What are the shortcomings of biological theories of criminal behavior? Why have biological approaches to crime causation encountered stiff criticism?
What will be an ideal response?
Many biological and biosocial theories have been criticized because they fail to predict criminality while purporting to understand its causes.
Biosocial theories can be criticized in a number of ways. These include:
• Methodological problems, such as the use of small and unrepresentative samples
• Difficulty in generalizing findings to other settings
• Difficulty in drawing definitive conclusions from small samples studied under unique conditions
• The failure of theories to explain regional and temporal variations in crime rates
• The inability of theories to explain why certain kinds of crime are more likely to occur in certain parts of the country, in particular types of communities, and among members of specific subcultures rather than in others
Some biosocial criminologists have been accused of racial and class bias for failing to explain why a disproportionate number of certain kinds of crime are committed by poor people and by racial and ethnic minorities.
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