,!

Y$c J5o J

PASSACL
1 A revolution an our underslanding of crime is quietly overlhrowing some eslabistled docbif€s.
Unlil recently, criminologists looked for the causes of crime almosl entirely in lh€ ofie{rdecs s.ocj,air
circumstances. There seemed to be oo shortage ol circumslances 10 blame: rrcAker}gd ct!€A{ic
or broken families. ineffective schools, anti-social gangs, poveriy, uneanp,lofst€rlt- T,h€
sociological theory of crime had the unquestioned suppod of prorninenl rned-ra coff{nerifts@.i
politicians and most ihoughtful people.

? Today manv learned jouhars and scholady works draw a ditferent picture. qs*ar!
have'not
have not been abandonedbut
aband6ned\ it is b€coming increasingly clear thal cdme i5 llre ?I]
interaction .between social'randiand certain biological iactors. The idea is still
bioloqical factors. s$U cq(Sd$$iddl
cq hgit
increasingly. to the questioh: criminals bom or made?' lhe answer seeirs lo t# t$O$hi.
rh: "Are c.iminals iI0
Statislic.:, sirow that crime everywhere and throughout history is disproporlignatebr a i!}g&q fiadS
pursuit. Whether men are 20 or more times as likely to be arrested as vrorner\ a* h $lS tSEp n
Malawi or Brunei, or only four to six times as likely, as in lhe US.or France, the qex dtriHtsK* ii'.|
crifi'ie statistics is universal. Similarty, l8-year-olds may somdliryles be tow lilli:s tg *atw b he
criminal as 40-year-olds, while at other times only twice as likely 15

I he nrost compelling evidence of biological factors foa criminality comes from tryo ilrrfies - otre of
irrinaj, lh9 l,thea oI adopted boys- There have L€en about a dozen studies ol crirninatfy usiE
h'/i s The results show that identical twins are more likely to have similaa ctimltEl rscsds than
frater ai lwins- Essentialty, the same results are found in studies ol adopled cfi dIen. 8gfirdf
Mednick. a psychologist at ihe Uliversity of Southem Cali{omra. and hi9 Gsodales in O'e US 8.|d 2o',
Deriniark, have followed a sample ol several thousand bo/a adopt€d h De rafi between tgf,
and lrr 7. nBys with criminal biolqgical parents and non-cdminal. adodirg Fretlts y/e,o .tE e
likely td irave cajminal records than lhose wilh non-cdminal Hologtd Wetns snd crirt@
adopting parents. Thb more crirniEal convictions a bcys natsral p3lenb ha{.\the greater $to .k*
of criminalit-v for boys beinsraised by edopting parents who had no racolds- 26
.
lle olle believes there are 'crime genes" ttut there are two major anributes that h:8ve, to sonx
deoreei an inhedtable base and that appear to in0uen@ c.iminal behavtq"r. fr}t3e *g
inletlig;nce and temperarnent. lf tO and criminality are linked, what may oqfah lhe t{e fiEt
are several possibilities. One is that lolv lQ scores signify greater difiiqrlty in gaasplng [s
*fry
@nsequences of action o. in leaming the meaning end significance ol moral €d€, tiliftA- k s@
that row scores, especially of the verbal component of lhe tests. mean troubb in rr ml, bffi$
to frustralion and then to resentrnent, anqer and delinquency. Slill 3nclher ls lhd pGoob utro rtt
not as skitful as othe.s in expressing lhemselves verbauy may lind it nrorc rctiartfirg b e$resr
themselves in ways in \^hich they will do better, such as physic€l threal or torce-

For some repeat offenders. the predispositioo to giminality inay be ttprg a matter ot &6
temperament than intelligence. lmpulsfueness, insensitivity to social .no(es, a lac* of deep and
enduring emotional attachmentrs lo others and an appetite ir
danger ate among the
'pr' .ticrarr1ental characledstiG of high-rate oflenders. TemF emrDent ls. to a degree. inheriled,
lho,rqh i,ot aS,qluch as intelligence. The main childhood precrrrsoF $ie.e truan61, poor school
pe#ormanee, theft, running avray. recklessness. slovenliness, impulsiveness and guiltlessness. 40
The more symptoms in childhood, the greater the risk of deviant behaviour in adulthood.

6 li will take yEars lo unravel the complex and subtle ways in which intelligence. ternpeiatrEn!
iioiironal le./els and other traits combine with family circumstances and latet experiencss ;l
ScJrarol and elsewhere to produce human character.

