BIOLOGICAL

THEORIES
Known by others as ANTHROPOLOGICAL
CRIMINOLOGY, is a combination of the study
of the human species and criminals' study.
Lombrosian
Theory
• cesare lombroso was the father of modern
criminology (1835 to 1909)
• He is an Italian psychiatrist and military doctor.
• He altered the classic focus of crime from legalities
and punishment to the individual criminal. The
proposed that criminals are biologically different
from other human beings. The further believed
that criminals are throwbacks to a more primitive
stage of human evolution and that the criminal
tendency is inherited. He asserted that criminals
exhibit more physical and mental abnormalities
than non - criminals, such as unusual skull sizes and
asymmetrical facial structure (Tancangco, D.,
Three (3) Types of Criminal According to
Lombroso
Atavistic – these criminals are those considered as born
criminals.
Insane Criminal - These refer to people who became criminals
due to alcoholism, kleptomaniacs, nymphomaniacs, and
child molesters. Although insane criminals bore some
stigmata, they were not born criminals. Instead, they
become criminals due to "an altercation of the brain which
completely upsets their moral nature.
– these criminals refer to those categorized
Criminaloid
as “habitual criminals" who become so by contact with
Three (3) Types of Criminal
According to Lombroso

ATAVIST
Physiogn
omy
• Johann Kaspar Lavater (1741 –
1801)
• A physiognomist, was one of
the first to suggest a link
between facial figures and
crime. It is a theory based
upon the idea that assessing
 Phrenology
A theory that claims to determine
character, personality traits, and
criminality based on the head's shape
like, for example, by reading "bumps"
and "fissures." Developed by a
German physician Franz Joseph Gall.
The discipline was prevalent in the
19th century. Phrenology is based on
Phrenology
 external shape of the
skull in relation to the
person’s personality
CRANI and tendencies toward
criminal behavior.
OSCO FRANZ JOSEPH
PY GALL – believed that
bumps on the skull
reflect the growth of
small, underlying brain
CRANIOSCOPY
 Pyknic Type – those who are
stout and with round bodies.
Ernst They tend to commit deception,
Athletic
fraud, andType – . those who
violence
Kretsch are muscular and strong.
mer's They are usually connected
Asthenic Type – those who
with violence.
Physiqu are skinny and slender. They
may commit petty theft and
e Theory Dysplastic or Mixed Type –
fraud.
those who are less clear evident
have any pre-dominant type.
Their offenses are against
William Sheldon’s
Somatotype Theory
• Endomorphic Body Type is manifested by relatively great
development of digestive viscera tendency to put on fat; soft
roundness through various regions of the body; short tapering,
limbs; small bones; small velvety skin.
• Mesomorphic Physique where there is a relatively
predominance of muscles, bone and the motor organ or the
body; large wrist and hands, if lean a hard rectangular outline.
• Ectomorphic Physique build which is evidenced by relatively
predominance of skin and its appendages which include the
nervous system lean, fragile, delicate bones droopy shoulders
William
Sheldon’
s
Somatoty
pe
Theory
 general relaxation of the body; a
William comfortable person; loves
luxury; and essentially extrovert
Sheldo person.

n’s • Romotonic
refers to
(Mesomorph)
active
-
dynamic
KINDS persons, whose walks, talks
gestures assertively and
OF behaves aggressively.
• Cerebrotonic (Ectomorph) -
TEMPE persons whose traits are
generally classified as introvert
RAMEN full of functional complaints,
allergies skin troubles, chronic
PSYCHOLOGICAL
THEORIES
The psychological approach would question why some
individuals succumb to the neighborhood's criminal pressures,
while others seemed unaffected. There have been many
explanations as to why individuals commit a crime, but
psychological theories focus on the association between
Psychodynamic
The psychodynamic
Theory
approach includes all the Psychodynamic theory
theories in psychology suggests that criminal
that see human offenders are frustrated
functioning based upon and aggravated. They
the interaction of drives are frequently drawn to
and forces within the past events in their early
person, mainly childhood because of a
unconscious, and negligent, unhappy, or
between the different miserable childhood,
structures of the which is most often
personality and contends characterized by a lack
that childhood
 Sigmund Freud-
Psychoanalytic Theory
• He is an Australian – born neurologist. He is the
father of psychoanalytic school and developed the
psychoanalytic theory and therapeutic technique
psychoanalysis.
• Psychoanalytic Theory argued that people's
unconscious minds are mainly responsible for
essential differences in their behavior styles. It
 Id – Allows us to get our
basic needs met. Based on
Freudian the pleasure principle.
Element Selfish, primitive, childish,
EGO - Meet the needs
pleasure-oriented. of
True
s of the id, reality.
psychic while taking into
account the constraints of
Personal reality. Reality principle/The
ity SUPEREGO
moderator - Conscience
of Man. Morality Principle.
Strong superego- high level
 Psychoanalysis Therapy
• People possess unconscious thoughts, feelings, desires, and memories.

