Explanations of Crime and Antisocial Behaviour Flashcards
How can brain injury explain criminal behaviour?
may be due to a car accident, a fall, caused by long term alcohol or drug us, or the result of an illness such as a virus
(Williams et al (2010) found that 60% of prisoners had some form of traumatic brain injury. Also shown that adults with brain injuries were younger at the time of entry and that they were more likely to reoffend)
*TBI can affect social judgement and the individual’s likelihood of engaging in impulsive and risk-taking behaviour due to the lack of control over their actions
*Therefore this is linked to crimes without empathy (e.g., murder, lashing out in aggression)
EAST for TBI as an explanation?
E
- There is evidence to support criminality…
- Charles Whitman: Bell Tower shooter in Texas. Killed 43 people. After post-mortem it was found that he had a brain tumour pressing on his amygdala
- Phineas Gage: pole embedded in his frontal lobe after train explosion led to aggression
- Labette et al: frontal lobe damage decreases chances of impulsivity and reduced anti-social behaviour
A
*awareness
S
+evidence from case studies being rich and detailed
+proves psychology as a science as it uses brain scans which is objective
-use of case studies so difficulty generalising results
-social control over people who had TBI so it is socially sensitive
-case studies only tend to focus on individuals after aggression from event so there is difficulty in establishing cause and effect
T
*Social Learning Theory: Attention, Retention, Reproduction, and Motivation of a role mode; may better explain gender differences because males are more likely to commit individual acts due to the the number of male criminal role models than females who only have a limited number of female criminal role models
How can the amygdala help explain criminal behaviour?
- amygdala is responsible for controlling human emotion
- damage can result to lack or excessive emotion
- amygdala size can be used to predict future violence and this is a biomarker for crime (e.g., fraud)
EAST for amygdala being an explanation of crime?
E
- There is evidence to support criminality…
- Raine et al: asymmetry in the amygdala of the NGRI group in comparison with control suggesting that the amygdala is related to criminality, especially crimes of violence
- Sham Rage (1952) severed neural connections to cortex in cats which severed the connection between the cortex and the amygdala. When the cats were provoked, they showed aggression
S
+use of PET scans from evidence is a controlled and objective measure so it is scientfic
+lab experiments as evidence
-PET scans can’t isolate links to other areas of the brain so cause and effect cannot be established
-use of animals means difficulty generalising results
-difficulty in explaining gender differences HOWEVER (+) there are differences in empathy levels shown with participants where female participants might arguably be more empathic
T
*Social Learning Theory: Attention, Retention, Reproduction, and Motivation of a role mode; may better explain gender differences because males are more likely to commit individual acts due to the the number of male criminal role models than females who only have a limited number of female criminal role models
How can XYY syndrome explain criminality?
- XYY is chromosome 47 and leads to slightly lower intelligence in people and also may lead to the individual developing a height difference between their siblings
- (Jacobs e al (1965) suggested men with XYY were more aggressive than those with XY and were overrepresented in prison populations. e.g., 15 in every 1000 vs 1 in every 1000. XYY had slightly lower intelligence than average but there was more similarities between XXY and XYY)
EAST for XYY Syndrome as an explanation of criminality?
