Explanations of crime and anti-social behaviour: Biological explanations

Question 1

What is acquired brain injury? Examples?

Answer 1

Acquired brain injury; damaged cause by events after birth
- Stroke
- Tumour
- Haemorrhage
- Infection
-Oxygen Deprivation

Question 2

What is traumatic brain injury? Examples?

Answer 2

Traumatic brain injury; a type of ABI, inury to the brain casued by a trauma to the head from an external force
- Road traffic accidents
- Assaults
-Falls
- Accidents at home or work

Question 3

What is the role of the prefrontal cortex?

Answer 3

• Has a role in reinforcement by deferringrewards, so linked to planning anddecision making
• Responsible forpersonality expression
• Controls self-restraint and social inhibitions
• Inhibits impulses from the amygdala

Question 4

If the prefrontal cortex is damaged how could this explain criminal behaviour?

Answer 4

• Less control over impulses as unable to manage emotional responses to social stimuli
• Inability to make decisions, poor impulse control by acting before thinking – unpredictable behavior
• Unable to plan for the consequences of their actions

Question 5

What is the role of the hippocampus?

Answer 5

• Converts short termm memories into long term memories
• Communicates with eh PFC during memory formation

Question 6

If the Hippocampus is damaged how could this explain criminal behaviour?

Answer 6

• Unable to learn from mistakes as less likely to link past experiences to new situations
• Unable to link emotions responses to memories so do not learn how to response correctly to fearful stimuli for example
• Unable to learn correct expression of aggression during rehabilitation for example

Question 7

What is the role of the Hypothalamus?

Answer 7

• Influences autonomic nervous system e.g. body temp, blood pressure
• Regulates the release of hormones in the body including testosterone.
• Also has receptors for dopamine and serotonin

Question 8

If the Hypothalamus is damaged how could this explain criminal behaviour?

Answer 8

• Lack of regulation of autonomic nervous system e.g. breathing and pulse rate through increased adrenaline
• Interprets social stimuli incorrectly sending impaired impulses to the pituitary gland leading to increased testosterone for example

Question 9

What did Brower and Price dicover about anti-social behaviour and brain injury?

Answer 9

Found anti-social and criminal behaviour related to brain injury in the frontal lobes
Prefrontal lobe is associated with problem solving and decision making, therefore damage will lead to aggression because they cannot identify the consequences of their actions

Question 10

What did Williams discover about young people and TBI?

Answer 10

Young people are most at risk of a TBI and it affects around 8.5% of the population, with males more at risk than females
Young people who have TBI can behave in a criminal way, with 60% of young male adult prisoners in custody having TBI.
It is the inability to prevent impulsivity that is behind the problems as this links to the evidence that the prefrontal lobes are for control and executive functioning.
One issue with young people having brain injury is that their brain is not fully developed until around 25 years of age and impulse control and planning are amongst the last to develop

Question 11

Who does the NHS website say are more prone to TBI?

Answer 11

Reports on brain injury suggest young people are most at risk of a TBI, affecting 8.5% of the population
Males more at risk than females

Question 12

What did Elbogen discover about war veterans and gender differences?

Answer 12

Found amongst war veterans, being male was a risk factor for showing violence and anti-social behaviour
BUT could be due to being a war veteran, rather than due to gender!!
More likely to be involved in fights and therefore accidents
More risk of TBI
Social factors more likely to cause the behaviour rather than gender

Question 13

How does Kreutzer et al unable to provide or disprove a cause and effect between TBI and violence?

Answer 13

Out of 74 patients, found 20% had been arrested pre-injury and 10% post injury, most arrests occurred after alcohol or other drugs. Concluded criminal behaviour may be a result of post injury changes, including poor judgement. Substance abuse was most common among those younger than 35 years of age, lead to legal difficulties and traumatic brain injury.

Question 14

The brain is not fully mature until a person is in their mid 20s, why would this be a problem is someone acquires a ABI?

