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Despite major advances in understanding the biological basis of human behaviour, the most popular theories of criminal behaviour remain restricted to those that consider only learning and social environmental variables. All of these strictly environmental theories have difficulty explaining why neurological, hormonal, and other biological factors w...
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... the testes have developed, they produce substantial quantities of testos- terone along with other 'male hormones', collectively called androgens. As shown in Figure 1, females also produce testosterone, but males produce it Ellis Biological correlates of criminality in larger quantities. The quantities produced vary considerably throughout the life of both sexes. ...
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... quantities produced vary considerably throughout the life of both sexes. Figure 1 shows testosterone production occurring in two distinct phases, particularly in the case of males: the organizational (or perinatal) phase and the activational (or postpubertal) phase. Experiments with laboratory animals have shown that testosterone affects brain functioning throughout life, although the most permanent and irreversible effects occur perinatally (Thornton and Goy 1986;Compaan et al. 1993). ...
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... shown in Figure 1, large quantities of testosterone and other androgens are produced by the male testes beginning with the onset of puberty. At that point, androgens flood the brain, thereby activating male features built into the brain during foetal development. ...
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... conclusion is not predicted by any environmental theory of criminal behaviour but is quite consistent with ENA theory. Because male testoster- one levels are vastly greater than those of females (see Figure 1), ENA theory's assertion that brain exposure to testosterone is responsible for much of the universal sex difference in criminality is also consistent with the findings regarding intra-male variations in this hormone. ...
Citations
... Three different age groups of children (age 6, age 9, and age 12) were surveyed between 2010 and 2016 (seven waves). For the study, the data of the age 9 panel group is analyzed given that young people tend to exhibit delinquent behavior in their early to mid-teens 14 to 18 (see Shulman et al., 2013) and more strain is expected during the time of puberty (see Ellis, 2005). More specifically, this study analyzes data from Wave 3 to Wave 7 of the age 9 panel group (participants enroll in elementary school in Wave 3 and proceeded to high school in Wave 7) due to the limitation in the measurements for major variables of interests (i.e., academic performance). ...
While many studies suggest that poor academic performance predicts delinquency, others have argued that the relationship between academic performance and delinquency can be marginal, null, or even spurious. This study examines the relationship between academic performance and delinquent behavior among Korean youth within the general strain framework, utilizing data from the Korean Child and Youth Panel Survey. Using a sample of 2,378 students from 95 randomly selected schools in Korea, the KCYP survey examined students’ perceptions and experiences regarding relationships with parents, teachers, and peers, as well as their engagement in various delinquent behaviors. Group-based trajectory modeling identified two academic trajectory groups: consistently low academic grades and declining academic performance. Two dichotomous variables representing these academic trajectory groups were included in the negative binomial regression models. After accounting for the effects of other strain-related and social/self-control variables, the effects of low academic performance on delinquent behavior become spurious while a decline in academic performance is a consistent predictor of delinquent behavior across all models.
... Central to the emergence of this shift is the role of testosterone, thought to be impactful in both the formation of sexual identity early in development and the regulation of behavior later in the life course (Book et al., 2001;Ellis, 2005). Drawing on this perspective, one may expect that rates of crime should be lower for gay males and higher for lesbians, a prediction with some support (Beaver et al., 2016;Ellis et al., 1990;Johnson et al., 2019;Pinhey & Brown, 2005). ...
Sexual minority groups experience elevated risk across a range of adverse outcomes. Previous studies from the USA showed that these risks include contact with the criminal justice system for sexual minority females but not for males. This study examined whether this relationship between sexual minority status and criminal behavior was also found in a more secular country like the Netherlands with more progressive attitudes toward sexual minorities. Furthermore, the study aimed to examine whether this relationship applied to various types of crime and could be explained by unmeasured familial factors. Longitudinal data from the Dutch national population, including 75,362 individuals in a same-sex relationship and 3,464,906 individuals in opposite-sex relationships, were used to compare the risk of crime among males and females in same-sex and opposite-sex unions. Discordant sibling models were included to increase control over possible sources of confounding from shared familial factors. Analyses were repeated for six types of crime, including property offenses, violence, vandalism, and public order offenses, traffic offenses, drugs offenses, and other offenses. The results showed that the direction of the associations between same-sex relationships and offending differed for men and women. In general, men in same-sex relationships were less likely to be a suspect of crime compared to those in opposite-sex relationships [odds ratio (OR) = 0.685; p < .001]. Women in same-sex relationships exhibited higher risk than those in opposite-sex unions (OR = 1.560; p < .001). Similar patterns emerged for most crime types and the discordant sibling models yielded conclusions that were substantively similar to those among the total population.
