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Psychology - attachment, psychopathology, approaches, SZ, offending, issues & debates > PAPER 3 - FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY - biological explanations of offending behaviour > Flashcards

PAPER 3 - FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGY - biological explanations of offending behaviour Flashcards

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1
Q

what are the biological approaches/explanations to offending behaviour?

A
  • atavistic form theory (historical explanation)
  • genetic & neural explanations
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2
Q

what is atavistic form?

A
  • a biological approach suggesting criminals are a genetic throwback (primitive subspecies) unable to conform to modern society
  • suggests crime is innate and behaviour is genetically determined
  • individuals are distinguished appearance with specific facial and cranial characteristics
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3
Q

what physical features are associated with criminal behaviour according to atavistic form?

A

prominent jaw
large ears
high cheekbones
extra toes and nipples

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4
Q

what research evidence is there to support atavistic form?

A

in one of Lombroso’s studies of 383 convicted criminals, 21% had one atavistic trait and 43% had at least 5

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5
Q

how did Lombroso carry out his research?

A
  • systematically examined facial and cranial characteristics of convicted criminals
  • features considered to be key into study of criminality
  • found statistical significance, 40% of crimes committed were by those with atavistic traits
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6
Q

what did Lombroso say about environmental influences?

A

suggested that atavistic form interacted with a persons physical and social environment

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7
Q

what is meant by the term ‘somatotypes’

A

body type

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8
Q

how did Lombrosis later distinguish between different types of criminals (1897)?

A
  • born criminals (atavistic type)
  • insane criminals (suffering from mental health issues)
  • criminaloids (innate characteristics predisposed them to criminal behaviour under certain circumstances)
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9
Q

how can Lombroso considered to have contributed to the science of criminology? (evaluation)

A
  • shifted emphasis away from moralistic discourse
  • made it more scientific
  • laid foundation of offender profiling
  • research was evidence based
    HOWEVER didn’t compare to a control group which would have controlled confounding variables e.g. poverty
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10
Q

why might Lombroso’s work be accused of scientific racism and linked to the eugenics movement? (evaulation)

A
  • eugenics movement suggested desirable traits are inherited e.g. intelligence, morality
  • these groups were at a genetic advantage and should therefore breed for society while others should not
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11
Q

what contradictory evidence was there against Lombroso’s research? (evaulation)

A
  • Goring - conducted comparison between 3000 criminals and 3000 non-criminals
  • concluded no evidence of distinct group with unusual facial characteristics
  • though did find criminals have slightly lower IQ
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12
Q

what are the issues of gender bias within Lombroso’s research? (evaulation)

A
  • didnt study females so unable to generalise findings
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13
Q

what research support is there for somatotoypes? (evaulation)

A
  • Ktetschmer studied 4000 criminals and suggested criminals fall into 4 somatotypes
  • leptosome - tall & thin - associated with petty thieves
  • athletic - tall & muscular - associated with crimes of violence
  • pyknic - short & fat - crimes of deception & violence
  • dysplastic - mixed - more than one type of crime
    however no control group was used
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14
Q

what are the overall strengths of the historical explanation to offending behaviour?

A
  • beginning of scientific criminology
  • research support for somatotypes
  • genetics research suggests our genes carry criminal predisposition
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15
Q

what are the overall limitations of the historical explanation to offending behaviour?

A
  • criticisms of Lombroso’s methods
  • links with eugenics movement
  • evidence to challenge Lombroso’s findingd (Goring)
  • gender bias in research
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16
Q

what is the genetic explanation to offending behaviour?

A

criminality is inherited and genetic and neural mechanisms may underlie inheritence of criminal traits
- is possible that GENETIC abnormalities MAY cause structural and functional differences in the brain

17
Q

how do twin studies (Raine) support the genetic explanation to criminal behaviour? (genetic explanation)

A
  • research on delinquent behaviour of twins found 52% concordance for MZ twins, compared with 21% for DZ
  • suggets that there is a large biological component to behaviour
  • delinquent behaviour has genetic component as MZ twins are more likely to exhibit the same delinquent behaviour as DZ twins
18
Q

how do candidate genes contribute to offending behaviour? (genetic explanation)

