biological explanation of offending behvaiour

Question 1

what is the historical approach to offending

Answer 1

older explanations tended to be religious
lombroso came up with the atavistic form to challenge this and introduce a more scientific approach

Question 2

what is the atavistic form

Answer 2

criminals are generally more primitive- meaning that he believes criminals are born criminal meaning it is innate and not made.
physical differences may be things such as- heavy brows, small or big ears that srick out, large jaws and long arms

Question 3

what did lombroso state about the physical differences between murders and thieves

Answer 3

thieves= upturned noses
murders=hooked beak nose

Question 4

EVS of the atavistic form & what did goring find

Answer 4

did not use a control group to compare the results he found as it may have been that many people had these characteristics even non criminals.

goring-compared bio measurement of 3000 criminals with 3000 non criminals and found no such thing as a anthropological criminal type

Question 5

evaluation points for lombroso

Answer 5

• his theory is an example of scientific racism as it highlighted features prominent in black people which would have harmed this group
  -cause and effect- we cannot establish cause and effect, this is due to the fact that the negative label of looking like the atavistic form may lead to the self fluffing prophecy.

-led the ideas of biological determinism

Question 6

what is the genetic explanation

Answer 6

specific genes such as the short variant of the maoa gene may lead to aggressive behaviour
this gene regulates a wide range of neurotransmitters and may potentially lead to poorer impulse control

such as diathesis stress

Question 7

support for the biological explanation-rhee

Answer 7

rhee- meta analysis of 51 twin studies and adoption studies sample of over 110,000 people and found that genetics played 41% in anti-social behaviour whereas environmental factors played 59%

Question 8

what is the neural explanation to offending

Answer 8

an imbalance in certain neurotransmitters can lead to crimes.

noradrenaline- can lead to more aggressive behaviours as it is seen in the fight or flight response- naturally higher levels seen in a aggressive person
serotonin- linked to controlling impulsivity low levels can lead to less likely being able to control these urges

dopamine- causes pleasure and linked to drug addiction the need to acquire more of the drug to satisfy these urges can lead to theft

Question 9

what is the neural explanation in terms of neurological structures

Answer 9

reduced limbic structures- emotions like guilt are processed here, psychopaths are thought to have a faulty limbic system leading to the absence of feelings of guilt

frontal cotext - responsible for over riding strong emotional responses- which is under developed in criminals

Question 10

evidence for the biological explanation- brunner, raine

Answer 10

brunner-found the maoa gene in a family in the Netherlands who’s males had a history of impulsive aggression

raine-measured the volume of frontal lobe of those with antisocial personality disorder and those who did not have it and found a 11% reduction of grey matter in those that had apd