Biological explanations of crime and anti-social behaviour Flashcards
What are the 5 biological explanations of crime?
-brain injury
-amygdala and aggression
-XYY syndrome
-Eyseneck personality
-gender
What is the function of the amygdala?
-it processes emotions and fear learning
-the fight and flight response taken from the thalamus
-reward processing
What is the function of the amygdala when it is associated with damage?
-leads to aggression
-irritability
-loss of emotional control
-disruption of short term memory
-deficits in recognising emotions
-inappropriate emotional responses
What is the left side of the amygdalas role?
-associated with both positive and negative emotional responses
-understanding emotions with reward and punishment
-women generally have an enhanced left side of the amygdala, meaning they think more and act less, so are less physically aggressive
What is the right side of the amygdalas role?
-strongly associated with negative emotions e.g fear and anger
-aggressiveness
-sexual desire
-facial recognition in emotions
-men generally have an enhanced right side of the amygdala, leading to more action and more physical aggression
Describe and explain the amygdalas relationship with the prefrontal cortex
-a healthy persons prefrontal cortex regulates and controls the amygdala
-a damaged prefrontal cortex however can’t regulate emotions, therefore may cause inappropriate responses to situations, such as aggression, and it also affects long term planning, therefore decisions are not informed
Describe and explain what XYY syndrome is
-results when a human male has an extra Y chromosome within the 23rd pair, so XYY instead of XY, therefore they have 47 chromosomes instead of the normal 46
-it is not inherited but a random occurrence at conception
-it occurs in 1 on 1000 male births
-many are unaware that they even have the condition
Describe some of the physical differences someone with XYY syndrome may have
-taller then average height
-reduced facial hair
-reduced body hair
-breast development
-osteoporosis
-small testes
-widely spaced eyes
-large teeth
-large head
-increased belly fat
-flat feet
-clinodactyly (when 5th finger is inwardly bent)
Describe some of the behavioural differences someone with XYY syndrome may have
-poor IQ- less attainment in education
-easily frustrated
-struggle socialising
-learning difficulties
-wanting to be more physically active
For the frontal lobe, explain its general role in the brain, and how it would be affected if damaged
-involved in motor functioning
-problem solving
-memory
-judgement
-if damaged it would cause difficulty in judging stimuli in the environment, and could result in impulsivity
For the prefrontal cortex, explain its general role in the brain, and how it would be affected if damaged
-involved in attention
-decision making
-personality
-impulsivity
-focus
-if damaged would mean can’t inhibit the amygdala, so more inappropriate emotional responses will be made such as aggression
For the hypothalamus, explain its general role in the brain, and how it would be affected if damaged
-involved in regulating body processes such as temperature and blood pressure
-regulated hormones and neurotransmitters
-if damaged hormone levels may increase or decrease above normal levels e.g high testosterone causing inappropriate behaviour
For the amygdala, explain its general role in the brain, and how it would be affected if damaged
-regulates emotional and behavioural responses
-links emotions to memories
-right side more associated with negative emotions and violence
-left side more associated with both positive and negative emotions, and a lack emotional understanding
-if damaged may not fear consequences for criminal behaviour, dysfunction may make right side overactive producing negative emotions and left side underachieve which can’t control and inhibit the right side
For the hippocampus, explain its general role in the brain, and how it would be affected if damaged
-involved in transferring short term memories to long term memory
-if damaged will trap the person in the present meaning they can’t learn or remember the consequences for previous actions so may continue to repeatedly display criminal behaviour
What is an acquired brain injury (ABI)?
brain damage that was not there at birth, which has been acquired in some sort of way
