Discuss the general characteristics of Biological theories of crime. How do such theories differ from other perspective that attempt to explain the same phenomena?
Answer: Crime is a highly complex phenomenon that changes across cultures and across time. Biological theory of criminological school is one of that school of thought which assumes that some people are born criminals who are psychologically distinct from non-criminals. Biological theories within the field of criminology attempt to explain behaviors contrary to societal expectations through examination of individual characteristics. These theories are categorized within a paradigm called positivism (also known as determinism), which asserts that behaviors, including law-violating behaviors, are determined by factors largely beyond individual control. Positivist theories contrast with classical theories, which argue that people generally choose their behaviors in rational processes of logical decision making, and with critical theories, which critique lawmaking, social stratification, and the unequal distribution of power and wealth. It states that the biological nature of human beings determines whether they commit criminal acts or not. It suggests that human behavior is completely and inevitably conditioned by biological factors[1].
The idea of being able to distinguish criminals from non-criminals on the basis of their physical characteristics was a conscious departure from classical criminology and led to the first scientific attempts to find out the cause of criminal behaviour. Cessare Lombrosso was the first criminologist to devote himself to direct observation and measurement of the individual case in order to trace the origin of the crime. Positivism, however, was not only – as with Lombroso – purely biologically offender oriented.
Italian prison psychiatrist Cessare Lombrosso, Rafaelo Garofalo, Enrico Ferri, Henry Goddard and F.J. Gall are the theorists who are the contributor of this theory. They propounded their own theory based on the physical traits and characteristics of the human body. Every theorists have their own theory regarding explanation of the causation of the crime which also shows the characteristics of the biological theories of the crime.
The general characteristics of the biological theories of crime are described below:
(1) It explains that the criminals are differentiated on the basis of certain innate (i.e., those with which you are born) outward physical traits or characteristics[2]: Cessaro Lombrosso, a father of this theory which suggested that criminals were atavistic: essentially ‘evolutionary throwbacks’. He gave much emphasis that traits were inherited by birth. He suggested that their brains were mal-developed or not fully developed. According to him, criminals are born with defective body composition and studied 383 human skulls. He thought that small and depressed forehead, flat nose, broad jaw, high cheek-bone, up-raising ear, long hand, and too much hair on the body or completely hairless body are such traits which indicates defective body composition. He identified 18 such defective indicants of criminal type man out of which if anybody possess five of any such defects he is certain to be a criminal[3]. The person who lacks the mental constitution are more prone to the criminal activities.
(2) This theory is attempted to trace the source of differences to genetic or hereditary characteristics: Human body is created and developed with the composition and expansion of cells. A cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, i.e. 46 chromosomes. The main chromosome found in the cell is termed as gene. Such gene may be X or Y. This is normal biological process of human being. In certain population, person having XXY gene or even XXYY gene have been found which is abnormal and according to this theory such person is considered as criminal.
(3) It attempt to distinguish among individuals on the basis of structural, functional, or chemical differences in the brain or body.
Brain composition can be studied through external composition of the skull. The brain is divided into different faculties. Such faculties are 26. Some of the faculties are conjugality, philoprogenitiveness, friendliness, combativeness, destructiveness, acquisitiveness, consciousness, ideality, self-esteem, firmness, benevolence, constructiveness, and imitativeness, etc[4]. Such faculties are classified as human instinct, moral instinct, and intellectual instinct. They are placed in hierarchical order within the skull. So, persons committing crime are those whose brain development is only partial. Poor moral value leads the person to commission of the crime.
There are other theories which explains the causation of crime. But other theories did not distinguish the criminals on the basis of the biological characteristics of the human being. The theories of crime like Demonological theory, Classical theory, Neo-classical theory, Geographical theory, psychological theory, Sociological theory explains the crime is the result of the various environmental, social and economic factors.
The above mentioned theory differs from the biological theory on the basis of following points:
Ø The demonological theory explains that influence of devil, witch hunting, natural calamities as the causation of crime. This theory is totally based on the religious faith and superstition.
Ø The geographical theory connects the cause of crime with geographical situation and climatic temperature of the country. It states that geography is responsible element from crime control perspective in specific situation.
Ø Economy is closely associated with human being and human society. Poverty cannot be the root cause of crime but poverty might give conducive situation to breed crime. The lust for money breeds the crime. White collar crime is the consequence of this theory.
Ø Society is the cluster of people where people with different ideologies live. People with criminal mind and non-criminal mind both live in the same society where there is high chance of increasing the crime rate. People with high rate of association, disorganized family, parental property, unbalanced class level of the people affects the living standard of people which ultimately leads to the crime.
Consequently, the biological theory states that the biological factors of the person leads to the crime. It neglects other factors which may lead the crime. The biological theory is not practical in the present context as the person with the biological defect cannot considered as the criminal.
[1] https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4757-6726-1_5 accessed on 9th July, 2020
[2] http://criminal-justice.iresearchnet.com/criminology/theories/biological-theories-of-crime/ accessed on 9th July, 2020
[3] Madhav Prashad Acharya and Ganesh Bhattarai, Criminology and Penology,1st Edition 2012, Bhrikuti Academic Publications, Pg.17
[4] Jonathan Ilan, Biological theories of crime versus psychological theories of crime- Comparison of and evaluation of their contributions to our understanding of crime and criminal justice, January 2017, accessed on 20th July, 2020
