Biological Explanatons Of Offending - Genetic And Neural Explanations

Question 1

What did Christiansen (1997) study?

Answer 1

3500 twin pairs born between 1880 and 1910 in Denmark
Checked their offending behaviour against police records and found a concordance rate for offending of 35% for MZ twins and 13% for DZ twins

From this we can conclude that it shows a moderate genetic influence in likelyhood of committing a crime

Question 2

What are the two ca ndidate genes?

Answer 2

MAOA gene (warrior gene) is a chemical that helps break down excess neurotransmitters in the synapse before the reuptake process

If gene defective it means there will be a lack of MAOA meaning there will be a build up of serotonin whcih is what helps is to respond to stressful situations, aggression and risk-taking behaviours

CDH13 gene - linked to attention deficit disorder and substance abuse

Question 3

What was Tiihonen (2014) study?

Answer 3

Studied 800 Finish offenders, identified a pattern of two abnormal genes: MAOA and CDH13

He found 5-10% of all severe violent crimes in Finland is attributable to the MAOA and CDH13 genotypes

Question 4

What is meant by Psychopathy?

Answer 4

Individuals with APD antisocial personality disorder

Question 5

What does the prefrontal cortex do?

Answer 5

Regulates emotional behaviour - damage to this can lead to a loss of control over impulses

Question 6

What are mirror neurons?

Answer 6

They fire when we watch people do a specific behaviour
This allows us to feel as if we are doing it too
Traditionally scientists believed that psychopaths could not feel empathy, thus explaining their criminal behaviour

Question 7

What did Keysers (2011) study?

Answer 7

Asked criminals to watch a character on film in pain
Only when criminals were asked to empathise with others did their empathy reactions activate