Adaptod ,tDm t{YT

''lrgrnrrlr
PASSAGE R

The p.ocess of sociarization is inrimalely connected wiih disciprine and w{h tle
preyaililg among the.peopte around you. lf detinquency is pres"nirou"aG staftdards
you. a.e very st.ongly fodified against it, you lend to adapl yoursetf J,oi,lrdi.i[.H
!o it. lr*r*4, il;;;
backgrolhd ol de,inquency is not confined to the neighbourhfu in wnicfr ypu pve.
lhe sociely_ as a whole. and we may ask whether tiere are any teatuei? o{r( societv ltt" lu *t i,
wtrr.h
make keeping the rules difficult. Are there any pressures on cerlain seri5o.rs;
which lead,them to behave in an illegal way or m;ke it ditficutt for U*rn !" l".p
S;H-|T*
narrow path? \\
;6.;G;ffi
2 orls manase lo keep rhe rures, bul an increasing rxJrnber o{ w db rrp(
rve P:
ll.: ln a l11T::]
socrely tn which lhe social controls which can operate in srBa&acde gm![I&io
**
we
pretty well absent. ll is more and more an anonymous .oclety in *trL*, pcoele-I#
eye on one anotber as they do in a communlty in which the relatio"sn,ps aie,iucfl-Al#oe.L
I
and face-lo-face. .This means that the sociat controts are weat"r. A"lidGe -#;;dffi]il r

$e$,
considerable agreement about the basic rutes. an ag.eement shared by d"ti;]t#"m#&;;
there is considelable disagreement about moral bsu;s.

in.which.rhere is comptere homogeneiry of morat slandards, I ir

iJfl ]:::-ll:lor:.,"1"y
Irno excuses ffiqr$ !e
deviant behaviour. ln our socjety lhis is not lh€ case. Vou nrav sfeat sornCiiinr,
out of brevado, because you want it, or for some other,"".o*, ; ffi;;?Ht
:j1l:1lll"I:l l.ass ot conscience, but lhe tact lhat you
".,0,*
it; they.ve gor too much in any case.. The faa tha yor irsdy }||9; efl
InoErtes a tatnt twinge can tind .o.n" *ay ot;isiX*g F;
action rneans that iour sense ofguilt is assuaged.

According to ttie.Ame.ican criminologist. Cohen, nseless crtnes ot qe\tiuctian

outtaged ind&aatiqLo{yo_ungpeople at their low sociai staha. to his vid\x sley trrm
dlF lo SE
standards up;ide;o\,r&.' ttre-miodte ctasses vaiije property and
lo th3t is to destroy propsrty aod behave violentty. This exfierne IlaS
by.other Am€rican criminologists, who say thai young delimuenb do not
oenavrour, tet atone regard it as wrong. They poinf od lhat definquerd b(
an4 as I said befo.e, lusrincaton impiies a ritrir h"rtg. .a;;;;;];. A;L*
there does seem a good deat in lhe argument that the Jeviant yot rg b;.illcd gt,
"re
But wlat makes a boy delinquent in the first place? Two other Arnerican todohbi3, (bfrndt
and Ohlin. telt that the pressures of delinquency simpty stam !!om ltre;;;;"[;Eff
success in America, without too much regard to how tho money b acquirec. ij"i;ilt$
tor ey€mpte, rnake their pile out of i egal gambting, O;rgs. anJ vice, redlE tO
l**"ry, Sr9
60 qr. h r sor&[*
suourDs. and tead respeciable lives as invesiors in rcal estate. industry, and
',rhicfi values wealth as an gnd in itself, irrespective of its soiJr.e, in *t i"f, f|g'pocciffiT
:,::lI: ll]Yl! g-r,":.llee of hish.starus, one can see rh€ attfaction
out frorn the slum. partic larty for minority groups in Amedca wfo
,i"; Chrffi*;#
"f
"*n-be.'ffi;;&ffi
mrough. cgnventional channels ofschooland worft. An explosion of rtestrrrgiw
crHu; b f:cfir}
:rj919t'-!:!:!1, croward arrd ohtin.s theory .ppries itn speciair#t-ilt#ffi1fi
America's big metropolitan cities, but it could have relevance elsewtrere_

Adrpl.d ftorn r,'a (,af.rrt

'l
NYJC 2001

Read Passage A and then answer the following questions below.

1. From Paragraph 1, identify and lift one word which suggesls that there is a sudden
change in perceptjon towards causes of crime. ['1]

2. From Paragraph 2, in your own words as far as possible, expiain what the change
is. [1]

3.With reference to Paragraph 3, what was the conclusion drawn based on the
studies done on twins and adopted boys? Explain in your own words as far as
possible. [2]

4 From Paragraph 5, in your own words as far as possible, identify the differeni
temperamenis that may induce criminality. I4l

Read Passage B and then answer lhe questions below.

5. Explain in your own words the following phrases:

(a) "anonymous society" (line 11) [2]
(b) "faint twinge of conscience" (line 20) [2]

6. Give the meaning of each of the following words as they are used in the passage
You nrary write the answer in a word or a short phrase. [51
(a) intimately (line 1)
(b) prevailing (line 2)
(c) indignation (line 23)
(d) deprecate (line 24)
(e) c.NVentionai (line 3B)

7. ln your own words, summarise the differing iheories put fcr,vard by criminologist
Cohen and sociologists Cloward and Ohlin. Use the materials from Paragraphs 4 to 5
and write in no more than 140 words. i10l