criminal behaviour Flashcards
characteristics - what are 3 personality factors identified by Griffith?
- sex offenders - sexual contact with minors, watch/take part in violence, sexual contact without consent, inflicting pain or humiliation on others, exposing themselves in public
- murderers type 1 - below average IQ and possibly a high school dropout, socially inadequate, likely don’t date and live alone, likely to be unskilled workers and possibly had a dad whose work was unstable, received harsh discipline as a child
- terrorists - affects large numbers of victims, often acting from a place of perceived injustice, sometimes motivated by political or economic triggers, may have psychological defects e.g. SZ
characteristics - what are 3 risk factors that predispose criminality?
- substance abuse - alcohol and/or other drugs
- school/work - low levels of performance and satisfaction in school and/or work (low socio-economic advancement)
- anti-social attitudes - adventurous pleasure seeking, weak self-control, restlessly aggressive and disagreeable
characteristics - what is the demography of criminal behaviour?
age - average male conviction age 21-25 and female is 26-30, oldest conviction was 101
gender - men are 6x more likely to get arrested, males account for 75% of convictions, males account for 98% of rape convictions
ethnicity - black men are 2.4x more likely to be arrested than white men, Asians are responsible for the least convictions
biological - what is the first point of inherited criminality?
diathesis stress model
- people inherit genes that, under certain environmental factors, will influence their behaviour to possibly be criminal
- for example if someone has the gene for impulsivity thus making them more fearless and more likely to commit a crime
biological - what is the second point of inherited criminality?
twin studies
- one or more genetics predispose us to criminal behaviour
- meta analysis by Raine reviewed research on delinquent behaviour of twins and found the average concordance rate was higher for MZ twins (52%) than DZ twins (21%)
biological - what is the third point of inherited criminality?
MAOA gene
- if criminal behaviour is based on genes then the genes should be identified
- the gen would have an effect on the body which would lead to the behaviour e.g. impulsiveness
- MAOA gene helps recycle neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin
- Brunner studied a Dutch family which were frequently aggressive, their behaviour was linked to a mutation in the MAOA gene so they had abnormally low levels of serotonin which could account for their aggression
- Tilhonen found that violent offenders were more likely to have a low activity version of the MAOA gene
biological - what is the fourth point of inherited criminality?
differences in the brain
- the ‘criminal’ gene may cause differences in the brain or neurotransmitters
- Raine reviewed 71 brain imaging studies showing that murderers, psychopaths and violent offenders had reduced functioning in the prefrontal cortex, which is associated with impulsivity and loss of control
- Seo suggests that low levels of neurotransmitter serotonin may predispose individuals to impulsive aggression and criminal behaviour
biological - inherited criminality research support
NATURE
- Raine’s research on MZ and DZ twins (52%/21%), closer genetic makeup more likely to share behaviour
- Brunner MAOA gene on aggressive Dutch family
- Raine’s 71 brain imaging studies of murderers, psychopaths and violent offenders
biological - inherited criminality evaluation of twin studies
50/50
- twin studies cannot ignore nurture
- concordance rate of MZ twins could be because they look the same so are more likely to be treated the same
- Mednick found a strong link between adoptees and their biological father’s criminal convictions compared to a weaker link between adoptees and their adoptive father
- also a relationship between siblings adopted in different homes which suggests that shared genes (nature) plays a bigger part than where they grow up (nurture)
biological - inherited criminality environmental triggers evaluation
NURTURE
- Dalgard and Kringlen found no significant concordance rate in MZ twins for a ‘broad’ definition of crime
- Caspi et al used a longitudinal study of males and found that children who were maltreated who did not inherit the high activity MAOA gene were less likely to grow up to be antisocial than those with the low activity MAOA gene
biological - role of the amygdala
- neurological causes of two types of aggression, proactive and reactive aggression, the amygdala seems to be heavily involved with aggression
- the amygdalae are essential to feel certain emotions and perceive them in other people, including fear, e.g. being followed at night makes your heart pound means active amygdalae
- Emil Coccaro investigated the effects of amygdala on aggression by studying those with intermittent explosive disorder, it was found that those with IED had high levels of amygdala activity when they viewed angry faces compared to a control
biological - supporting research evaluation point
- Raine found that NGRI murderers has abnormal asymmetry compared to normal control, this suggests the amygdala may be responsible for aggression in antisocial people which leads them to engage in violent activity
- Emil Coccaro found that those with IED had high levels of amygdala activity when viewing photos of angry people
biological - other points to consider evaluation point
what about non-violent crime?
- it can’t explain non-violent criminal behaviour
- also other areas of the brain (prefrontal cortex) have also been implicated in violent behaviour
- it can’t be used to explain all criminal behaviour
individual - what is Eysenck’s theory of personality?
- suggests that criminals have a particular personality type, he argues that these differences have biological bias but also have an environmental effect
1. extroversion (sociable, irresponsible and dominant)
2. neuroticism (anxious, depressive and moody)
3. psychoticism (aggressive, assertive and egocentric)
individual - what is Eysenck’s basis of personality?
each aspect of the personality traits can be traced back to a different biological cause
extroversion - the inheritance of an under aroused RAS, therefore seeks stimulation to restore levels back to optimum, intraverts are the opposite and have over-aroused levels so they remove themselves from social situations
neuroticism - levels of neuroticism are determined by the reactivity levels of the sympathetic nervous system, a stable person’s nervous system will be less reactive in stressful situations so they can be more calm
psychoticism - related to levels of testosterone, the higher the levels the higher the amount of psychoticism, lower levels are more normal people
individual - what is Eysenck’s link to personality?
- introverts learn quickly through conditioning while extroverts condition slower so the lack of conditioning results in poor socialisation and increases likelihood of criminality
- high neuroticism means someone will be prone to anxiety and depression which is a result of inheriting a highly responsive fight or flight, they are prone to over-react in threatening situations
- people high in psychoticism are more willing to break rules, are non-conforming, inconsiderate reckless and impulsive biologically which is related to higher levels of testosterone and results in criminal behaviour
individual - Eysenk’s supporting research evaluation point
support for link between personality and criminal behaviour
- Dunlop compared personalities of criminals and non-criminals, he found that extroversion and psychoticism and lie scales were good predictors of delinquency, however all the participants were students and their assessment of minor offences in the last 12 months
