MODULE 5

Lesson’s Objective:
1. Discuss the role of neurotransmitter to crime causation.
2. Differentiate the work of William Sheldon to Earnest Kretchmer.
3. Discuss the work of Earnest Hooton

Brain Neurotransmitters

Role of neurotransmitters and hormones

There are many neurotransmitters that have been implicated in emotional and
crime related behavior. Studies conducted on experimental animals and case studies
of
individuals have shown that lowering serotonin levels in the brain can trigger
aggressive
behavior.
These lower levels can be caused by intake of certain drugs or even destruction
of regions in the brain that is heavily concentrated with serotonin neurons. It is also
implicated in not just acts of external violence but self-inflicted harm such as suicide
(Badaway, 2003; Glick, 2015; Krakowski, 2003).
Serotonin was also found to inhibit both predatory and affective aggression. In
the case of affective aggression, the serotonergic hypo function is also found to have a
hereditary basis, wherein it predisposes an individual towards hostility and impulsive
behaviour. A reduction in serotonergic functioning is observed in the circuit involving
emotional regulation, including the anterior cingulate cortex and the prefrontal cortex,
which then leads to affective aggression. This dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex is
also found to become morbid with the affective aggression in various other conditions,
namely, substance abuse and suicidal tendencies (Seo, Patrick, & Kennealy, 2008).
One of the hypotheses ascertaining the link between levels of serotonin and
aggression is the ‘low serotonin syndrome” implying that people in such a state have
an “impulsive personality”, and the “irritable aggression model” postulate that hypo-
functioning of serotonin neurons lead to increased irritation and increased reactivity
to triggers and situations (Badaway, 2003). Low levels of serotonin in the
cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) are characteristic of a person who is impulsive and
aggressive (Glenn & Raine, 2014).

Fast facts on serotonin:

 Serotonin is an important chemical and neurotransmitter in the human body.

 It is believed to help regulate mood and social behavior, appetite and digestion,
sleep, memory, and sexual desire and function.
 There may be a link between serotonin and depression. If so, it is unclear
whether low serotonin levels contribute to depression, or if depression causes a
fall in serotonin levels.
 Drugs that alter serotonin levels are used to treat depression, nausea, and
migraine, and they may have a role in obesity and Parkinson’s disease.
 Other ways to increase body serotonin levels may include mood induction, light,
exercise, and diet.

Modern Bio Criminology

 Modern bio-criminology was theorized by Cesare Lombroso, and Italian

Criminologist. He argued that criminals were born, not made, and that they
were evolutionary throwback to a time when people and particularly men were
more aggressive and violent and less able to be civilized.
 The sub-discipline of criminology that investigates biological and genetic factors
and their relation to criminal behaviors.

SOMATOTYPE THEORY
 This somatotype theory relates to the distincteve body types to personality
characteristics and relates criminal behavior to the body type. People are born with an
inherited body type based on skeletal frame and body composition.

Somatotyping is the classification of people into types according to body build.

William H. Sheldon

- He was an American psychologist, born on

November 19, 1898.
- He was best known for his theory
associating physique, personality, and
crime or delinquency known as
Somatotyping Theory.
- 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 soft 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

(mostly “viscerotonic” types – extrovert)
including;
- Love of food, being tolerant, evenness of emotions
- Love of comfort, sociable, good humored, relaxed
- Need for affection

Associated Criminal Behavior

- Proneness to crimes 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

(mostly “somotonic” types – active/aggressive)
- Adventurous, desire for 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
- Prone to sexual assault

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

(mostly “celebrotonic” 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 property

 Similar classification of somatotypes was developed by German psychiatrist

Ernst Kretschmer in 1921.

Ernest Kretschmer (1888- 1964) Criminal Physical Inferiority Theory

- 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 more common among people of specific physical types.
- The idea of somatotyping was originated from his work, who distinguish three
principal types of physique as:
o Asthenic – lean, slightly built, narrow shoulders
o Athletic – medium to tall, strong, muscular, course bones
o Pyknic – medium height, rounded
figure, massive neck, broad face
- Kretschmer suggested that the lanky asthenics, and to a lesser degree the athletic types
- According to him, pyknic persons are friendly and interpersonally dependent

Earnest A. Hooton (1887- 1954)

Earnest Albert Hooton, was a Physical

Anthropologist, born on November 20,
1887.
Although not a criminologist, he is
popularly known in the field of criminology
for his Criminal Physical Inferiority
Theory.
The underpinnings of his ideas concerning
the physical inferiority of criminals are
reflected in one of his earlier works, The
Asymmetrical Character of Human Evolution, in which he argues that human
development has not been uniform, but rather that some traits have developed
differently for different subsets of people.
 It was his anthropological background which led him to the study of criminals
and criminal behavior as linked to physically inherited characteristics.
Hooton felt that he had discovered that the cause of criminal or deviant
behavior was the physical inferiority of the criminal in comparison to the non-
criminal. He also re-examined the work of Charles Goring and found out that
“Tall thin men tend to commit forgery and fraud, undersized men are thieves and
burglars, short heavy person commit assault, rape and other sex crimes; whereas
mediocre (average) physique flounder around among other crimes.