A
  • researchers analysed DNA of a family with a history of violent behaviour and found they shared a gene that caused abnormally low levels of MAOA
  • could suggest that low levels of MAOA (Monoamine oxidase A) is associated with criminal behaviour
19
Q

how does diathesis-stress contribute to offending behaviour? (genetic explanation)

A
  • Epigenetic’s suggest that gene expression con also be caused by environmental factors
  • Caspi (2002) studied 1000 people from when they were babies to 26 yrs old
  • found 12% of men with low nada genes had experienced maltreatment when they were babies, suggests criminal behaviour is not purely down to biological factors
20
Q

What research support is there for offending behaviour? (Evaluation)

A
  • Crowe (1972) found that adopted children who had a biological parent with a criminal record had a >50% greater risk of having a criminal record by 18, whereas adopted colder is mothers that didn’t have criminal record only had a 5% chance
  • supports genetic explanation as it shows inherited genes are a more significant factor than environmental factors influencing behaviour
  • however, twin studies experience similar environments so can’t establish C & E
21
Q

Explain the limitation “it can be questioned genetic and neural explanations can explain non-violent crimes as most research seems to look at certain crimes involving violence and psychopathy”

A
  • Blonigen (2005) found support for a genetic basis looking at over 600 male and female twins, found evidence that personality traits are inherited
  • biological exploration only accounts for certain types of crimes
  • suggests it’s hard to explain such a range on behaviours simply in terms of genetics and their interaction with the environment
22
Q

What issues are there with such deterministic explanations like genetics as an explanation for offending behaviour?

A
  • Can be argued that genes a person is bomb with determine later behaviour
  • Evidence shows that criminality cannot 100% be explained in terms of genetics
  • Tiihonen found nose with a defective give were 13x more likely to have a history of repeated violent behaviour, but not everyone with specific gene will offend
  • delinquent behaviour questions whether its down to biology/environment key grew up in, suggesting deterministic view of criminal behaviour can’t be completely ruled out
23
Q

What is the neural explanation to offending behaviour?

A

Suggests that structures of the brain and levels of neurotransmitters in the brain may be different in criminals compared to non-criminals

24
Q

What is the prefrontal cortex?

A
  • Regulates emotion and moral behaviour
  • studied by Raine (2004)
25
Q

How is the prefrontal cortex associated with offending behaviour?

A
  • Reduced function found in violent offenders
  • Lowered activity associated with impulsive behaviour and loss of control
  • Raine found murderers, psychopaths and violent individuals had reduced functioning in PFC
26
Q

What is the limbic system?

A
  • Involved in motivation, emotion, learning & memory
  • Studied by Raine (1977)
27
Q

How is the lambic system associated with offending behaviour?

A
  • Raine studied murderers found not guilty by reason of insanity
  • found abnormal symmetries in Limbic system: reduced left amygdala activity, increased right amygdala activity
28
Q

What is serotonin and how it does explain criminal behaviour?

A
  • is a neurotransmitter
  • Plays major role in mood, anxiety & happiness (regulating emotions)
  • it is likely low levels of serotonin may cause individuals to exhibit more impulsivity, aggression and lead to criminal behaviour
29
Q

what is noradrenaline and how does it explain criminal behaviour?

A
  • plays major role in stress response
  • increases arousal, enhances formation and retrieval of memory, focuses attention, increases restlessness and anxiety
  • suggested that high levels = fight or flight response and increases aggression
  • suggested that low levels = inability to appropriately react to violent threats
30
Q

how is the difficulty to infer cause and effect a limitation of neural explanations of offending behaviour? (evaluation)

A
  • hard to establish whether brain/neurotransmitter abnormalities are the cause of offending behaviour or just an interfering variable
  • correlational, only highlight link rather than cause
31
Q

how is real world application a strength of neural explanations of offending behaviour? (evaulation)

A
  • if low levels of serotonin are related to increased aggression in criminals, people in prison could go on diets to enhance serotonin levels
  • leads to new methods of treatments
31
Q

how is it a limitation that neural explanations is a theory based on aggression rather than offending?

A
  • Curran and Renzetti
  • said data cannot be used to predict who becomes an offender, research also not generalisable to non-violent crimes
  • criminality not studies but aggression is so may lack validity

Psychology - attachment, psychopathology, approaches, SZ, offending, issues & debates (41 decks)

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