Biological Causes of Crime: Brain Injury

Question 1

What is the prefrontal cortex responsible for?

Answer 1

• Planning
• Personality
• Self-control
• Knowing right form wrong

Question 2

If the prefrontal cortex becomes damaged, how may this lead to criminality?

Answer 2

• Change in personality can lead to aggression
• Lack of self-control may lead to impulsive behaviour and so committing crimes
• Not knowing right from wrong may lead to skewed perception of certain crimes being wrong

Question 3

What is the hypothalamus responsible for?

Answer 3

• Regulation temperature

- Hormone control

Question 4

If the hypothalamus becomes damaged, how may this lead to criminality?

Answer 4

• Increase in temperature could cause irritation due to being too warm and so may lead to aggression
• Imbalanced hormones could lead to outbursts leading to committing crimes

Question 5

What is the amygdala responsible for?

Answer 5

• Perception of emotions

- Stores memories so we can learn how to respond in the future

Question 6

If the amygdala becomes damaged, how may this lead to criminality?

Answer 6

• Damage can cause lack of fear due to reduced autonomic arousal and so lack of fear of consequences for causing crime
• Can also cause dysfunction in perception of emotions and so may react wrongly to something such as aggression

Question 7

Why might young people be more at risk of a traumatic brain injury?

Answer 7

Children are more active and so their likelihood of an accidental injury increases.

Question 8

Why might men be more at risk of a traumatic brain injury than women?

Answer 8

Men do particularly more dangerous things, such as manual jobs.

Question 9

Using the acronym ‘EACH’, evaluate 2 ‘evidence’ points.

Answer 9

P - Charles Whitman supports
E - Suffered from a tumor pressed against amygdala and shot 16 people including himself
E - This demonstrates how brain damage can lead to criminal behaviour
P - Williams et al (2010) supports
E - Found that 60% of 196 prisoners recently suffered brain injury
E - Over half who committed crimes had brain injury, showing it can lead to criminal behaviour

Question 10

Using the acronym ‘EACH’, evaluate 2 ‘how’ points.

Answer 10

P - High validity
E - Case studies used brain scanning techniques
E - Highly scientific and objective and in controlled environments to limit EVs
P - Use of case studies
E - Due to using correlational data behaviour prior to the brain injury is assumed to be different
E - Therefore cannot infer cause and effect between brain injury causing criminality

Question 11

Are there any applications?

Answer 11

P - Yes
E - It says that injury to the brain can lead to criminal behaviour
E - And so when sentencing a criminal they may reconsider sentencing due to not being fully accountable

Question 12

Using the acronym ‘EACH’, evaluate 2 ‘criticisms’ points.

Answer 12

P - Reductionist
E - James Fallon wrongly identified his own brain as psychopathic using MRI scans
E - This shows that it is possible to have brain differences without behaviour therefore showing cannot be sure brain damage links to criminality
P - Deterministic
E - It says that criminal behaviour is due to brain injury and so reducing our free will
E - It doesn’t take into account the fact that people have the ability to think for themselves