Biology
Is there any evidence that criminal
behaviour has a biological cause?
The theory of biology
• The basic assumption here is that criminals are
biologically different to non-criminals. In
particular, some bio-psychologists argue that
special structures inside the brain control our
social behaviour. People without these
structures may become criminals.
• However, these theories are often reductionist
and deterministic and can only explain certain
types of crime.
• What crime could you link to biological reasons
and why?
Evolution:
• It has been shown that males often commit
crimes more than females.
• It has been suggested that this could be due to
an evolutionary trait.
• Males who were aggressive, could fight, run and
take risks, etc, would survive more in times
when such behaviours were necessary, those
who were not aggressive died and so the
necessary genes were passed on.
Cesare Lombroso's (1835-1909)
theory of anthropological criminology
• What do we know?
Theories of Biology
Raine, Bruner, Daly and Wilson
Learning outcomes
• Brain dysfunction (Raine, A. (2002) ‘The role of
prefrontal deficits, low autonomic arousal, and
early health factors in the development of
antisocial and aggressive behaviour in children’,
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 43,
417–34)
• Genes and serotonin (Brunner et al. (1993)
‘Abnormal behaviour associated with a point
mutation in the structural gene for monamine
oxidase A’, Science 262 (S133), 578–80)
• Gender (Daly, M. and Wilson, M. (2001) ‘Risktaking, intrasexual competition, and homicide’,
Nebraska Symposium on Motivation 47, 1–36)
• a) Outline how brain dysfunction can
explain criminal behaviour
• b) Evaluate individual (biological)
explanations of criminal behaviour
January 2011
• a) Outline a biological explanation of why
males commit more crimes than females.
• b) To what extent does the biological
approach provide an explanation of
criminal behaviour? January 2010
Raine (2002)
Understanding the development
of antisocial behaviour in
children
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcaDSJ
1LplQ
True all of the time? Some of the time? Never?
1 The brain controls every single function of the body.
2 Your genetic inheritance determines your behaviour.
3 The position of a monozygotic twin in the womb can
influence that twin's personality.
4 The brain is thought of as being 'plastic' which means it is
rigid and cannot change.
5 Children aged 3-10 have less efficient brains than adults.
6 Changing your thinking patterns can change the structure
of your brain (ie beating addiction, OCD etc.)
Is crime in the genes?
* Can violence be seen as a disease, in the same way that
alcoholism is now viewed?
* Are we programmed – think evolution – to be violent?!
* Since early 1990's science has 'swung' more towards
genetic explanations for behaviour.
* Could a genetic excuse be used by a lawyer to get their
client off a murder charge?
Genes/biology or something
else?
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* A man who has suffered head injury in a road
accident beats up another man in an
unprovoked attack.
* A teenage girl with an average IQ participates
in vandalism with her friends.
* A body-builder who experiences extreme road
rage.
* A child with ADHD who is loud and abusive.
The Case of Phineas P Gage
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Personality change via brain
Gage, 1894. damage
Railway worker – catastrophic damage to
prefrontal lobes caused by a metal bolt
catapulting through cheek and up through
eye into brain.
Recovered physically but went from being
a sober, quiet family man to a violent
drunk.
Prefrontal lobes are one of ‘newest’ brain
areas – keep behaviour in check,
moderate impulses.
Key study: Raine
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Ongoing studies, longitudnal.
Raine believes that sudden,
unpremeditated murder could have a
biological cause – abnormality in brain’s
metabolism.
Low physiological arousal might mean an
individual seeks ‘thrills’ in increasing
measures = criminal behaviour.
physiological – Raine 1997
PET scan:
• less active: forebrain and
corpus callosum (executive
control, puts 'brakes' on
behaviour)
• Asymmetric differences
Amygdala, hippocampus,
thalamus (emotion/fear)
Raine 2: boys’ physiology
• Low heart rate and skin
resistance @ 14
• = good predictor of criminal
record @ 21
slow
fast
Adolescents are all criminals…
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* Blakemore & Choudry (2006) – adolescent
brain still forming its final connections in prefrontal lobes (complete in early 20’s)
* Raine (2002) – pre-frontal activity lower in
impulsive individuals who are likely be anti
social and aggressive.
