Abstract
Two predictions concerning the perceived severity of crimes can be derived from evolutionary theory. The first, arising from the theory of inclusive fitness, is that crimes in general should be viewed as more serious to the degree that the victim is genetically related to the perpetrator. The second, arising from the deleterious effects of inbreeding depression, is that heterosexual sexual coercion should be perceived as more serious the closer the genetic relationship of victim and perpetrator, particularly when the victim is a female of fertile age. Two hundred and thirty university students estimated the magnitude of the severity of brief crime descriptions in three separate studies. In the first two, the biological kinship of victim and perpetrator was varied, and in the third, the hypothetical genetic relatedness of the subject and the fictitious victim was varied. All three studies found the linear relationships between biological kinship and perceived crime severity predicted by theory.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
References
Akman, D. D., and A. Normandeau 1967 The Measurement of Crime and Delinquency in Canada. British Journal of Criminology 7:129–149.
Bateson, P. 1983 Optimal Outbreeding. In Mate Choice, P. Bateson, ed. Pp. 257–277. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Buss, D. M. 1995 Evolutionary Psychology: A New Paradigm for Psychological Science. Psychological Inquiry 6:1–30.
Cheney, D. L., and R. M. Seyfarth 1990 How Monkeys See the World: Inside the Mind of Another Species. Chicago: University Press.
Cosmides, L., and J. Tooby 1992 Cognitive Adaptations for Social Exchange. In The Adapted Mind, J. Barkow, L. Cosmides, and J. Tooby, eds. Pp. 163–228. New York: Oxford University Press.
Daly, M., and M. Wilson 1982 Homicide and Kinship. American Anthropologist 84:372–378.
1988a Homicide. New York: Aldine.
1988b Evolutionary Social Psychology and Family Homicide. Science 242:519–524.
Dawkins, R. 1989 The Selfish Gene. London: Palladin.
Engen, T. 1971 Psychophysics. 2: Scaling methods. In Experimental Psychology, third ed., J. W. Kling and L. A. Riggs, eds. Pp. 47–86. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
Gigerenzer, G., and K. Hug 1992 Domain-specific Reasoning: Social Contracts, Cheating, and Perspective Change. Cognition 43:127–171.
Hamilton, W. D. 1964 The Genetical Evolution of Social Behaviour. Journal of Theoretical Biology 7:1–52.
Leavitt, G. C. 1990 Sociobiological Explanations of Incest Avoidance: A Critical Review of Evidential Claims. American Anthropologist 92:971–993.
Pusey, A. 1990 Mechanisms of Inbreeding Avoidance in Nonhuman Primates. In Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions, J. R. Feierman, ed. Pp. 201–221. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Rushton, J. P. 1989 Genetic Similarity, Human Altruism, and Group Selection. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 12:503–559.
Shepher, J. 1983 Incest: A Biosocial View. New York: Academic Press.
Shields, W. M., and L. M. Shields 1983 Forcible Rape: An Evolutionary Perspective. Ethology and Sociobiology 4:115–136.
Thiessen, D., and B. Gregg 1979 Human Assortative Mating and Genetic Equilibrium: An Evolutionary Perspective. Ethology and Sociobiology 1:141–150.
Thornhill, N. W. 1991 An Evolutionary Analysis of Rules Regulating Human Inbreeding and Marriage. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 14:247–293.
van den Berghe, P. L. 1983 Human Inbreeding Avoidance: Culture in Nature. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 6:91–123.
Wolfgang, M. E., R. M. Figlio, P. E. Tracy, and S. I. Singer 1985 The National Survey of Crime Severity. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
The first and second studies are based upon the third and fourth authors’ Honour’s theses conducted at Queen’s University. The third study was supported by a Research Fellowship awarded by the Correctional Service of Canada to the second author. This research also was partially supported by a contract between the first author and the Kingston Psychiatric Hospital.
Vern Quinsey received his Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1970. He was first a psychologist and later Director of Research at the maximum security Oak Ridge Division of the Mental Health Centre in Penetanguishene, Ontario. In 1988, he moved to Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, where he is a professor of psychology and psychiatry and associated with the forensic/correctional areas of both departments.
Martin Lalumière obtained his M.Ps. (1990) from the Université de Montréal and his Ph.D. (1995) from Queen’s University. He is an assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto and a research psychologist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. His research interests include sexual aggression, sexual deviance, psychopathy, developmental instability, birth order, and mating strategies.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Quinsey, V.L., Lalumière, M.L., Querée, M. et al. Perceived crime severity and biological kinship. Hum Nat 10, 399–414 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-999-1009-6
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12110-999-1009-6