Criminality and Psychological Explanations Quiz

• Richard Dugdale and Henry Goddard traced family trees to study criminal offending and attributed it to degenerate nature or moral degeneracy.
• Twin studies suggest a genetic inheritance of criminality, but environmental influences may not be fully separated out.
• Adoption studies suggest a stronger influence of biological parents than adoptive parents in explaining criminality, but selective placement may also play a role.
• Studies of twins separated at birth show a genetic basis to criminality that cannot be explained by environmental factors alone.
• Cytogenetic studies examining XYY chromosome abnormality show a higher conviction rate for XYY males, but not necessarily for violent crimes.
• Hormones, neurotransmitters, and neurophysiology may also play a role in criminal behavior.
• Intelligence, psychoanalytic theories, theory of moral development, attachment theory, and personality theories are other psychological approaches to explaining criminality.
• William Shockley, Arthur Jenson, and Herrnstein and Murray argue that social class and race are related to criminality through intelligence.
• Sigmund Freud, August Aichhorn, and Kate Fredlanger suggest that an underdeveloped superego may cause criminal behavior.
• Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development suggests that those who engage in crime are stuck at the preconventional stage and do not understand right from wrong.
• California Personality Inventory measures personality profiles of general population
• Criminals score lower in socialization, self-control, and responsibility
• Eysneck and Eysneck developed personality theory of criminality
• Criminals score high in neuroticism, extraversion, and psychoticism
• Criticisms of empirical studies comparing incarcerated and general population
• Inventories use questions on criminal and delinquent behavior
• Deinstitutionalization movement followed increase in incarceration of mental health patients
• No direct relationship between mental illness and criminality
• Certain psychiatric diagnoses more prevalent among violent offenders
• Lack of community-based supports for mental health patients.

Test your knowledge on criminality and the various psychological explanations behind criminal behavior, including genetic inheritance, environmental influences, personality theories, and more.