* Birth complications, poor parenting, physical
abuse, smoking, substance abuse all add to
risk…
Can you see how this complements the
Farrington study?
Aim: • To make a multi-factor approach to
understanding antisocial and aggressive
behaviour in children.
• What different biological muliti-factor
approaches can you think of that could
explain a persons antisocial behaviour?
• Mind map with a partner…
Procedure: • A meta-analysis (results of several
studies) of a selection of articles covering
neuropsychological, neurological and
brain-imaging studies as they relate to
anti-social behaviour in children.
• Covering several studies that address the
situation
• One of which is purely based on resting
heart rates
Findings: • A low resting hearty rate is a good predictor of an
individual who will seek excitement to raise their arousal
level, creating a fearless temperament.
• The adolescent brain is still forming its final connections
in the pre-frontal lobe right up until the early twenties.
• Activity in the pre-frontal lobes of impulsive individuals,
who are more likely to be antisocial and aggressive, is
lower
• Birth complications and poor parenting with physical
abuse and malnutrition, smoking and drinking during
pregnancy all add to the risk.
• (This is a strength of this research as it considers other
factors, not just biology, so it is less reductionist than
other studies
The frontal lobes are involved in several functions
of the body including:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Motor Functions
Higher Order Functions
Planning
Reasoning
Judgement
Impulse Control
Memory
Conclusion: • Raine concludes that early intervention
and prevention may be an effective way of
reversing biological deficits that
predispose to antisocial and aggressive
behaviour.
• Agree or disagree?
Key points
• Background: This article selectively
reviews the biological bases of antisocial
and aggressive behavior in children with
a focus on low autonomic functioning
(this nervous system controls heart rate,
digestion, danger/stress) prefrontal
deficits, and early health factors.
Key points
• Low resting heart rate is thought to be the bestreplicated biological correlate of antisocial and
aggressive behavior in child and as a result children are
fearless, stimulation-seeking and have bad
temperament.
• Evidence from neuropsychological, neurological, and
brain imaging studies converges on the conclusion
that prefrontal structural and functional deficits are
related to antisocial, aggressive behavior throughout
the lifespan.
• A prefrontal dysfunction theory of antisocial behavior is
advanced.
• It argues that this prefrontal dysfunction causes a lack of
inhibitory control over antisocial, violent behavior that
peaks at a young age
Key points
• Birth complications are selectively associated
with later violent behavior, especially when
combined with adverse psychosocial risk
factors for violence.
• Cigarette smoking during pregnancy may
increase the risk for antisocial and violent
behavior in later life by disrupting noraadrenaline (stress hormone) functioning
• Malnutrition during pregnancy is associated
with later antisocial behavior and may be
mediated by protein deficiency
Key points
• Conclusions: It is argued that early
health intervention and prevention studies
may provide the most effective way of
reversing biological deficits that
predispose to antisocial and aggressive
behavior in children and adults
Remember
• Low resting heart rate
•
Fearless temperament
•
Birth complications
•
Lower activity in prefrontal lobes
•
Poor parenting
•
Drinking and smoking in pregnancy
Consider the following…
• Raine’s more recent work has led him to
believe that biological predispositions are
‘switched on’ by environmental conditions.
• If these environmental conditions do not
exist, then the child is much less likely to
turn to crime.
• What does this suggest about crime
prevention?
Consider the following…
• A major concern about all biological
explanations is the ‘labeling effect’, leading
to certain expectations and a self-fulfilling
prophecy that someone's biological make
up will predispose them to crime
• How can this be resolved ethically so that
the researchers knowledge is used for the
benefit of society?
