Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword by Marvin E. Wolfgang
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Biological and environmental influences on crime
- 2 Violent criminals as children and as adults
- 3 Intelligence and crime
- 4 Biological and environmental predictors of crime
- 5 Case studies of violent and career criminals
- 6 Biology and responsibility
- Appendix: Selection and distribution of Biosocial Project variables
- References
- Author index
- Subject index
3 - Intelligence and crime
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 August 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword by Marvin E. Wolfgang
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 Biological and environmental influences on crime
- 2 Violent criminals as children and as adults
- 3 Intelligence and crime
- 4 Biological and environmental predictors of crime
- 5 Case studies of violent and career criminals
- 6 Biology and responsibility
- Appendix: Selection and distribution of Biosocial Project variables
- References
- Author index
- Subject index
Summary
Do criminals have lower tested intelligence than noncriminals? A substantial literature suggests that they do (see chapter 1). Despite the magnitude of research on the topic, however, the nature and extent of the intelligence–crime link are not entirely clear. Indeed, most studies have not incorporated enough different measures at varying points in time to draw definite conclusions. Nor have most studies examined intelligence with other predictors of crime, such as early CNS development, socioeconomic status, or family factors.
The dearth of reliable research on intelligence, and on crime in particular, is attributable in part to the argument that intelligence is not a significant predictor of delinquency when controlling for important intervening factors, such as socioeonomic status. However, a number of the studies mentioned in chapter 1 showed that the link between intelligence and crime remains even when socioeconomic status is controlled. Conflicting conclusions about the intelligence–crime relationship are further clouded by claims that intelligence test scores, which, for the most part, have been standardized with white, middle-class children, do not adequately reflect the abilities of minorities or those from lower socioeconomic levels (see the section on intelligence tests in the Appendix). Such claims are not entirely relevant, however, in studies of children who are of the same race and socioeconomic background.
Determining exactly what intelligence tests measure is more difficult to pinpoint than determining how strongly the tests relate to other factors.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Biology and ViolenceFrom Birth to Adulthood, pp. 48 - 69Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1990