Criminal psychology-biological explanation Flashcards
what was the aim of raines study
to investgate differences in murderers and non murderers brains and to find evidence that murderers were not guilty by reason of insanity
what was the sample of raines study
41 muderers and non murderers (matched pairs)
murderers charger with murder or manslaughter
what was the procedure in raines study
all participants were kept medication free for 2 weeks before the study
10 minutes before being given a flurodeoxyglucose injection participants were given practise CPT tasks - required to search for targets on a screen
injected with FDG which acted as a radioactive tracer and completed actual CPT task
after 32 mins participants had a PET scan to measure activity in cortical and subcortical regions
what were the findings from raines study
no differences found in temporal lobe suggesting abnormalities of murderers brains may not be in all parts
reduced activity in murderers pre frontal cortex which plays a role in impulse control making it less difficult to control aggressive behaviour
murderers had less activity in left amygdala and left hippocampus which is responsible for fear so crime may have been commited due to fearlessness
what was the aim of farringtons study
to document the start duration and end of offending behaviour from childhood to adulthood in families
what was the procedure of farringtons study
411 boys aged 8
taken from registers of schools in east london
interviewed as boys , adolescents and adults
had juvenille and adult criminal records checked
what were the findings from farringtons study
161 had convictions
54% with convicted mother also had convictions
47% with convicted father had convictions
what are the biological strategies for preventing criminal behaviour
intervention programmes for children with diet , exercise and cognitive stimulation
omega 3 fatty acid supplements
plastic surgery
how can raines mauritius study help prevent criminal behaviour
100 children with low resting heart rate - 3 part intervention programme
nutrition - milk , fruit juice and hot meal
physical exercise and cognitive stimulation such as toys and music
follow up at age 11 , children who had intervention had more mature brains
at age 23 they scored lower on conduct disorder rating
how can omega 3 help reduce criminal behaviour
100 children took norwegian smartfish supplement for 3 months everyday
after 12 months parents reported significant reduction in aggression , deliquency and attention problems
how can plastic surgery help to prevent criminal behaviour
dr lewison peformed facial reconstruction surgery on prisoners and monitored post surgery behaviour
behaviour changes observed almost immediately , previously hostile criminals became more polite