Evaluation
GENERALISABILITY
QUASI EXPT
VALIDITY
DETERMINISM
REDUCTIONISM
NATURE – NURTURE
Evaluation
APPLICABILITY
ETHICS
Bruner
A study of violence in a family of
genetic abnormality.
Background:
• Genes are the building blocks of DNA and tell our bodies
how to grow and develop.
• Our genes do not know anything about the laws and
constructs of society so criminality is not directly affected
by our genes. However, genes can give people
predispositions- a natural, built-in tendency to behave
in a certain way- for example taking risks, being
aggressive or selfish.
• These predispositions may lead to a person behaving in
a way that leads to criminal behaviours.
Aim:
• To study a family where males were affected by
a syndrome of borderline mental retardation and
abnormal violent behaviours.
Methodology:
• A case study of a family from the Netherlands.
• 5 affected males were studied who showed
behaviours such as impulsive aggression, arson,
attempted rape and exhibitionism.
• Data was collected from the analysis of urine
samples collected over a 24 hour period.
Findings:
• The tests showed disturbed monoamine
metabolism associated with a deficit of the
enzyme monoamine oxidase A (MAOA-).
• MAOA
is
an
enzyme
that
degrades
neurotransmitters,
such
as
dopamine,
norepinephrine, and serotonin.
• A mutation was identified in the X chromosome
of the gene responsible for the production of
MAO-A.
• MAO-A is known as the ‘warrior gene’
Conclusions:
• MAOA is involved in serotonin metabolism.
• An impaired metabolism of serotonin is likely to
be responsible for mental retardation and could
be linked to the aggressive behaviour.
Issues:
• Generalisability
– Small sample- only 5 boys from 1 family
– Could this just be an ‘odd’ family?- not like the rest
• Quantitative data
– Urine samples were taken which increases the
objectivity.
Debates:
• Reductionism vs Holism
– Puts behaviours down to genes and mutations within
the body
• Psychology as science
– Objective measures
Daly and Wilson
Investigation of gender-related
life-expectancy.
Background:
• In all cultures, young males appear more often
in crime statistics than any other group.
• Daly and Wilson noticed that young male
offenders have a short term horizon where
they want instant gratification. They also have a
short lifespan expectation die to the risky
behaviour that they engage in.
Aim:
• To find out if homicide rates would vary as a
function of local life expectancy in Chicago.
Methodology:
• A correlational study using survey data from
police records, school records and local
demographic records in Chicago.
Why Chicago?
• Chicago is an unusual American city because it is
divided into 77 distinct community areas or
neighbourhoods.
• These areas have fairly clear cut boundaries and their
own social and economic characteristics.
• The researchers took their data from a recent population
census and compared it to police and school records on
crime, delinquency and truancy.
• They focussed on the communities that had a low
average life expectancy for males aged 54-77 years.
Findings:
• The results showed that life expectancy was a good
predictor of neighbourhood homicide rates.
• There was a negative correlation; the lower the life
expectancy, the higher the homicide rate.
• The correlational coefficient was -0.88, which is very
strong.
• Daly and Wilson suggest that young men in these areas
have the ‘short term horizon’ described earlier. They
want instant gratification rather than delayed pleasure
and expect to live short lives and discount the future.
Findings:
• Another finding was a negative correlation
between truancy from school and life
expectancy. This could be explained by a short
term horizon again.
– The boys see little point in working hard at school
because they do not imagine long futures for
themselves and their parents don’t force them to
attend because they also operate on a short term
horizon.
– The payoff is then that young males who skip school
and break the rules will have more potential friends,
compensating for them dying younger.
Conclusions:
• Young men from disadvantaged neighbourhood
expect to live shorter lives, therefore are more
likely to engage in risky behaviours.
• These findings can be explained by social
factors such as poverty and inequality.
Issues:
• Correlational study
– Does not show cause and effect
• Reliability
– Data gathered from police and school records
Debates:
• Ethnocentrism
– Only used people from Chicago
• Reductionism vs Holism
– Biological explanations
• Free will vs Determinism
– Biology determines behaviours