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Criminological psychology > biological explanations of crime and anti-social behaviour (pack 1) > Flashcards

biological explanations of crime and anti-social behaviour (pack 1) Flashcards

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1
Q

What is criminological psychology?

A

application of psychological knowledge to understand crime and anti-social behaviour

1) what causes someone to commit a crime
2) how a crime is analysed
3) how a case is put together
4) behaviour in the courtroom (juries & witnesses)
5) developing treatment options to reduce reoffending

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2
Q

What is a crime?

A

an act or omission against the law

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3
Q

what is recidivism?

A

persistent reoffending

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4
Q

what is anti-social behaviour?

A

a common offence, behaviour that affects other people negatively

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5
Q

What statistic did the ‘statistics on women in the criminal justice system (2013)’ find on gender differences in the law?

A

80% of offenders are male
20% are female

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6
Q

when does criminal behaviour peak in males?

A

aged 17

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7
Q

What are the four biological explanations of crime?

A
  1. brain injury
  2. Amygdala and aggression
  3. XYY syndrome
  4. personality (individual differences)
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8
Q

what is the function of the pre frontal cortex?

A

self regulate and control your behaviour and impulses, personality, decision making

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9
Q

summarise Phineas Gages’ case study?

A

survived acquired brain injury
described as a likeable man
rod passed through left frontal lobe
noticeable changes to personality- rude and vulgar, angry

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10
Q

what did Williams (2010) et al investigate to do with brain injury

A

link between head injury and criminal behaviour
60% of 196 prisoners had some kind of traumatic brain injury

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11
Q

What did Williams (2010) conclude about brain injury and anti-social behaviour?

A

injuries affect development of temperament , social judgement and ability to control impulses
greater level of risk taking behaviour

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12
Q

What statistic did Williams et al (2010) find for a link between brain injury and crime in youth offenders?

A

out of 192 males
65% reported brain injury
46% lost consciousness for over 10 mins

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13
Q

What did Grafman et al (1996) find out about brain injury and crime?

A

studied men who had brain injury in the Vietnam war
brain scanning
those with damage to frontal lobe more aggressive

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14
Q

3 strengths of brain injury as an explanation of crime?

A

evidence to support link

different methodologies to study this, came to similar conclusions.

linking TBI to crim behaviour has useful applications, help understand negative impacts of B.I on behaviour and lead to rehabilitation

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15
Q

3 weaknesses of brain injury as an explanation of crime?

A

relationship is not casual, other variables may influence. those with serious injuries may suffer from mental illness, addictions that may contribute

brain scanning show link between damage to frontal lobes and aggression, but no brain scanning evidence before this

brain damage alone can be considered reductionist- no other factors (PTSD ect)

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16
Q

What is the limbic system?

A

a collection of smaller brain organs responsible for initiating or controlling emotions

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17
Q

what is the amygdala responsible for?

A

processing emotions such as happiness, anxiety, fear and aggression

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18
Q

what happens to our amygdala if we encounter a threatening stimulus

A

A is activated, and this results in an arousal of emotions. This response activates responses in our behaviour - fight or flight

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19
Q

What are the two ways in which the amygdala could malfunction?

A

The threshold for the activation of the amygdala is too low- unprovoked aggression

the amygdala is malfunctioning so that anxiety and fear levels are too low

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20
Q

briefly describe Charles Whitman’s case study?

A

mass shooting
found to have a cancerous brain tumour located in the limbic system and impacted upon the amygdala

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21
Q

what evidence from brain scanning links the amygdala to criminal behaviour?

A

Raine et al

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22
Q

what was the aim of Raine (1997) study?

A

to find out if there is a difference in brain structure between those who have committed murder (NGRIs) and non-murderers

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23
Q

what was the sample of Raine (1997) study?

A

41 offenders pleading NGRI to the crime of murder
39 men and two women

24
Q

some of Raine (1997) procedure?

A

injected with glucose tracer and then perform continuous tasks for 32 mins
then PET scan carried out

A CONROL: all ppts able to practice tasks 10 mins before glucose tracer injected

25
Q

results of Raine (1997) study?

A

NGRI showed more activity on the right (amygdala)

less activity in corpus callosum that bridges the nerve fibres

activity 0.88 (NGRIs)
0.83 (controls)

26
Q

conclusions of Raine (1997) study

A

prefrontal deficits might make someone more impulsive

deficits in the limbic system might make someone more aggressive as was observed in cats, can’t control urges

27
Q

Briefly describe what Yang et al (2009) found about the amygdala?

A

link between smaller volume of the amygdala and anti-social behaviour

used FMRI

people with psychopathy had 17.1% less volume compared to controls

28
Q

Two strengths of the amygdala being used as an explanation for crime?

A

supported by evidence (YANG)

use of neuro-imaging - objective and a number of people can analyse the scans which increases inter-rater reliability

29
Q

Two weaknesses of the amygdala being used as an explanation of crime?

