What Makes A Criminal (biological)

Question 1

Physiological explanations of criminal behaviour

Answer 1

• genetic
• neurotransmitters
• brain abnormalities

Question 2

Non-physiological = psychological explanations of criminal behaviour

Answer 2

• cognitive
• behaviourist
• psychodynamic
• social

Question 3

Physiological background research (Lombroso 1876)

Answer 3

He argued that the physical shape of the head + face could determined the ‘born criminal’
Facial features of a criminal: narrow sloping brow, extra fingers/toes/nipples.
Features of a thief = expressive face, small wandering eyes
Features of a murder = cold glassy stares, big hawk like nose
Features of sex offenders = thick lips, protruding ears
Features of female offenders = short smaller skulls than normal women

Question 4

Physiological background research (Sheldon 1949)

Answer 4

Body shapes = personality types;
- endomorphic = sociable + relaxed
- ectomorphic = introverted + restrained
- mesomorphic = aggressive + adventurous
Using a correlated study found that many convicts were mesomorphic + least likely to be ectomorphic

Question 5

Physiological Background research (Brunner 1993)

Answer 5

MAOA gene breaks down neurotransmitters in brain including dopamine + serotonin
Several studies found a correlation between low activity from MAOA + aggression

Question 6

Non physiological background research - Eysenck

Answer 6

Eysenck’s criminal personality = extroverts seek excitement so are more likely to seek crime in order to gain excitement whereas others would not

Question 7

Non physiological background research - Jahoda

Answer 7

Jahoda = studied delinquency rates amongst Ashanti people in the Western Africa across a 5 year period. They believed the day of the week you were born in determined an individuals behaviour.found that boys born on Wednesday with Kwaku as part of their name committed almost 22% of violent offences. Not true however because everyone believed this people lived up to the expectations.

Question 8

Non physiological background research - Palmer + Hollin

Answer 8

Palmer + Hollin would offer a cognitive explanation of crime in terms of lack of moral development. Obtained sample of 126 convicted male offenders (13-21) + sample of 332 non offenders (13-22)both groups given a form to complete. Found that male offenders had leats mature moral reasoning + majority of non offenders were at the conventional level

Question 9

Key research

Answer 9

Raine et al 1997 - brain abnormalities in murders

Question 10

Aim of Raine

Answer 10

To identify areas of brain dysfunction in individuals charged with murder but found not guilty by reason of insanity.
He expected to find localised dysfunction in specific regions of the brain linked to violence but not in other areas

Question 11

Raine sample

Answer 11

Murderers charged with either murder or manslaughter, 39 male:2 female who pleaded guilty by reason of inanity. Mean age of 34.4 years
- sent to the University of California (UCI) for a PET scan for three reasons:
1. To obtain evidence for their NGRI plea
2. To assess their competence in understanding the judicial process and therefore ability to stand trial
3. To obtain evidence of diminished capacity to be used by judge to inform their decision about sentence given if they are found guilty

Question 12

limitations of PET scan data

Answer 12

PET scan data is not perfect. The more we practice using a particular skill and therefore particular area of the brain, the lower the activity levels that are shown. This means that the validity of such data is questionable.

Question 13

reasons for NGRI plea

Answer 13

1. 6 had schizophrenia
2. 23 had head injuries or organic brain damage
3. 3 had a history of psychoactive drug abuse
4. 2 had affective epilepsy
5. 2 had epilepsy
6. 3 had a history of hyperactivity and learning disability
7. 2 had personality disorders
   - In 7 of the cases, there were unusual circumstances that lead police to believe that the perpetrator was mentally impaired.

Question 14

donta page

Answer 14

• brutally murdered a 24-year-old woman when she caught him breaking into her home.
• As a baby Page was frequently shaken by his mother, and as he got older the abuse got worse. His mother would use electrical extension cords, shoes, whatever was handy. These were not once a year beatings, they were beatings that occurred almost daily.
• “Early physical abuse, amongst other things could have led to the brain damage, which could have led to him committing this violent act,” Raine says.

Question 15

method of Raine

Answer 15

Quasi Experiment – the IV is naturally occurring i.e. whether the participants are NGRI’s or “normal” non murderers with no history of psychiatric illness or current medical illness (other than the 6 schizophrenic matched participants)
Matched Pairs Design – the participants are matched on age and gender (and condition for the schizophrenic participants)

Question 16

procedure of raine

Answer 16

• All NGRI’s were in prison at time of study, and kept medication free for 2 weeks before the study
• given a practice trial on continuous performance task for 10mins (a task to detect target signals for 32 minutes, activating areas of brain in which Raine et al. anticipated differences in activity)
• started actual CPT task 30 seconds before they received the injection of radioactive tracer (flurodeoxyglucose) so that the initial novelty of the task did not show on the scan
• After completing task, they were transferred to PET scanner. Whilst in scanner, heads held still by individual head moulds. 10 “slices” (pics) taken to show activity in areas Raine was investigating.

Question 17

results of raine - cortex

Answer 17

1. Pre-frontal cortex - Lower than controls - Linked to low self-control and altered emotional responses
2. Occipital cortex - Higher activity than controls (p=<0.02) - May compensate for inactivity in the prefrontal cortex in the CPT

Question 18

results of raine - sub-cortex

Answer 18

3. Corpus callosum - Lower activity than controls - Linked to thought coordination. May fail to prevent aggressive impulses from the RH being acted upon.
4. Amygdala - Lower activity in the left than right side of the brain in murderers than in controls (p=<0.02) - May cause lack of inhibition for violent behaviour; fearlessness and failure to learn the negative effect of violence.
5. Medial (inner) temporal including hippocampus - Lower activity in the left than right side of the brain in murderers than in controls (p=<0.006) - May cause lack of inhibition for violent behaviour; fearlessness and failure to learn the negative effect of violence.

Question 19

extra results

Answer 19

• no significant differences between white and non-white murderers
• no significant differences between those with head injuries/brain damage and those with other causes of NGRI, except for reduced activity in the corpus callosum
• no significant differences in performance on the CPT
• no significant differences between right- and left-handed participants, except for left handed participants had reduced asymmetry in the amygdala

Question 20

summary of findings

Answer 20

NGRIs showed:
- Reduced activity in areas associated with violence
- Abnormal asymmetry with reduced activity in the left hemisphere and increased in the right hemisphere (particularly in areas linked to violence)
- No differences in areas linked to mental illness but not violence (e.g. the midbrain and cerebellum)

Question 21

conclusions

Answer 21

• significant differences between the brains of the “normal” population and those who have committed murder (with pleas of NGRI). This may explain their loss of self-control, immaturity and inability to modify behaviour that may have lead to their crimes.
• However, this study cannot show that these differences are the cause of criminal behaviour, other factors such as social experiences, situational factors, psychological predispositions and learned behaviours must be accounted for. These differences may also be an effect of criminality.

Question 22

application 1 - drug treatments

Answer 22

• would work by altering the chemicals in the brain which could thereofre alter their behaviour and they way that they would react in certain situations
• chemical castration to suppress sexual impulses. This can be given voluntarily or involuntarily, and evidence for its effectiveness is inconsistent.

Question 23

application 2 - nutritional supplements

Answer 23

a supplement of omega-3 may lead to improvements this is because it is though tthat antisocial behaviour in prisions is reduced by supplementing young offenders diets with vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids such as omega 3 and omega 6.

Question 24

application 3 - plastic surgery

Answer 24

• lombroso’s theory of physical defects makes someone a criminal could then be reversed and therefore remove that defect that makes them appear as a criminal