Neutal explanations of crime

Question 1

What is serotonin?

Answer 1

Serotonin regulates an individuals mood, also known as the ‘feel good’ chemical

Question 2

What are the 2 studies that support serotonin being a cause of crime?

Answer 2

• Moir and Jessel: human and animal studies which suggested a link between low levels of serotonin and aggression, linked to criminal behaviour
• Scerbo and Raine: conducted a meta analysis on 29 pieces of research into anti social adults and children, all of which had low levels of serotonin

Question 3

What is dopamine?

Answer 3

A hormone that gives someone the sense of pleasure, as well as motivation to do something when feeling this pleasure

Question 4

What 2 studies link to dopamine?

Answer 4

• Buitelaar: found juvenile delinquents given dopamine antagonists which reduce dopamine levels showed a decrease in aggressive behaviour
• Couppis: argues some individuals who engage in certain criminal behaviours may experience an increase in dopamine so seek out these experiences again due to the rewarding feeling

Question 5

What is the amygdala?

Answer 5

It’s part of the limbo system which is known as an older region in the brain, it is seen to have some sort of survival benefit and had been identified as a structure with links to emotional regulation and aggression

Question 6

What are the frontal lobes?

Answer 6

They are part of the neocortex and have been linked to higher function such as social behaviours and planning

Question 7

What two studies link to neurophysiology?

Answer 7

• Brower and Price: found a link between frontal lobe dysfunction and violent crime
• Kandel and Freed: looked at frontal lobe damage and anti social behaviour, found there was a tendency for individuals to show emotional instability so fail to consider consequences of their actions. Such traits are a result of impaired functioning in the frontal lobes - responsible for planning behaviour

Question 8

What was Raine’s study?

Answer 8

The aim was to identify brain regions specific to offenders charged with murder who pleaded no guilty by reason of insanity
Participants were 41 murderers, 2 of which were female, who had been charged with murder and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. they used PET scanning to highlight areas of brain activity and results were compared to an age and gender matched control groups
They found reduced activity for the offender groups in areas like the frontal lobe and corpus callosum as well as being abnormalities in activity of the limbic system
They concluded that there is indication that offenders have abnormal brain functions when compared to normal controls, the brain of offenders are slowed and maybe unable to make swift decisions to react appropriately and cannot consider the consequences

Question 9

What are PET scans?

Answer 9

Radioactive glucose shows up on a scanner and increased blood flow means increased activity in the brain

Question 10

Evaluation of neural explanations of crime

Answer 10

• Overly simplistic: links between abnormal levels of neurotransmitter and offending behaviour centre around violent behaviour but doesn’t explain all types of crime
• No clear way to show cause and effect: e.g. low levels of serotonin found in offenders could be a cause of offending behaviour but there could also be an effect to it