... While these claims were challenged (Roseman, 2018) and taxed to bring the discipline back to the nineteen century (Carrier & Walby, 2015), the proponents of the biological approach in criminology maintained that, contrary to their critics and the founders of the discipline, they have embraced the cutting-edge and nuanced understanding of biology (Beaver et al., 2015). As such, their heritability studies integrate both the known biological and social explanatory factors, as well as the interaction between the two sets of factors (Ellis, 2005). Hence, the claim of these scientists to unite the discipline under one roof that they label "biosocial criminology" (Rocque & Posick, 2017). ...
... В начале ХХI века американским ученым Л. Эллисом была предложена так называемая эволюционная нейроандрогенная теория, объясняющая связь агрессивного поведения с уровнем мужского полового гормона -тестостерона. [24,25]. Рост преступности в период полового созревания мужчин данная теория объясняет с позиций эволюционизма -как необходимость внутривидовой борьбы за обладание женщиной с целью получения наиболее жизнеспособного потомства. ...
Aim to analyze the transformation of criminologists' approach to the biology of a criminal, to highlight the achievements of physiological, genetic, endocrinological, neurobiological, biochemical, ethological research in this area, to study the dynamics of the scientific views on the role of biological factors in the etiology of criminal behavior, to give a dialectic assessment of the development of the described scientific paradigm. Results. The article provides an overview of research in the field of biological criminology. The results of physiological, psychological, genetic, neurobiological, biochemical, endocrinological, ethological studies are described. The role of the positivist school of criminology is evaluated as negative for the harmful consequences of their activities. It is shown that its provisions became the starting point for the development of social Darwinism, eugenics, the ideology of fascism, racial theory, the organization of national, racial and ethnic genocide. Conclusion. The most promising and most effective is a comprehensive, multifactorial approach to the problem of criminal behavior with mathematical modelling and artificial intelligence technologies.
... В начале ХХI века американским ученым Л. Эллисом была предложена так называемая эволюционная нейроандрогенная теория, объясняющая связь агрессивного поведения с уровнем мужского полового гормона -тестостерона. [24,25]. Рост преступности в период полового созревания мужчин данная теория объясняет с позиций эволюционизма -как необходимость внутривидовой борьбы за обладание женщиной с целью получения наиболее жизнеспособного потомства. ...
Aim to analyze the transformation of criminologists' approach to the biology of a criminal, to highlight the achievements of physiological, genetic, endocrinological, neurobiological, biochemical, ethological research in this area, to study the dynamics of the scientific views on the role of biological factors in the etiology of criminal behavior, to give a dialectic assessment of the development of the described scientific paradigm. Results. The article provides an overview of research in the field of biological criminology. The results of physiological, psychological, genetic, neurobiological, biochemical, endocrinological, ethological studies are described. The role of the positivist school of criminology is evaluated as negative for the harmful consequences of their activities. It is shown that its provisions became the starting point for the development of social Darwinism, eugenics, the ideology of fascism, racial theory, the organization of national, racial and ethnic genocide. Conclusion. The most promising and most effective is a comprehensive, multifactorial approach to the problem of criminal behavior with mathematical modelling and artificial intelligence technologies.
... This is demonstrated by the "roid fury" phenomenon, which affects bodybuilders who use performance enhancing drugs and display severe and uncontrollable violence. Similar observations highlight the significance of hormonal influences on criminal behavior, as does study on stress hormones that links, for instance, low levels of serum cortisol with persistent and severe violence (Ellis, L. 2005). ...
... Therefore, it is wise for the courts to proceed cautiously when determining guilt. As technology and behavioral science and research develop, it is conceivable that the significant portion of evidence will eventually persuade (Ellis, L. 2005). ...
Criminal activity has been in society for as much as there has been mankind. Socioeconomic and sociocultural criminogenic factors both contribute to crime. The research of subcultures frequently replaces the study of criminals as a social type. The research on crime and the study of conduct are not synonymous. Attempts to discover the basic differences between crime and non-crime, considered as behavior, and between criminals and non-criminals, considered as different types of individuals, have yielded evidence that seems to undermine the very assumption upon which such attempts have been founded. The belief that there is a fundamental distinction between criminal and non-criminal activity is dubious.The majority of crimes go unreported and unrecorded. Any sample of presumed non-criminals is questionable due to research on self-reported offenses accessible to public and private groups but not the police, white collar crime, and factors connected to differential reported crime.The percentages are comparatively high for lower middle class, minority group, youthful, male, itinerant, and urban populations for the majority of offending categories. It is debatable if variances in behavior among various groups of individuals account for discrepancies in crime rates. Criminology may look into whether laws penalize actions that are typical of those with less authority but not those with more power. People progressively pick up the fundamentals of illegal behavior and disdain the law more and more. When someone is officially assigned to a certain delinquent stigma, they start to identify with the appropriate social group and act accordingly. The qualitative research methodology has been applied tothe following article.
