Genetic/Neural Explanations Of Offending

Question 1

what research do twin studies provide for the genetic and neural explanations

Answer 1

13 mz twins and 17 dz twins
found that 10 mz twins and only 2 dz twins had a co-twin who was also in prison
meaning genetic factors just play a predominant part in offending

Question 2

what is the issue with using early twin studies

Answer 2

poor control; zygosity was based on appear rather than DNA testing
small sample - lack meaningful generalisation; not representative​ of wider population
reared in same environment meaning concordance rates may be due to shared learning experiences rather than genetics; reducing sig. of genetics predisposing offending behavior

Question 3

what genetic analysis highlights that genetic explanations also consider candidate genes

Answer 3

genetic analysis has revealed abnormalities on two genes that may be associated with violent crime these are MAOA Gene and CDH13
the analysis found that individuals with the high risk combinations were 13 times more likely to have a history of violent behaviour
furthermore criminal behaviour may come from the combination of genetic predispositions and biological or psychological triggers, for example being raised in a dysfunctional environment or having criminal role models

Question 4

suggest research support for the diathesis stress model

Answer 4

a study of 13000 adoptees was used.
research found that when neither biological or adoptive parents had convictions the percentage of adoptees with convictions with 13.5% but this rose to 24.5% when both adoptive and biological parents had convictions this suggests that genetic inheritance plays an important role in offending but environmental influence cannot be disregarded so shows support for the diathesis stress model

Question 5

why does this explanation suffer biological reductionism

Answer 5

offending behaviour is often reduced to a simplistic genetic or neural level
for the factors that play an important role in offending such as mental illness disregarded
this makes it difficult to disentangle the effects of genes and neural influences from other possible factors

Question 6

why do low concordance rates in genetic studies show support the diathesis stress model

Answer 6

mz pairs do not show 100% concordance
low concordance rates in genetic studies suggest that genes play a minimal part in the development of behaviour
does low concordance rates suggest environmental factors may be responsible for criminal behaviour
demonstrating support for the diathesis-stress model
but poses a limitation for the genetic and neural explanations as being a sole explanation of offending