AC 4.1 - biological Flashcards
drug treatment - antabuse
Used in aversion treatment to help treat alcoholism.
Stops the body breaking down alcohol and causes an immediate hangover effect, even with only a small amount of alcohol.
drug treatment - methadone
Used to treat heroin users.
This stops withdrawal symptoms and is legal.
Thought to reduce crime.
Fake heroin drug
drug treatment - stilbestrol
Chemical castration - female hormone.
Used in prisons to treat male sex offenders.
Suppresses testosterone to reduce sex drive.
May have side effects such as feminisation and breast development.
drug treatment - tranquillisers
Used to keep troublesome prisoners calm.
E.g., valium
drug treatment -vivatrol
Injection given once a month.
Treatment for opiate or alcohol addiction.
Opiates - blocks opiate receptors so they have no effect and helps psychological cravings.
Alcohol - doesn’t block anything but helps with cravings.
neurochemicals and diet - research
Being hungry can make you irritable.
Omega 3 (fish oil) links to lowering aggression levels.
Gesch et al found that prisoners given daily vitamins had a decrease in violent behaviour.
Vitamin B3 has been used to treat schizophrenia.
Virkkunen et al found violent offenders had lower levels of serotonin so c an be treated with a serotonin diet e.g., fresh tuna and salmon.
There are studies to show a link between a high sugar diet and high levels of aggression.
Hyperactivity control - removing foods containing colourings from children’s diet as hyperactivity is linked to antisocial behaviour that can lead to criminality.
neurochemicals and diet - neurochemicals
Neurochemicals have been used to prevent other behaviours in sex offenders.
In 2012 HMP Wharton did a pilot study of chemical castrations for sex offenders.
Volunteers were given a pill to prevent and reduce their sex drive - it had positive effects on them.
surgery - surgical castration
Has had mixed results.
Carried out in the USA and Denmark.
Used for sex offenders to attempt to change their behaviour.
surgery - lobotomy
Cutting frontal lobes of the brain and the thalamus.
Very few have been performed due to the huge side effects.
Has been used to treat paranoid schizophrenics and also sexually/violently motivated criminals.
crowd control and public order offences
Control groups by using chemicals.
e.g., tear gas
Causes uncomfortable or distressing sensations and can also result in vomiting, breathing issues, disorientation and death.
eugenics
The study of how to arrange reproduction within a human population to increase the occurrence of heritable characteristics regarded as desirable.
Causes biological determinism - a persons personality/behaviour is caused by the genes they have rather than social reasons.
eugenics - Nazi sterilisation programme
To keep the Aryan race pure, many groups were prevented from reproducing.
Sterilised people with mental/physical disabilities and those who hereditary diseases was made legal in 1934.
Children of german mothers and french african soldiers were sterilised at the end of WW1.
360,000 sterilisations occurred
eugenics - in the Uk
Hasn’t had a large impact on UK policy.
Unlikely due to the moral and ethical nature.
Some say policies linked to biological theories deprive people of their human rights - regardless of the crime they have committed.
However in 2015 a judge allowed a mother of 6 with learning difficulties to be forcefully sterilised.
Death penalty
Considered to be the most extreme biologically driven policy.
Death penalty in Britain was abolished for murder in 1969 but it took many years before it was abolished for all crimes.
Last executions took place in 1964 in the UK.
death penalty - around the world
Many places still have the death penalty - one of the biggest is the USA (not in every state).
States that don’t have the death penalty have lower murder rates.
This suggests that the death penalty is not a deterrent at all.
