P3 - C.P. - What makes a Criminal (Biological)

Question 1

Physiological Definition

Answer 1

Innate / Caused by Nature

NON-PHYSIOLOGICAL = EVERYTHING ELSE

Question 2

‘Criminal Look’ (Facial)

Lombrosso

Say the following card in an Italian accent

Answer 2

There was a ‘Criminal Look’ persistant with criminals: big Forehead, big Ears, Square jawline, receeding Hairline

Socially Sensitive

Question 3

Criminal Body Type

Sheldon

Answer 3

Three body Types, of which Mesomorph (medium sized & muscular) was the most associated with Criminals

Socially Sensitive

Question 4

Introvert vs Extrovert

Answer 4

• In a Study by Raine:
• Extroverts more likely to be Criminal: lower average heartbeat, so will seak out more thrills
• An area of the brain that he focuses on is the prefrontal cortex. This part of the brain regulates behaviour, in particular self-control. With an impaired prefrontal cortex an individual would find it more difficult to control themselves when they feel like acting in a certain way. Low activity in the prefrontal cortex can be indicated by the low resting heartbeat that extroverts have.

Question 5

Psychological Differences

Answer 5

• Prefrontal cortex high activation = low delayers, common in criminals
• High ID (Freud)

Question 6

Features of the Raine Study

Answer 6

• Raine et al. (1997a) used a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner to investigate the differences between the brains of murderers and non-murderers.
• He wanted to find out if the murderers had an impaired prefrontal cortex. This is a condition that can be inherited through genes, birth complications or the mother drinking alcohol during pregnancy.

Question 7

The prefrontal cortex in relation to Raine’s research

Answer 7

• Raine et al. (1997a) used a PET scanner to investigate the differences between the brains of murderers and non-murderers.
• He wanted to find out if the murderers had an impaired prefrontal cortex - a condition that can be Genetically inherited, birth complications or Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
• Antisocial and aggressive behaviour has been found to correlate w/ low resting heart rate (associated w/ low functioning prefrontal cortex). Raine believes that this heart rate is a clear indicator for aggressive behaviour (Raine et al. 1997b).
• Raine suggests social factors like family, upbringing and environment can also have clear effect on someone; BIOSOCIAL Approach

Question 8

The ‘Warrior Gene’

Answer 8

• Hans Brunner in 1993 wrote about a gene that was associated with aggressive behaviour.
• This gene, which the media called ‘the warrior gene’, is actually called MAOA and is responsible for the production of an enzyme also called MAOA.
• MAOA breaks down excess amounts of the neurotransmitter ‘serotonin’ (which can affect the brain’s ability to regulate anger).
• If there is a lack of MAOA to break down the serotonin, too much serotonin in the body could be an explanation of aggression.

Question 9

Inheritance of MAOA

Answer 9

• Brunner investigated a family in the Netherlandswith an abnormally large number of males displaying aggressive, violent and antisocial behaviour associated with a type of mental retardation.
• Analysing urine samples from 5 of the Males in the family, Brunner found the family had a point mutation that affected the amount of MAOA that males in that family produced (Little To None).
• This meant the males had an excess of Serotonin, which impaired their ability to regulate anger – another BIO Explanation of Crime.
• In this case, the crimes committed by the five men included rape, arson and assault.

Question 10

Non-BIO Explanations of Crime

Answer 10

Despite Brunner’s and Raine’s findings which suggest that BIO is a factor that determines criminal behaviour, there has been evidence to the contrary.
* Farrington and West identified a number of factors that may determine criminality from a longitudinal study with 411 eight-year-old boys that they interviewed from boyhood to adulthood.
Their typical crime risk factors included poor parenting, poverty, history of family criminality, low school attainment and risk taking.
* Sutherland (1939): ‘differential association’ – simply knowing people who committed crime meant you were more likely to pick up the mind-set, culture and skills of a criminal.

Question 11

RAINE - Aims

Answer 11

To measure brain activity in both cortical (cerebral cortex) and subcortical (corpus callosum, hippocampus, thalamus) areas using PET scans on a group of murderers who had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI).

Question 12

RAINE - Sample

Answer 12

Murderers group
* 39 men, 2 women - Mean age 34.3
* All charged with murder or manslaughter
* All pleaded NGRI (Not Guilty by Rason of Insanity)
* 6 had schizophrenia
* 23 had a history of drug abuse
* 2 had affective disorders, 2 had epilepsy
* 3 had a history of hyperactivity and learning difficulties
* 2 had passive aggressive or paranoid personality disorders

Control group
* 41, Matched by Gender - Mean age 31.7
* No History of Murder or Psychiatric Illness
* 6 had schizophrenia

NGRI - Not Guilty by reason of Insanity

Question 13

RAINE - Controls

Answer 13

All offenders kept medication-free for two weeks before scanning.
Tests to ensure that being right or left handed made no effect on behaviour.
Tests to ensure that 23 murderers with head injuries showed no difference in brain functioning (except for the corpus callosum – one of the areas where differences between murders and non-murders was expected).

Question 14

RAINE - Procedure

Answer 14

• Participants had to complete a continuous performance task (CPT) where they had to find targets on a screen and press a button when the target was found. This task should engage the prefrontal cortex and it lasted 32 minutes.
  Participants were given 10 minutes to practise the CPT and were then injected with a glucose tracer that would allow the PET scan to measure brain activity.
• Once the CPT was completed participants were placed in a PET scan and their brains were scanned 10 times at 10mm intervals.

