Forensics: Biological Approach - Neural

Question 1

What are the 2 neurotransmitters seen to have a role in offending behaviour?

Answer 1

Serotonin and dopamine

Question 2

How can serotonin affect offending behaviour?

Answer 2

Serotonin has been linked to mood and impulsiveness, it is thought to inhibit aggressive responses to emotional stimuli. Low levels are associated with increases susceptibility to impulsive behavioural, aggression and violent suicide.
- Mann found drugs which reduce serotonin increased measures of hostility and aggression in males (but not females)
- Moir and Jessel also found a number of human and animal studies which link low levels of serotonin and aggression, which is linked to criminal behaviour.
- Scerbo and Raine did a meta analysis on 29 pieces of research into anti-social adults and children and found low levels of serotonin in all cases.

Question 3

What did Krakowski find about serotonin that could be a drawback?

Answer 3

Argued through research that while serotonin was implicated in lack of impulse control and violence, to make a causal link is difficult - the relationship between serotonin and impulse control is complex and other factors are involved.

Question 4

How can dopamine affect offending behaviour?

Answer 4

Dopamine has linked to addiction and substance abuse, making crime more likely
- dopaminergic activity in the lambic system means that pleasure is experienced, the greater the activity, the greater the pleasure - addiction more likely.
- buitlaar found that juvenile delinquents given dopamine showed a decrease in aggressive behaviour
- Couppis argues that some individuals who engage in certain criminal behaviours may experience an increase in dopamine and as a result, seek out such experiences again due to the reward feeling.

Question 5

How could the limbic system effect criminal behaviour?

Answer 5

The limbic system is the most primitive part of the brain associated with emotion.
- neural differences could exist in those individuals with Anti-social Personality Disorder (APD) which is associated with reduced emotional response - a condition that characterises most criminals
—> the pre-frontal cortex regulates emotional behaviour - brain imaging found that individuals with APD have reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex.
—> mirror neurons control empathy reaction - can be switched on and off in APD. Keysers found that only when criminals were asked to empathise with a person depicting pain on a film they did.

Question 6

How does the Amygdala effect offending behaviour?

Answer 6

Part of the limbic system, a structure that links to emotion regulation and aggression.
- Potegal found that stimulating the amygdala of hamsters led to increased aggressive behaviour.
- Mitchell and Blair looked at the amygdala in psychopaths and found that dysfunction in the structure may be the cause of psychopathy since it is involved in the processing of emotion and developing empathy for others.

Question 7

How can frontal lobe damage effect criminal behaviour?

Answer 7

The frontal lobes are part of the neocortex, and have been linked to higher functioning such as social behaviours and planning
- Brower and Price found a link between frontal lobe dysfunction and violent crime
- Kandal and Freed looked at frontal lobe damage and anti-social behaviour, finding there was a tendency for such individuals to exhibit emotional instability, a failure to consider the consequences of their actions to adapt their behaviour in response to external cues. These traits would seemingly be a result of impaired functioning in the frontal lobes, the region responsible for planning behaviour.

Question 8

What did Raine find to support neurophysiology?

Answer 8

41 murderers (2 female) charged with murder and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Used PET scans and compared to matched control group.
- found reduced activity in areas such as the prefrontal cortex and the corpus callosum. Also abnormalities in the activity of the limbic system (amygdala and thalamus).
—> indication that offenders have abnormal brain functioning compared to controls - suggests brains are slowed and maybe unable to make swift decisions to react appropriately in situations.

Question 9

What’s some evaluation of the neural explanation?

Answer 9

• overly simplistic - links between abnormal levels of neurotransmitters and offending behaviour often centres around violent crimes, but not all types of crime, such as burglary or drug dealing.
• research is often correlational, no clear cause and effect
• explanation is nature, but arguments for the nurture perspective should not be ignored, and the interaction between the two should not be overlooked
• how should they be punished if offenders are not responsible for their actions? - biologically predetermined
• gender - statistics show criminal behaviour is most likely displayed by men —> Wilson and Daly argued that it has an evolutionary cause, and that offending behaviour is ‘risky’ and this is an attractive quality for females, as those who takes more risks might gain greater success and rewards. Also looked at homicide cases and in nearly all, murderer was single, male and unemployed - supporting this theory as they would be looking to boost their social status.
• reductionist
• research on animals is not generalisable to humans