• Psychoanalysis therapy aims to release repressed emotions and experiences,

such as making the unconscious conscious. Freud believed that people could
be cured by making conscious their unconscious thought and motivations,
thus gaining "insight." It only has a catharsis (emotion release – a term used
in therapy) experience can the person be helped and “cured."
• Example: Experiencing stress over a work-related situation may cause feelings of
Frustration and tension. Rather than vent these feelings into inappropriate ways, an
individual may release these feelings in another way, such as through physical activity or
another stress-relieving activity.
Anxiety
• Anxiety is a normal emotion. It's your brain's way of reacting to
stress and alerting you of potential danger ahead.
2 sources of anxiety:
(1) People become anxious when desires are unmet;
(2) People become anxious when an unconscious
desire starts to become conscious.
Anxiety: Freud identified three (3)
types of anxiety
1. Reality Anxiety – the primary form of anxiety and is
based on the ego. It is the fear of real-world events.
 Example:
- A person might fear of dog bite when he/she is near to a
menacing dog.
- A person might fear of falling when climbing a tree or a
roof.
Anxiety: Freud identified three (3)
types of anxiety:
2. Moral Anxiety – comes from the superego. It is the fear
of violating values or moral principles.
 Example:
- A person might be reluctant to engage in a relationship
because of the fear of committing immoral acts, which
violate moral principles.
Anxiety: Freud identified three (3)
types of anxiety:
3. Neurotic anxiety - the unconscious worry that we will
lose control of the id's urges, resulting in the punishment
of inappropriate behavior.
• Example:
• A person wants to have a thing (phone), but he/she cannot afford to
buy it. He/she feared that if he/she is entirely ruled by the id (pleasure
principle), he/she might find himself/herself grabbing the things that
he/she want out of other people’s hands to satisfy our cravings
Defense mechanism
 Are thoughts to safeguard the mind against feelings and ideas that are too
difficult for the conscious mind to cope with or are thoughts to keep
inappropriate or unwanted thoughts and impulses from entering the
conscious mind.
Sigmund Freud proposed a set of defense mechanisms in one’s body. These
set of defense mechanisms occur to hold a favorable or preferred view of
themselves (Tancangco, 2018). Freud stated that a self must have a
mechanism to defend itself against this adverse event.
Defense mechanism
1. Denial – one of the best-known mechanisms, often used to describe
situations in which a person seems unable to face reality or admit an
obvious truth (the truth of some experience is denied).
2. Displacement - involves taking out our frustrations, feelings, and impulses
on people or objects that are less threatening.
3. Intellectualization allows us to avoid thinking about the stressful,
emotional aspect of the situation and instead focus only on the intellectual
component.
4. Projection – involves taking our unacceptable qualities or feelings and
ascribing them to other people.
Defense mechanism
5. Rationalization - involves explaining an unacceptable behavior or feeling
rationally or logically, avoiding the valid reasons for the action (finding
an acceptable reason for doing something inappropriate). It does not
only prevent anxiety; it may also protect the self – esteem/self – concept.
6. Reaction Formation - an individual hides one instinct from awareness
through the opposite feeling, impulse, or behavior.
7. Regression suggests that people act out behaviors from the stage of
psychosexual development in which they are fixated.
8. Repression - acts to keep information out of conscious awareness (desires
or thoughts are forced back into the unconscious mind, and their existence
is denied). However, these memories don’t just disappear; they continue
to influence our behavior.
Defense mechanism
9. Suppression – consciously forcing the unwanted information out
of our awareness. However, in most cases, this removal of
anxiety-provoking memories from our awareness is believed to
occur unconsciously.
10.Sublimation - allows us to act out unacceptable impulses by
converting these behaviors into a more acceptable form. Freud
believed that sublimation was a sign of maturity that will enable
people to function normally in socially acceptable ways.
Other Defense mechanism
1. Acting Out - the individual copes with stress by engaging in actions
rather than reflecting upon internal feelings.
2. Affiliation - this involves turning to other people for support.
3. Aim Inhibition - the individual accepts a modified form of their original
goal (i.e., becoming a high school basketball coach rather than a
professional athlete.)
4. Altruism - satisfying internal needs through helping others.
5. Avoidance - refusing to deal with or encounter unpleasant objects or
situations.
Other Defense mechanism
6. Compensation - overachieving in one area to compensate for
failures in another.
7. Humor - pointing out the funny or ironic aspects of a situation.
8. Fantasy - avoiding reality by retreating to a safe place within
one's mind.
9. Undoing involves trying to make up for what one feels are
inappropriate thoughts, feelings, or behaviors. If you hurt
someone's feelings, you might offer to do something nice in
them to assuage your anxiety.
BEHAVIORAL
THEORY
Behaviorism is a theory of learning based on
the idea that all behaviors are acquired
through conditioning. Conditioning occurs
through interaction with the environment.
Principles of Learning
• Classical Conditioning
 Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist – focused on the
relationship between stimuli and response.
Classical conditioning is a learning process that occurs
through associations between an environmental stimulus and
a naturally occurring stimulus. It involves forming an
association between two (2) stimuli resulting in a learned
response.
 Principles of Learning
• Operant Conditioning
 Also known as instrumental conditioning – first described by an American behaviorist Burrhus
Frederick Skinner.
Operant conditioning is a method of learning that employs reinforcement (rewards) and
punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a
behavior and a consequence for that behavior. He used the term “operant” to refer to any
“active behavior that operates upon the environment to generate consequences.”
Reinforcement involves adding a reinforcing stimulus (rewards or praise) following a behavior
that makes it more likely that the action will occur again in the future. These types of rewards
can be powerfully motivating, and they should be used sparingly and with caution.
Principles of
Learning
• Observational Learning
• describes learning through watching
others, retaining the information,
and then later replicating the
observed behaviors. They were
sometimes referred to as shaping,
modeling, and vicarious
reinforcement
Social Learning Theory
• Albert Bandura is an influential social cognitive
psychologist.
• He is perhaps best known for his social learning theory,
which suggests that observation and modeling play a
primary role in the learning process. It can have several
real-world applications.
Social Learning Theory: Three (3) Core
Concepts of Social Learning Theory
1. The idea that people can learn through observation (Family
Interaction, Environmental Experiences and Mass Media)
Three basic models of observational learning:
A live model - which involves an actual individual demonstrating
or acting out behavior.
A symbolic model involves real or fictional characters displaying
behaviors in books, films, television programs, or online media.
A verbal instructional model - which involves descriptions and
explanations of behavior.
 Social Learning Theory: Three (3) Core
Concepts of Social Learning Theory
2. The notion that internal mental states are an essential part of the
learning process. Mental state and motivation play an important role in
determining whether a behavior is learned or not. We act without any
obvious external rewards. We simply enjoy an activity or see it as an
opportunity to explore, learn, and actualize our potentials.
Example:
Reading an article because you have an interest, or you want
to know more about a particular topic.
 This emphasis on internal thought and cognitions helps connect
learning theories to cognitive developmental theories.
 Social Learning Theory: Three (3) Core
Concepts of Social Learning Theory
3. This theory recognizes that just because something has been learned, it
does not mean that it will result in a change of behavior. In many cases,
learning can be seen immediately when the new behavior is displayed.
• Example:
teaching a child to ride a bicycle. You can quickly determine if
learning has occurred by having the child ride unassisted in
his/her bike.

