, they cannot empathize with
other people. They are also called sociopaths or antisocial personality.

Sigmund Freud – Was an Austrian Neurologist and Psychiatrist who founded the Psychoanalytic School of
Psychology. In criminology he is best known for his Psychoanalytic Theory.

Psychoanalytic Criminology is a method of studying crime and criminal behavior that draws from psychoanalysis
theory of Freud. It examines the personality and the Psyche of a person (particularly the unconscious) for motive
in crime.

Psychoanalysis is used to refer to many aspects of Freud’s work and research, including Freudan therapy and the
research methodology he used to develop his theories. Freud relied heavily upon his observations and case studies
of his patients when he formed his theory of personality development. Under this theory, the mind is divided into
two main parts: the Conscious mind – includes everything that we are aware of. This is the aspect of our mental
processing that we can think and talk about rationally and the unconscious mind – is a reservoir of feelings,
thoughts, urges, and memories that outside of our conscious awareness, Most of the contents of the unconscious
are unacceptable or unpleasant, such as feelings of pain, anxiety, or conflict.

Elements of Personality According to Freud:

1. The Id – The Instinctual Drives. The Id is driven by “Pleasure Principle”, which strives for immediate
gratification of all desires, wants, and needs. If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a
state anxiety or tension. Also, if we were ruled entirely by pleasure, we might find ourselves grabbing
things we want out of other people’s hands to satisfy our own cravings. This sort of behavior would be
disruptive and socially unacceptable.
2. EGO – This is considered to be the sensible and responsible part of an individual’s personality and is
governed by the “Reality Principle”, it is developed early in life and compensates for the demands of the
ID by helping the individual guide his actions to remain within the boundaries of accepted social behavior,
it is the objective, rational part of the personality.
3. SEUPEREGO – The superego is the aspect of personality that holds all of our internalized Moral Standards
and ideals that we acquire from parents, Church and the society. It is our sense of right and wrong. The
superego provides guidelines for making judgments.

Humanistic Psychological Theory – Abraham Maslow and Seymour Halleck developed theories similar to Freud’s
but based on the assumption that human beings are basically good.
Abraham Maslow believed that human beings are motivated by seven (7) basic levels of needs, and the people
choose crime because they cannot (or will not) satisfy their needs legally. The seven basic levels of needs are:
1. Biological or Psychological Needs – these motives includes the need for food, water, oxygen, activity,
and sleep.
2. Safety Needs – these pertains to the motives of being cared for and being secured such as in income and
place to live.
3. Love/Belongingness – Belongingness is the integration into various kinds of social groups or social
organizations. Love needs means need for affection.
 4. Cognitive Needs – our motivation for learning and exploration.
5. Esteem Needs – our motivation for an honest, fundamental respect for a person as a useful and honorable
human being.
6. Aesthetic Needs – our motivation for beauty and order.
7. Self – actualization – pertains to human total satisfaction, when people are motivated not so much by
unmet needs, as by the desire to become all they are capable of (self- realization).
Halleck views crime as one of several adaptations to the helplessness caused by oppression.

Electra Complex – This occurs at the beginning of the phallic stage (around ages 3 to 6) in which a girl develops a
desire to possess her father and a hatred fear of her mother.

Oedipus Complex – This occurs at the beginning of the phallic stage (3 to 6) in which a boy develops a desire to
possess his mother and a hatred and fear of his father.

Psychopathy Checklist (PCL – R) – Developed by Hare, this is a tool comprised of a checklist that is designed to
measure the feeling and relationship of an individual, along with the social deviance of an individual. This tool is
the main one used in the measurement of psychopathic personality.

MODERN SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIME CAUSATION

- Sociological factors refers to things, places and people with whom we come in contact with and which
play a part in determining our actions and conduct. These causes may bring about the development
of criminal behavior.
- Environmental factors such as the kind of rearing or family upbringing, quality of teaching in school,
influences of peers and friends, conditions of the neighborhood, and economic and other societal
factors believed to be contributory to crime and criminal behavior.

Emile Durkheim – Was a French sociologist, born in France in 1858. He studied in Paris and taught sociology at
the University of Boardeaux and Sorbonne in Paris, France. In the field of criminology, he was famous for his work
the “Anomie Theory”.

The anomie theory focused on the sociological point of the positivist school which explains that the
absence of norms in a society provides a setting conducive to crimes and other anti – social acts. Durkheim used
the term Anomie to describe the lack of social regulations in modern societies as one manner that could elevate
higher suicide rates. He believed that crime was not only normal in the society, but was also functional. It was
normal because no society existed in which some level of crime was not evident, and functional as it served to
reinforce social norms, provide the raw material for social change and provide a kind of “safety valve” for social
discontent, wherein people can simply disobey the law, rather than seeking to change it.

Durkheim proposed the following principles:

1. Crime is a natural thing in the society.
2. The concept of wrong is necessary to give meaning to right.
3. Crime help society for changes – it means that a society to be flexible must permit positive deviation as
well.

Gabriel Tarde – Introduced the Theory of imitation which proposes the process by which people become
criminals. According to this theory, individuals imitate the behavior of other individuals based on the degree of
their association with other individuals and it is inferior or weak who tend to imitate the superior and strong.

Adolphe Quetelet and Andre Michael Guerry

- Quetelet was a Belgian statistician who pioneered Cartography and the Cartographical School of
Criminology that placed emphasis on social statistics. Through statistical analysis, he gained insight
about the relationship between crime and other social factors. Among his findings were strong
relationships between age and crime, as well as gender and crime. He also discovered that crimes
against persons tends to increase during summer while crimes against properties tends to increase
during winter (may be considered as seasonal crime).
- They repudiated the free – will doctrine of the classicists.
- Founder of the Cartographic School of Criminology.
- Founder of moral statistics.
- Cartographic School of Criminology made use of statistical data such as population, age, gender,
occupation, religious affiliations and social economic status and studies their influences and
relationship to criminality.