A

no direct cause and effect conclusions can be drawn, research shows that the amygdala does not operate on it’s own but is influenced by the frontal cortex (not part of the limbic)

reductionist= only looks at amygdala, when other parts of brain may be involved. complexities

30
Q

How much does XYY syndrome occur?

A

1 in 1000 male births

31
Q

is XYY inherited?

A

no

32
Q

what are some of the characteristics a male may have with XYY syndrome?

A

taller
severe acne
lower intelligence
developmental delays
behavioural and emotional difficulties
physically active

33
Q

what is the link between XYY and crime?

A

the behaviours exhibited may mean a male is more likely to engage in crim behaviour

34
Q

what did Jacobs et al (1965) find out about with XYY syndrome?

A

over-representation of XYY men in the prison population
15 XYY men for every 1000 prisoners

35
Q

who was Daniel Hugon

A

he had murdered someone and then when caught tried to commit suicide, it was found he had XYY syndrome
defence used this to say his behaviour was pre-determined

36
Q

who was Richard Speck

A

claimed he had XYY as a defence after rape and murder of 8 women
turned out he was XY

37
Q

what did Theilgaard (1984) find?

A

to blood from 3000 males born in the 1940s
she found those with XYY were less intelligent and more aggressive
BUT
Theilgaard found no conclusive evidence of a criminal gene

38
Q

What did Re and Birkhoff find about XYY syndrome?

A

drew together lots of evidence from prev. 50 years of XYY

concluded that there is no statistical evidence that an XYY man is predisposed

39
Q

one strength of XYY syndrome as an explanation of crime?

A

early research suggests link, if XYY found early then issues of development can be addressed

40
Q

Two weaknesses of XYY syndrome as an explanation of crime?

A

genetic research- fraught with practical difficulties

XYY reductionist- ignores environment
and woman carry out crimes too- doesn’t explain that

41
Q

what did Hans Eysenck propose about the link between personality and crime?

A

proposed that biological components determine your personality

42
Q

what were the five dimensions of Hans Eysenck?

A

extraversion
introversion
neuroticism
stability
psychoticism

43
Q

how did Hans Eysenck measure personality?

A

through self-report, in the form of psychometric tests

psychometric tests allow a researcher to quantify data

44
Q

Which personality traits did Hans Eysenck propose could be linked to crime?

A

psychoticism, extraversion and neuroticism
PEN personality

45
Q

what does Arousal theory suggest?

A

individuals are motivated to act in certain ways that maintain an optimum level of physical arousal
when arousal falls, individuals will engage in behaviour to increase/decrease arousal

46
Q

What did Hans Eysenck say about all personality types?

A

they were based on physiological makeup and that personality was influenced by the activity of:

THE ASCENDING RETICULAR ACTIVATING SYSTEM (which influences the introvert and extrovert dimension)
and
THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (in particular the sympathetic nervous system)

47
Q

what is the ARAS system?

A

influences arousal levels in the cortex

48
Q

what are the arousal levels of extroversion and introversion?

A

extroversion- low base line level of arousal ….gets bored seeks stimulation

introversion- high arousal- seek less stimulating environments

49
Q

what are the responses to threatening situations for stable and neurotic?

A

neurotic= show rapid and strong response to stressful situations

stable= calmer physiological and emotional reactions to threat or stress

50
Q

what was the aim of Eysenck’s study?

A

attempt to link certain criminal behaviour to personality traits, the p traits measured are extroversion, neuroticism and psychosis

51
Q

what was the sample and conditions of Eysenck’s study?

A

156 prisoners aged 18-38

violent crimes- (committed two or more, not sexual)
property crimes- more than 3
confidence crimes- fraud, more than 3
inadequate- prisoners with 10 or more convictions in 3 years and serving less than 18 months
residuals- prisoners who did not fall into any or more than one category

52
Q

procedure from Eysenck’s study?

A

all tested on
1) the Eysenck personality questionnaire
2) physiological measures such as EEG and skin conductance

53
Q

key results from Eysenck’s study?

A

neuroticism scores= violent and property offenders - low scores but inadequate and residual - higher scores

54
Q

conclusion from Eysenck’s study?

A

agree that certain personality traits can be linked to criminal behaviour

55
Q

two strengths of Eysenck’s study?

A

research support- BODUSZECK investigated prevalence of personality traits in reoffenders - found it correlated with Eysenck means it has validity

useful applications to prevent crime. This theory suggests that criminal tendencies such as lack of response and inability to learn from mistakes can be identified in early childhood, intervention means you can modify high-risk individuals.

56
Q

One weakness of Eysenck’s theory to explain crime?

A

not conclusive = FARRINGTON found very little evidence that the personality questionnaire was an adequate measure for predicting offending, suggesting original ideas on nature may lack validity.

Criminological psychology (8 decks)

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