 Steps involved in the observational learning and modeling process:

attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation.
Aversion Therapy
• As a general principle, behaviorists argue that because criminal
behavior is learned, it can be unlearned. Also, criminals can learn
prosocial behaviors to replace criminal actions.
• Aversion therapy – One practical application in classical
conditioning. Aversion therapy is used to eliminate the links
between stimuli and troublesome behaviors.
Cognitive Theory
• Cognitive theory is an approach to psychology
that attempts to explain human behavior by
understanding your thought processes. Cognitive
theory assumes that thoughts are the primary
determinants of emotions and behavior.
• Cognition is a term referring to the mental
processes involved in gaining knowledge and
comprehension. These cognitive processes include
thinking, knowing, remembering, judging, and
problem-solving. These are higher-level functions
of the brain and encompass language,
imagination, perception, and planning.
Cognitive Theory: Types of
Cognitive Processes
1. Attention. A cognitive process that allows people to
focus on a specific stimulus in the environment.
2. Language and language development are cognitive
processes that involve understanding and expressing
thoughts through spoken and written words. It allows
us to communicate with others and plays a vital role
in thinking.
3. Learning. Requires cognitive processes involved in
taking in new things, synthesizing information, and
integrating it with prior knowledge.
Cognitive Theory: Types of
Cognitive Processes
4. Memory. An essential cognitive process that allows
people to encode, store, and retrieve information. It is a
critical component in the learning process and will enable
people to retain knowledge about the world and their
personal histories.
5. Perception. A cognitive process allows people to take in
information through their senses (sensation) and then
utilize this information to respond and interact with the
world.

6. Thought. An essential part of every cognitive process. It

allows people to engage in decision-making, problem-
solving, and higher reasoning.
Cognitive Content
• Refers to what people think.

• Criminologists focus on rationalizations or denials (Freud’s defense

mechanism) that support criminal behavior. Theorist refers to such thought
as criminal thinking errors, cognitive distortions, techniques of
neutralization, or stinking, and these terms are illogical and irrational
thoughts that can prompt or support behavior.

• Example: A criminal might rationalize a robbery by thinking, "they have

insurance, and they're not hurting anybody”.
Cognitive structure
• Refers to stable ways of thinking about oneself and the
environment.
• Criminologists discuss cognitive structure as a series of skills
acquired through prior learning and applied consistently o
different situations.
• Example: in a shoulder – bumping incident, a person with high self –
control, empathetic, and anticipates consequences will be less likely to
respond violently
Personality and Crime
• Personality theory outlines possible insights into the
psychological aspects of crime. The basic assumption is that crime
and delinquency are related to the presence of some personality
traits. Personality is broadly defined as the sum of personality
traits that define a person.
• Many aspects of personality may change over time as we grow
older and tends to remain throughout the life course consistently.
Many individuals studying personality want to understand how
a person's personality develops, while others are concerned with
individual personality differences.