Linking Body Type and Criminal Behavior

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Many researchers have tried to address the issue of crime, and more specifically criminal behavior. One factor, which causes much debate, is whether body type directly affects criminal behavior. Is it possible to determine who will be a criminal simply by examination of a person’s body type? Researchers like William Sheldon, Sean Maddan, Jeffrey T. Wlaker, and J. Mitchell Miller believe that there is a link between criminality and body type. Others like Chris L. Gibson and Kevin M. Beaver believe otherwise. They support the notion that both biological and social factors cause criminal behavior. Furthermore, they disagree with research that attributes criminal behavior as a product of certain body types. Gibson and Beaver only viewed the factor of body type as a predisposition that gets triggered by the environment (Kelly, 2010, Lecture Unit 1). There are contemporary researchers, like Madden, Walker and Miller, whom are trying to validate the direct relation between body type and criminal behavior. Of course, this debate pertaining to body type stems from earlier research.

The research done about not only physical traits but sociological ones are all involved with the positivism perspective. This method “relies on the scientific method, quantifying and measuring behavior and social conditions associated with behavior” (Conklin, 2007). Cesare Lombroso became a huge influence of the positivist approach. He studied the skulls of criminal’s, which led him to develop his theory of atavisms, or what he called “people out of time” (Conklin, 2007, P. 106). This theory suggested that there are individuals that are biologically more primitive than other humans. Furthermore, suggested that there was the possibility of people r...

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...nents will make researching a bit more complicated, in the long run it will address many of the factors that need to be reviewed. Other components need to be used to truly determine if body type does identify criminal behavior more directly. Ultimately, it is as Gibson and Beaver suggested studies have yet to meet standards that would address many of the important factors that could be attributed to criminal behavior.

References

Conklin, J.E., Criminology, 10th edition, Boston: Pearson Education, Inc. 2007.

Hickey, T.J., Taking Sides: Clashing Views in Crime and Criminology, 9th Edition, New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 2010

Kelly, C.T., Unit 1: Lecture, University of Everest Online, 12 July 2010.

Thompson, W. E. and Bynum J. E. (2010). Juvenile Delinquency: A sociological Approach Eighth Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

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