Criminology | SECTION 4

Fundamentals of Criminology by Adam J. McKee

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BIOLOGICAL THEORIES OF CRIME

Criminological theories stemming from biology and related fields such as medicine enjoyed a period of high regard starting in the late 1800s.  The basic assumption of these various early biological theories was that crime was not a result of a rational thinking, but rather it was a result of inborn abnormalities in the criminal.  The role of science during this period was to uncover what abnormalities were responsible for what types of criminal behavior.  These 19th-century criminologists were called positivists because they used the scientific method and empirical data to facilitate their theorization.

Modification History

File Created:  08/04/2018

Last Modified:  08/13/2018

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This work is licensed under an Open Educational Resource-Quality Master Source (OER-QMS) License.

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