... According to the evolutionary neuroandrogenic theory, men developed a distinct inclination towards competitive and victimizing behaviours as a consequence of sexual selection pressures and the female-driven mating bias towards status-striving 'dominant' mates. Additionally, it is also argued that these evolutionary pressures predispose men to use deceptive or forceful copulation tactics (Ellis, 1989), with rape apparently being especially common among men with poor chances of becoming stable providers of resources (Ellis, 2005). ...
... The Y chromosome present in the biologically male has been implicated as an underlying component of competitive, victimizing, and/or aggressive behaviours (Ellis, 2005). Men with an extra Y chromosome have been speculated to be 'hypermasculine' and more aggressive, with higher testosterone levels, and an increased likelihood to commit violent crimes than XY chromosome men (Jacobs et al., 1965). ...
This chapter will try to understand the intricacies of mob psychology. Mob control is one of the most difficult tasks which law enforcement agencies have to perform as it is a big challenge to control a mob or crowd without violating human rights. It is imperative that the law enforcement agencies study about the psychology of the crowd; else it will not be possible to control the crowd effectively by only wielding force. This chapter will discuss the various theories regarding crowd/mob behaviour, supplemented by case examples. The aim of this chapter is to help the readers understand the causes behind mob behaviour. Understanding mob psychology can help law enforcement agencies and mediators to observe and communicate with a mob in an appropriate manner. Mob psychology can help in the identification of leaders and rational people among the mob, facilitating effective communication, diversion, and cooperation with the mob. This chapter will attempt to unfold the intricacies of mob psychology which, in turn, will help the readers to understand why mob behaves in a particular manner and how they can be controlled in an effective manner.
... It is well-established that the prevalence of delinquency and criminal behavior in Western societies peaks in the late teens and then declines thereafter (Piquero, Farrington, & Blumstein, 2007). Also well-established is the fact that males are far more likely than females to commit crimes that harm others (Ellis, 2005). Associations between age, gender, and the Dark Triad traits follow these trends, showing an increase in the late teen and early adult years, followed by a decline, with males showing a higher level of Dark Triad traits than females (Klimstra, Jeronimus, Sijtsema, & Denissen, 2020). ...
Paradoxically, villainous characters in film, literature, and video games can be very popular. Previous research in the traditions of cognitive media theory and affective disposition theory has assumed that villainous characters can inspire positive engagement only when audiences discount the villains’ immorality by focusing on positive traits or mitigating circumstances. Challenging this assumption, we argue that audiences with a conventionally immoral personality profile may come to engage positively with villainous characters because they share the villains’ immoral outlook to some significant degree. We find robust support for this hypothesis in a North American sample (N = 1805) by comparing respondents’ survey scores on the Dark Triad of personality traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy) with their professed degrees of villain sympathy, identification, fascination, empathy, and enjoyment. We reject a competing hypothesis that such positive forms of engagement with villainous characters will be best predicted by respondents’ agentic values, such as autonomy and competence. Our results support a need to consider personality as a basic determinant of character preferences.
... Wilson (1975) argued that people are biosocial organisms whose behaviours are influenced by both their physical characteristics and environmental conditions. Modern biosocial theorists believe that physical, ecological and social conditions interact in complex ways to produce human behaviour (see Englander 2007;Ellis 2005;Fischbein 2001;Yaralian and Raine 2001). ...
Many low and middle-income countries have either implemented or
considered conditional or unconditional cash transfers to poor
households as a means of alleviating poverty. Evidence from pilot
schemes in many developed and developing economies, including those
in Africa, suggests that cash transfers do not only alleviate poverty; they
also promote social cohesion and reduce the propensity for violent
responses. For example, studies have shown a direct impact of cash
transfers on Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). In some studies, the rate of
IPV (including emotional violence) was significantly reduced when one
of the partners was a beneficiary of cash transfer. However, there are
limited studies on the potential of Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs)
for stemming gang violence. Our study contributes to filling this gap. We
examine here the possibilities of conditional cash transfers for stemming
intractable gang-related violence in the Cape Flats.
... Posljednje desetljeće karakterizira porast interesa za različite bihevioralne poteškoće u djetinjstvu i adolescenciji. Istraživanja pokazuju da razina pobuđenosti diskriminira djecu bez i s različitim internaliziranim i eksternaliziranim poteškoćama (Boyce i sur., 2001;Bauer i sur., 2002;Ellis, 2005). Koristeći različite mjere, nađena je povezanost između niske razine pobuđenosti i antisocijalnog ponašanja kod starijih adolescenata (Raine, Venables i Wiliams, 1990;Coren, 1999). ...
The chapter describes the Belief in an Unjust World Scale (Cubela Adoric, 1999), including the results of its validation in 10 studies with participants from Croatian population.
