Topic 1 Criminal psychology Flashcards
What was the summary of Raine?
Raine investigated 41 criminals who had committed murder or manslaughter and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity (NGRI) to see if their brains differed. These included people who had schizophrenia, brain damage through injury or as a result of diseases, as well as others who had epilepsy. He compared them to 41 age and gender matched controls to see if their brain activity differed. Participants were injected with a radioactive glucose tracer before completing a 32 minute continuous performance task and were then given a PET scan to identify active regions of the brain. NGRI criminals showed lower activity in the pre-frontal cortex, and corpus callosum and more activity in the right side and lower activity in the left of the amygdala.
What was Jahoda about?
tribe in Ghana called ‘Ashanti’ who believe that the day you were born on affects your personality. Their children are given a soul name based on the day they were born. Ashanti boys born on a Wednesday are thought to be violent and aggressive while Monday boys are meant to be more calm. Jahoda examine the names of criminals who have committed violent crimes recorded in court over a five-year period.
Monday boys accounted for 6.9% of offences while Wednesday boys accounted for 22%
This then focuses on the theory of self-fulfilling prophecy .
What is Palmer & Hollin about?
investigated whether young offenders differed in their moral development compared to non-offenders. They compared criminals (age 13 to 21) from young offender institutes in the West Midlands against age matched controls to see if they differed in their moral reasoning. Questionnaires about socio economic status and two psychometric measures, socio moral reflection measure and self-reported delinquency checklist, were given.
male offenders showed the least mature moral reasoning, whereas non-offenders tended to use conventional reasoning
What is Raine’s Mauritius study about?
100 children age 3 years old with a low resting heart rate were given an intervention to develop their prefrontal cortex:
Nutrition (balanced meal)
Physical exercise (sports)
Cognitive stimulation (music)
Matched against the control group of 100 children
At 11 the group who received the intervention showed better concentration and more mature brains
At 17 they show significantly lower levels of conduct disorder
in a follow up they gave 100 children omega-3 supplements once a day for six months and participants reported low level of delinquency, aggression and attention problems six months after the end of intervention
What is smoking in pregnancy and testosterone about?
smoking during pregnancy can lead to higher prenatal levels of testosterone. being exposed to higher levels of testosterone in the womb is linked with higher levels of aggression, sensation seeking behaviour and impulsivity which are all associated with antisocial and violent behaviour as well as hyperactivity and lack of empathy.
What are the applications of topic 1 criminal psychology?
What are the applications of topic 1 criminal psychology?
A
give children omega oil supplements. Children who are identified as being more at risk of aggression should be given nutritious meals including omega oil so brains can mature properly and reduce the chance of later aggression and crime. Raine showed that omega oils lead to low levels of delinquency aggression and attention problems.
Get children doing regular exercise . Regular daily exercise of 30 to 60 minutes a day involving structured games and also involving some strategies should improve brain activity.. less Antisocial behaviour was shown in Raines study at age 11 and 17 following the intervention.
Don’t smoke when pregnant . Avoid exposing children to cigarettes smokers this may lead to exposure to higher level of testosterone so don’t go near places with lots of cigarettes smoke. Testosterone exposure is increased as a result of smoking while pregnant which can lead to more impulsive behaviour and crime.
