Explain how biological explanations of crime have come in and out of favor throughout the years. Why are scholars resistant to biological theories? Describe some specific policy recommendations that could be implemented to address biosocial risk factors of crime.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

While biological explanations were central to the development of the field of criminology, for several decades biological explanations fell out of favor with criminologists. Edwin Sutherland’s sociological approach to explaining crime was credited with “virtually obliterating biological thinking from mainstream criminology.” The biological perspective has made a comeback since the 1980s. While biological theory is returning in a strong way to criminal justice/criminology, criminal justice graduate students receive very little training in this area.
One research team has suggested that a fear of “radical medical interventions” leads some to resist biological explanations of crime. Wright and his colleagues (2008) point to three reasons why criminal justice/criminology scholars are resistant to biological theories:
• Many criminologists hold liberal views about the causes of crime, which stands in stark contrast to attributing the cause of crime to the specific offender’s characteristics.
• Biological theory historically was tied to racist practices including fascism and eugenics, which by default places the biological approach in a negative light.
• Biological theory is viewed as a “dangerous” theory because of a concern that the implications of such an approach would lead to aggressive efforts to control individuals at the expense of constitutional rights.
Specific policy recommendations that could be implemented to address biosocial risk factors of crime include:
• Remove environmental toxins
• Share information across service providers
• Provide parenting classes for all serious felons
• Better training of education of justice professionals
• Continued research into pharmaceutical therapies for behavioral disorder
• Health care, including mental health care, for pregnant women and infants
• Legally mandated intervention for drug-addicted pregnant women
• Flagging at-risk kids in doctor’s offices
• Universal preschool with full developmental evaluations