forensics: biological explanations - neural + genetic

Question 1

neural: define neural explanations as a biological explanation of offending behaviour

Answer 1

suggests that there are brain/nervous system differences between criminals and non criminals, this includes the activity of brain structures such as neurotransmitters and brain activity

Question 2

neural: what type of people do we often focus on when looking at biological explanations for offending behaviour (what diagnosis do they have)? what are their key characteristics?

Answer 2

• people with ASPD ( anti-social personality disorder)
• they have reduced activity in the pre frontal cortex
• characteristics; lack of emotional response and a lack of empathy for other

Question 3

neural: what research did Raine at al (2000) conduct? what did they find about the three brain areas implicated in offending behaviour

Answer 3

-conducted studies on APD brains
- many brain scan images which show individuals with APD have reduced activity in the pre frontal cortex
- also found a 11% reduction in volume of grey matter in individuals with ASPD in the pre frontal cortex compared to controls

Question 4

neural: what is the pre frontal cortex known for?

Answer 4

controlling emotional regulation, impulsivity, cognitive flexibility, and moderation social behaviour

Question 5

neural: what is grey matter known to be important for?

Answer 5

allowing normal functions e.g movement, emotional regulation and memory

Question 6

neural: what is the amygdala important for in terms of functioning?

Answer 6

processing and regulating emotions- especially with fear and anger

Question 7

neural: what are mirror neurones

Answer 7

special brain cells that fire in response to both personal actions and the actions of others and are thought to be a vital part of social cognition, allowing interpretation of others emotions and empathy

Question 8

neural: what research did Keyser’s at al (2011) conduct and why is this important for the neural explanation of offending behaviour?

Answer 8

• showed pps a vid of a person experiencing pain, only when asked to empathise did their mirror neurons fire to show an empathy reaction
• suggests people with ASPD may have a neural empathy switch that can be on/off rather than having no empathy

Question 9

genetic: genetic explanations as a biological explanation of offending behaviour

Answer 9

suggest that ‘would-be’ offenders inherit a gene, or a combination of genes, that predispose them to criminality

Question 10

genetic: why are twin studies so popular to use in researching genetic predispositions to certain characteristics?

Answer 10

• twins share 100% of their genes
• makes them an excellent model for understanding how genes and the environment contribute to certain traits, especially complex behaviors and diseases

Question 11

genetic: what were lange (1930) + findings

Answer 11

• investigated 13 mz twin pairs and 17 dz twin pairs, where at least one twin was in prison
• 10 mz twins had co-twin (other twin) in prison
• 2 dz twins had co-twin in prison
• lange concluded that genetic factors must play a predominant part in offending behaviour
• less criminality is shared in dz twins as they share less genes
• environment is a confounding variable; mz twins share the same environment

Question 12

genetic: outline what a piece of adoption research found and explain what that shows for the genetic explanation of offending behaviour

Answer 12

• crowe (1972) found that adopted children whose biological mother had a criminal record, has a 50% chance of also having a criminal record by 18
• wheres adopted children who had mothers without a criminal record only had a 5% risk, which comes from their environment
• supports genetic explanation as it shows those genetically pre-disposed to crime are more at risk

Question 13

genetic: tiihonen et al (2014) + findings

Answer 13

• analysis of 900 finnish offenders
• abnormalities within 2 genes were significantly associated with violent crime : MAOA and CDH-13
• individuals with this high risk combination of both, were 13 times more likely to have history of violent behaviour

Question 14

genetic: what is the MAOA gene important for?

Answer 14

controlling dopamine and serotonin in the brain; had been linked to aggressive behaviour

Question 15

genetic: what is the CDH-13 gene linked to?

Answer 15

substance abuse and adhd

Question 16

genetic: what is the diathesis stress model? explain this in relation to the genetic explanation of offending behaviour

Answer 16

• whilst genetics will have an influence on offending, it’s moderated by the role of the environment
• individuals may have a genetic predisposition for criminal behaviour but the environment (eg, dysfunctional environment or criminal role models) acts as the trigger for criminal behaviour

Question 17

genetic: strength : support for diathesis-stress model

Answer 17

• a major study of over 13,000 danish adoptees was conducted by mednick et al (1984)
• the researchers defined criminal behaviour as being in possession of at least one court conviction and this was checked against danish police records for each of the adoptees
• when neither the biological nor adoptive parents had convictions, the % of adoptees that committed crime was 13.5%
• the figure rose to 20% when either of the biological parents had convictions
• and 24.5% when both adoptive and biological parents had convictions
• this data suggests that although genetic inheritance plays an important role in offending, environmental influence cannot be disregarded - support for this model of crime

Question 18

genetic: limitation : problems with adoption studies

Answer 18

• the presumed separation of genetic and environmental influences in adoption studies is complicated as many children experience late adoption, meaning much of their infancy and childhood may have been spent with their biological parents
• similarly, lots of adoptees maintain regular contact with their biological parents following their adoption
• both of these points make it difficult to assess, from adoption studies, the environmental impact the biological parents might have had
• as well as this, mednick et al study’s figures quoted only applied to petty offences (burglary and non-violent crimes)
• this means that any conclusions drawn may not apply to more serious forms of crime

Question 19

genetic: limitation : biological reductionism

Answer 19

• reducing a very complex behaviour down to just neural or genetic aspects is overly simplistic, especially when we can’t disentangle environmental and biological influences
• criminality can’t be completely biological or concordance rates would be 100%

Question 20

genetic: limitation : biological determinism

Answer 20

• creates a legal / philosophical problem
• can they have criminal responsibility if it is biologically pre-determined?
• this could raise ethical problems if they are screened for criminality