Physiological and non-physiological explanations Flashcards
What is a physiological explanation of crime
how biology is linked to criminal behaviour
How are areas of the brain linked to criminal behaviour
Limbic system (amygdala) is linked
Imbalances in activity in the amygdala is linked to aggression and crime
Damaged prefrontal cortex
Not able to regulate emotions eg. anger or control impulses
Who was Phineas Gage
railway worker who got into an accident and prefrontal cortex was damaged
became more aggressive
unique study and hard to generalise findings
BACKGROUND
What did Brunner et al find
studies dutch family with mental retardation and behaviour eg. attempted rape
found that MAOA gene is linked
Mutation to this gene can lead to aggressive behaviour
What hormone is linked to criminal and anti-social behaviour
high levels of testosterone
BACKGROUND
What was the results and conclusions of Dabbs et al study
RESULTS -
=inmates who had committed a violent crime had higher testosterone levels than inmates with non-violent crimes
= inmates with higher testosterone levels violated more rules in prison
CONCLUSIONS
= positive correlation between amount of testosterone and violent criminal behaviour and misbehaviour in prisons
BACKGROUND
Asses sampling bias in Dabbs et al’s study
= large sample so more representative
= only made up of prisoners so difficult to apply findings to wider populations
BACKGROUND
Asses ethnocentrisms in Dabbs study
ETHNOCENTRISM
= only white and african americans
= only men
= may not apply to other ethnicities who may have different testosterone levels
= testosterone may not affect women
Give one example of a non-physiological explanation of behaviour
Behaviourist explanation
criminal behaviour is learnt from enviroment
BACKGROUND
What did Banduras study find
How can it be used to explain criminality
findings
= children would copy aggressive behaviour shown by model towards a bobo doll
link
= children may observe and immitate aggressive/criminal behaviour should by negative role models (social learning theory)
Give another non-physiological explanation of criminal behaviour
social explanation
social factors eg: family background, education, poverty affect criminal behaviour
BACKGROUND
What was the aim and sample of Farrington’s study
AIM
= influence of life events and family background on criminality
SAMPLE
= 411 boys from six state school in south london
= mainly white
= working class boys
BACKGROUND
What was the results and conclusion of Farrington’s study
RESULTS
at 48, 404 individuals had criminal records
161 had convictions
CONCLUSIONS
most important factors for offending
= family criminality
= low school attainment
= poverty & poor parenting
BACKGROUND
Assess sampling bias and ethnocentrism of Farrington’s study
SAMPLING BIAS
large sample, androcentric and ethnocentric
south london,
termporal bias as born 1953/54 so not replicable in present
ETHNOCENTRIC
all boys from inner city london, mainly white
other cultures, ethnics groups different factors affect criminality
KEY RESEARCH
What was the aim and sample of Raine et al’s study
AIM
to see if murderers who plead not guilt by reason of insanity (NGRI) have localised brain impairments
SAMPLE
82 participants
41 mostly men charged with murder/manslaughter in Calafornia,USA who were pleading guilty of NGRI because of schizophrenia
41 non murders
KEY RESEARCH
What was the research method and type of design in Raine at al’s study
quasi experiment
they did not control who was a murderer and who wasn’t
matched pairs design
non-murderers were matched for age and sex
KEY RESEARCH
What is the procedure in Raine’s study
Particpants worked on a continous performace task (CPT) that was based on target recongition whilst in a PET scanner
A radioactive tracer was injected so PET scanner would show areas of the brain that were most active during CPT task
CPT task involved searching for targets on a screen (cross) and pushing a button when detected
Task designed to stimulate the prefrontal cortex as it requires them to concentrate on the target
KEY RESEARCH
What were the results of Raine et al’s study
PET scans showed 41 murderers had lower activity in prefrontal cortex and corpus callosum than non-murderers
Abnormal imbalances of activity in the amygdala, thalamus and medial temporal gyrus
KEY RESEARCH
How is brain activity in certain regions linked to criminal behaviour
NGRIs showed less activity in frontal lobe (prefrontal cortex) which is associated with rational thinking/ memory