E
- There is evidence to support criminality…
- Theilgaard: blood samples taken from 30,000 men in 1940s. The results have shown that XYY participants had reduced intelligence and were more aggressive than normal men
A
*lead to genetic profiling therefore it is socially sensitive
S
+the use of blood samples in Theilgaard’s research provides an objective measure for XYY/XXY traits
-the data is from correlational and therefore cause and effect cannot be established
-individual differences: cannot explain why people who do not have the XYY syndrome do not commit crime
-there may be other genetic genes involved like the MAOA gene and the warrior gene
T
*Social Learning Theory: Attention, Retention, Reproduction, and Motivation of a role mode; may better explain gender differences because males are more likely to commit individual acts due to the the number of male criminal role models than females who only have a limited number of female criminal role models
How can personality theory explain criminality? (Eysenck’s, and PEN Personality with Arousal Theory)
Hans Eysenck’s Personality Theory
- Extraversion: outgoing, sociable, active, easily bored, and require excitement (e.g., joyriding, bank robbery)
- Introversion: reserved, reflective, solitary in activity choice (e.g., fraud, hacking)
- Neuroticism: emotionally unstable, anxious, depressed, fearful, envious (e.g., identity fraud, manslaughter)
- Stability: emotionally calm, unreactive and unworried
- Psychoticism: lack empathy, aggressive, impersonal and cold (e.g., fraud, serial killing)
PEN Personality
- psychoticism, extroversion, neuroticism
- arousal theory: extroversion/introversion in terms of cortical arousal in the brain via ARAS
- introverts require less external stimulation and therefore have more cortical arousal than extroverts; extroverts have underactive ARAS so less cortical arousal so therefore need more activity
- neurotic individuals have more activity in the limbic system
- High P scores may mean antisocial behaviour, high E scores mean the individual requires stimulation, and high N scores may mean they react strongly to aggressive stimuli
EAST for personality as an explanation of crime?
E
- There is evidence to support criminality…
- Eysenck’s theory
- Boduszek et l (2013) higher levels of extroversion amongst inmates who had high levels of recidivism so supporting Eysenck’s theory
A
*psychoticism: you can give medication
S
+evidence from questionnaires which provides statistical and quantitative data
+standardised set of five criteria
+it’s reductionist so it allows for isolation of variables leading to crime which could be advantageous in treatment and research
-reductionist as it states that personality only falls under five criteria and that personality is fluid
-use of self-report questionnaires
-difficulty in establishing cause and effect; does extroversion lead to recidivism or the other way around? (imitation of criminality in prison)
T
*Social Learning Theory: Attention, Retention, Reproduction, and Motivation of a role mode; may better explain gender differences because males are more likely to commit individual acts due to the the number of male criminal role models than females who only have a limited number of female criminal role models
Describe labelling theory
- crime is a social construction wherein the minority (people in power) control the majority (everyone else)
- labelling: putting somebody in a group based on characteristic
- retrospective labelling: labelling based on classification on previous activities
- prospective labelling: labelling based on prediction of future events (e.g., labelling based on parents’ criminal acts)
Describe self-fulfilling prophecy
- crime is a social construction wherein the minority (people in power) control the majority (everyone else)
- focuses on how children develop when an individual is labelled
- they begin to see themselves as that label
- people expect them to have and act accordingly to their label
- the individual adheres to this and fulfils expectations
- the individual becomes what others think and say they will become
Evaluate labelling theory as an explanation of crime
E
*Bessemer et al (2013) studies children from age 8 and found that children of convicted parents had a high risk of conviction
CA: may be due to official bias
*Chambliss (1973) found that students who were in the group ‘Saints’ were viewed as good kids with bright futures, while ‘Roughnecks’ were labelled as troublemakers and criminals. This label affected how others treat them and shaped their futures. (7 Saints went to college, 2 Roughnecks went)
A
Teaching: teachers can be given training in order to not label their students negatively but instead use more positive and reaffirming language
S
+being reductionist allows for isolation of variables leading to crime which could be advantageous in treatment and research
+can explain gender differences as girls are given more positive labels
-reductionist as it focuses on social explanations without biological explanations
-focuses on nurture without nature therefore it is reductionist
-individual differences (some people given negative labels motivates them to go against their label)
T
*Social Learning Theory: Attention, Retention, Reproduction, and Motivation of a role model
Evaluate SFP as an explanation for crime
E
Jahoda (1954): found that boys who were born on Wednesday in the Ashanti tribe had 22% more violent offences committed
A
parenting strategies to ensure that children grow up in stable and positive environment
S
+can explain gender differences as gender stereotypes are presented at an early age
+being reductionist allows for isolation of variables leading to crime which could be advantageous in treatment and research
-individual differences (some people do not follow the traits associated with their upbringing)
-deterministic as it states that the child’s development will determine the child’s actions in teh duture and their characteristics
-focuses on nurture explanations over nature explanations therefore it is reductionist
T
*Social Learning Theory: Attention, Retention, Reproduction, and Motivation of a role model