Question 15

RAINE - Results

Answer 15

• Within the cerebral cortex there was no difference in activity within the temporal areas.
• There was more activity in the occipital area for the murderers.
• The murderers also had less activity in the corpus callosum. This could suggest inappropriate emotional expression and an inability to grasp the consequences of an action.
• Murderers also had less activity in the left side of the amygdala and the hippocampus.
  But they had more activity in the right side of the thalamus.
• The reduction of activity in the prefrontal areas might explain impulsive behaviour with a loss of self-control.
• Differences in the amygdala suggest that the murderers had a lack of fear which in turn could lead to more violent behaviour.

Question 16

RAINE - Conclusions

Answer 16

• Raine et al. make it clear that although this study does reveal biological differences in the brain functioning of murderers and non-murderers, it does not reveal one single brain mechanism that leads to violence.
• Instead they suggest that it is a more complex, combination of processes that increase the chances of violence.
• They also state that the findings do not mean that the murderers are not responsible for their actions and that violence is not caused by biology alone.
• They also make clear that findings in this study cannot be generalised to other types of crime that are not murders, and that the PET scan cannot be used to diagnose people who are likely to become murderers.
• They conclude by stating that differences in brain activity is just one of many factors that could lead an individual to violent crime.

Question 17

How to prevent future violence

Answer 17

Raine’s study identifies that biology has an important part to play in the reason why violent crime has been committed, but what can be done about it?
In 2013, Raine identified three biosocial factors that could be risks for antisocial behaviour in children.

1. Mothers who smoke and drink alcohol during pregnancy.
2. Poor nutrition of a mother during pregnancy nearly doubles the rate of antisocial behaviour.
3. Early maternal care pre- and post-birth also has significant impact.

Question 18

Evaluation - Olds (1998)

Answer 18

• Olds (1998) was a study that investigated how effective interventions were at reducing crime.
  400 low class women were split into two groups. One group received standard pre- and postnatal care.
• The other group received home visits from nurses during pregnancy and after pregnancy. Advice was given on reducing smoking and alcohol and advice on how to meet the child’s needs.
• A 15-year follow-up showed a 52.8% reduction in arrests and 63% reduction of convictions.

Question 19

Evaluation - Biological interventions

Answer 19

• In the Mauritius study the group of children with a low resting heart rate (the group more likely to commit crimes) were matched with a control group and received a three-part intervention:
• Nutrition – a balanced nutritious diet was provided.
  Physical exercise – sessions of structured games, gym and free play.
• Cognitive stimulation – a curriculum consisting of toys, art, crafts, drama and music was adopted.
• Follow-up studies showed that the children with the intervention could better focus their attention at 11 and showed significantly less bad behaviour (less cruel, not hot tempered and less likely to bully).
• This suggests that nutrition can be an important factor to consider when preventing crime.

Question 20

Evaluation - Omega-3

Answer 20

• It has been suggested that fish oil like omega-3 can reduce antisocial and aggressive behaviour.
  Raine (2003) used 100 children and had them take a fish oil supplement with their daily juice drink.
  After six months parents reported a reduction in delinquency, aggression and attention problems.
• However, Raine as ever points out that even with biological interventions like nutrition, it still doesn’t completely end criminal behaviour. There are other factors to consider.
• There is no ‘quick fix’ when it comes to designing effective interventions to reduce crime. Social issues, cognitive patterns and biological factors should all be addressed for an effective intervention to take place.

Question 21

Evlauation - Usefulness

Answer 21

• This study provides evidence that there are a number of risk
  factors that may predispose a child to criminal behaviour. These findings can be very
  useful in the development of crime prevention strategies.
• Biosocial intervention programmes could be implemented even before the child is born,
  including health and nutrition programmes for pregnant women.

Question 22

Evaluation - Free Will/Determinism

Answer 22

Raine concluded that these brain dysfunctions are risk factors
associated with criminal behaviour, but violence is not biologically determined and free
will does play a part. There are individuals who do have brain dysfunctions in brain areas
associated with violent behaviour but who are not violent because of free will.

Question 23

Evaluation - Reductionism/Holism

Answer 23

Biological psychologists would argue for the reductionist debate
and that there is supporting evidence from this study. NGRI criminals have different
brains in areas associated with violence. However, a more holistic approach may be
more appropriate, as violent criminal behaviour may be learnt from experience, caused
by faulty cognitions, or due to social or developmental difficulties. In reality,
psychological factors triggering a biological predisposition is the most likely explanation
for ‘what makes a criminal’.

Question 24

Evaluation - Plastic Surgery

Answer 24

Lewinson (1965): People often treated according to their appearance, therefore others create a self-fulfilling prophecy.
* Plastic surgery therefore has the potential to apply a biological strategy to prevent criminal behaviour.
* 450 facial reconstructions operations on a prison population, both Men and Women and observed afterwards in and after prison over 10 years.

RESULTS:
* More Cooperation and Participation
* Higher Morale and Lower Hostility
* Felt Cared For and were extremely Grateful
* 42% re-offended - 75% in general prison population