MODULE 6
Lesson Objectives:
1. Discuss Sociological Theory
2. Recognize the different personalities under sociological theory

THEORY OF CRIME CAUSATION: SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

The sociological approach theorize that crime is shaped by factors external to the
individual: their experiences within the neighborhood, the peer group and the family.
It means that the society “construct” criminality. It attempts to connect the issues of
individual’s criminality with the broader social structures and cultural values of
society, familial, or peer group.

What are the social conditions responsible for criminality?

a. Broken families
b. Poor parenting
c. Low quality educational experiences
d. Poverty
e. Lack of equal economic opportunity
f. Inadequate socialization

What are the sociological theories?

Ernest Watson Burgess (1886 – 1966)

Was an American Sociologist.

- He collaborated with sociologist Robert
Ezra Park and came out with
Introduction to the Science of
Sociology, which became one of the most
influential sociology book, even referred
as the “Bible of Sociology”.
- Burgess is an advocate of the Social
Disorganization Theory – which link
crime rates to neighborhood ecological
characteristics, youths from
disadvantaged neighborhoods were
participants in a subculture in which
delinquency was approved behavior and
that criminality was acquired in social
and cultural settings through a process of interaction – that place matters.
- Together with Park, Burgess also developed the Concentric Zone Theory –
argued that neighborhood conditions, be the wealth or poverty, had a much
greater determinant effect on criminal behavior than ethnicity, race, or religion.
 The concentric zone model, also known as
the Burgess model or the CCD model, is one
of the earliest theoretical models to explain
urban social structures.

Key (from outside to inside)

  Commuter zone (outer ring)
   Residential zone
 Working class zone
Zone of transition
  Factory zone
  Central business district (center)

 Working from the outer zone inward, Zone V was titled the Commuters
Zone.  This zone was described by Burgess as being inhabited by those that
could afford the more expensive “bungalows” common to this zone as well as
transportation to the inner city for entertainment and work (Burgess, 1928). 

 Zone IV, the Residential Zone , was described to be inhabited by well-

educated, middle class families.
 
 The third zone, the zone of the Workmen’s Homes, is generally inhabited by
those that can afford to move beyond the inner-most city limits, second
generations of immigrant families (Lersch, 2011).  Burgess describes Zone III
as being close enough to the inner zones as workers can reach workplaces by
foot (1928). 

 Zone II, the Zone in Transition , is known as “the least desirable area to live in
the city” (Lersch, 2011).  This area can be described as the melting pot of poor,
immigrant, destitute, and criminal (Burgess, 1928).  Ignored by residents and
landlords, these areas are distinct in their dilapidated housing and
infrastructure (Lersch, 2011).  Drugs, prostitution, gang activity, and general
economic misery are all prominent within the second zone. 
  The innermost zone, The Loop, is a business and commerce heavy area that is
commuted to by inhabitants of the other four zones. 

Characteristics of communities where crime is more likely to happen:

1. Economically deprived
2. Large in size
3. High in multiunit housing like apartments
4. High in residential mobility (people frequently move into and out of the
community)
5. High in family disruption (high rates of divorce, single parent families).

David Emile Durkheim (1858 – 1917)

 He was a French sociologist, born in

France in 1858.
 In the field of criminology, he was
famous for his work on the “Anomie
Theory “.

Anomie Theory – focused on the sociological point

of the positivist school which explains that the
absence of norms in a society provides a setting
conductive to crimes and other anti- social acts.

 Durkheim used the term anomie to

describe the lack of social regulation
in modern societies as one manner
that could elevate higher suicide rates.
 This also refers to a psychological state of confusion caused by rapidly
changing industrial evolution and accompanying social dislocation and
the effect this change to people.
 This state is popularly conceptualized as “normlessness” – it is a feeling,
an attitude, a psychological perspective that causes those who
experience is to feel confused, frustrated, annoyed angry, hostile,
embarrassed and even resigned or doomed.
 He contended that those who feel this way may attempt to relieve
themselves by committing deviant acts while others may resort to an
extreme aggravated resolution and commit suicide.

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 helps society for changes – it means that a society to be flexible to permit
positive deviation must permit negative deviations as well.