Imbalances in limbic system which is linked to aggression
KEY RESEARCH
How can findings be linked to criminality
- Prefrontal cortex is linked to control
NGRIS had reduced activity so can’t control their impulses - Corpus callosum is linked to transfer of info between
hemispheres
NGRIs had reduced activity so may not use logic (LH) to
deal with emotions (RH)
Affects how they deal with emotional situations and can’t
plan ahead - Amygdala is linked with feelings of fear and increased
activity is linked to impulsive aggression
NGRIs had imbalances so are more likely to feel fearless
and show impulsive aggression
KEY RESEARCH
What were the conclusions of Raine et al’s study
- Brain dysfunction may predispose a person to violence
- Damage to prefrontal cortex is associated with impulsivity and loss of control
- Imbalances of activity in amygdala, thalamus and hippocampus could lead to increased aggression
KEY RESEARCH
What did Raine et al consider in his warning
results do not show violent behaviour is determined by biology alone
other factors eg. social, psychological, cultural and situational can affect criminality
KEY RESEARCH
Assess the sampling bias is Raine et al’s study
- large sample (82) which is the largest at the time for this
kind of study
= anomalies e.g.. participants with unusual brainstructure.
people disrupted the test by not focusing on CPT
shouldn’t skew the data - NGRIs are unusual offenders
= people who have killed someone but don’t remember
doing it or confused to stand trail
= not representative of ‘typical’ murderers
KEY RESEARCH
Reliability of Raine
control extraneous variable
- murderers matched on age and sex
PET is scientific brain imaging technique - test-retest reliability
> problems as results were unclear + had to be interpreted
> subjectivity
standardised procedure
> CPT ensured participants were concentrating on same thing
> similar types of brain activity
KEY RESEARCH
- Validity
Lack ecological validity
> CPT task that had no relation to violence
> artificial and unconnected to violence
Lack internal validity
> quasi experiment so can’t establish cause and effect
> NGRIs brain deficits could’ve developed after killing due to stress of event
PET scans open to interpretation
> difficult to know which parts of brain are activated + functions are
High concurrent validity
> study carried out meta-analysis and gave similar conclusions
> impulsivity is linked to deficits in prefrontal cortex + amygdala
Usefulness of research into physiological and non-physiological explanations
Raine = implications for sentencing given to NGRIS
> reduce it as less responsible for actions
Raine = useful interventions for those at risk of crime
> eg. brain injury, can be offered counselling
Farrington = prevent children at risk of criminality
> intervention strategies for children with history of criminality eg. parent workshops + youth schemes
Bandura = 9pm watershed + social workers understanding
Biological Strategies for preventing criminal behaviour
> regular exercise and diet
nutritional supplements
anti-psychotic drugs
Paragraph for regular exercise + diet
doing regular exercise and eating balanced nutritious diet can reduce aggression
HOW
- prisons should encourage offenders to do exercise programme + eat healthily
- on release, get prisoners to buy cheap veg from budget supermarkets
- educate them about how it can reduce aggression so they continue outside
WHY
- Raine found intervention group were less aggressive than control group + committed less crime by 23
- reduce aggression in prison environment
Paragraph for nutritional supplements
eg, omega-3 capsules, fish oil supplements
HOW
- fish oil supplements are packaged into blister packs
- label prisoners name, cell , prison no. and give it to them at lunch
- omega-3 capsule should be taken 4 times a day and consumed under watch of prison guards to make sure they take it
WHY
- deficiencies in omega-3 results in limited regulation on limbic system > lead to increased aggression
- study found fewer incidents of aggression + rule breaking amongst young prisoners
Paragraph for drug treatments
schizophrenia linked with violent crime so anti-psychotic drugs can reduce symptoms to prevent crime
HOW
- medicine eg. clozapine should be labelled with prisoner’s name in a blister pack. prison guards should supervise
WHY
- block dopamine D2 receptors so reduce dopamine transmission
- found to effectively reduce violent crime amongst prison population