Answer 14

Cognitive abilities such as impulse control and forward planning are among the last aspects of the brain to develop. An ABI can potentially disrupt development, meaning the individual fails to move beyond the reckless and risk taking behaviour that is sometimes associated with childhood.

Question 15

What did Pardini show about the amygdala?

Answer 15

Men with a reduced amygdala volume were 3 times more likely yo be aggressive

Question 16

What did Raine show amygdalas and 3 year olds?

Answer 16

He studies 1795 3 year olds and played an unpleasant, unexpected tone. Those children who didnt show a fear esponse went on to commit crime.

Question 17

What is the XYY chromosome?

Answer 17

Some rare men are born with an additional Y chromosome
47 chromosomes instead of 46

Question 18

How many men get the XYY syndrome?

Answer 18

About 1 in 1000 men

Question 19

What effect does the XYY sydrome have on testosterone and sexual developement?

Answer 19

NONE!!

Question 20

What did the Patrica Jacobs say about the XYY syndrome?

Answer 20

Conducted a chromosome survey of male patients at a state hospital in Lanarkshire, Scotland. The researchers found that men with the XYY chromosomal pattern were over-represented in the prison population (9 out of 315) compared to what would be expected in the general population (about 1 in 315). The idea of a criminal chromosomal pattern was widely publicised at the time.

Question 21

What did Fazel conclude about brain injury and crime?

Answer 21

Of those individuals who had experienced ABI, 8.8% commmitted a violent crime compared to 3% in a matched control group of a similar size.

Question 22

What is a competing argument for brain injury as an explanation for violent crimes?

Answer 22

The relationship between brain injury and offending is not necessarily causal, other variables may have an influence. Individuals who have sustained serious head injury are also more likely to expereinece mental illness, or be alcohol or drug abusers. It is these factors that may create the predisposition to offend rather than brain injury itself

Question 23

Why is the XYY syndrome not a credible explanation of crime?

Answer 23

A meta- analysis by Re and Birkhoff considered 50 years of evidence and concluded that there is no link between XYY and offending behaviour. Where there is prevalence of XYY males within prison populations, this might be better explained by social factors such as the fact that XYY characteristics make it harder for such men to integrate into society and find work

Question 24

What is the role of the amygdala?`

Answer 24

It regulates the expression of emotion and emotional memory. Responsible for multiple and dicerse physiological responses to emotional cues such as fear. It is in the limbic system.

Question 25

What is the left amygdala responsible for?

Answer 25

It is the reward system
Left reaches peak development approx 1.5-2 years prior to the right.
Early developement leads to an inability to detect danger

Question 26

What is the right amygdala associated with?

Answer 26

Negative motions when processing fear inducing stimuli and anger regulation.
Right is linked with taking action
Damage or disruptions means learning or extintion may occur.

Question 27

What happens if there is damage to the amygdala?

Answer 27

Leads to issues with fear conditioning and will fail to learn the negative consequences of anti-social behaviour.

Question 28

How is Jim Fallon a criticism to amgydala and aggression?

Answer 28

His brain shows low activity in the amydala (frontal lobe) yet he is not a murderer

Question 29

What is some physical features of XYY?

Answer 29

• Tall
• Increased belly fat
• Flat feet
• Unusually large teeth
• Acne

Question 30

What are some not physical features of XYY?

Answer 30

• IQ is on average 10-15 points lower than siblings
• Have an increased risk of learning disabilities

Question 31

What percentage of males go undetected with the XYY syndrome?

Answer 31

75%

Question 32

How does Witkin et al oppose the XYY syndrome?

Answer 32

Study in Denmark looking at 4591 men in the top height distribution – only found 12 cases of XYY.
41.7% of these were more likely to be involved in crime, but not violent crime
9.3% of XY were likely to be involved in crime
Difference was not statistically significant when background variables were controlled for
Concluded no link!