biological explanation of crime: brain injury Flashcards
(22 cards)
describe the role of the frontal lobe/ PFC
- planning
- decision making
- problem solving
- motor skills
- higher order cognitive function
- personality
- inhibits amygdalas emotional responses
describe the role of the pre frontal cortex
- personality expression
- inhibits amygdala
- planning / decision making
what happens if the pre frontal cortex is damaged?
- cannot inhibit amygdala’s impulses
- poor cognitive skills
- cannot plan or anticipate consequence
- inability to communicate with the amygdala to prevent rage
- inability to modify aggressive acts, facilitating criminal behaviour
- irrational, impulsive decisions due to a lack of self control
what happens if the hypothalamus is damaged?
- unable to regulate appropriate hormone levels in relation to behaviours
- imbalanced hormones such as too much testosterone could lead to outbursts of aggression, leading to crimes committed.
what happens if the hippocampus is damaged?
- problems creating episodic memories
- inability to learn from emotional responses or experience
- cannot learn when to display aggression
- unable to link new memories to old to update schemas via experiences
- cannot learn from the consequences of their actions
- links to recidivism and reoffending
what happens if the amygdala is damaged?
- cannot show correct emotional response
- lack of emotional perception
- cannot mamke emotional memories
- inability of facial recognition- may perceive ambiguous emotions/facial expressions as hostile and act in defence
- reduced volume = blunted emotions, calculated hostile behaviour
what causes increased impulsivity in adolescences?
- heightened need for basic reward
- increased reward seeking behaviour = drug or alcohol use
- cannot balance short term rewards and long term consequence as PFC is not fully developed until mid 20s
what is a traumatic brain injury?
a form of acquired brain injury which occurs when sudden trauma damages the brain
what is an open TBI?
- brain exposed
- eg due to a bullet
- can lead to focal damage
what is a closed TBI?
insult to brain from external mechanical force without exposing the brain
what are the causes of TBIs?
- road incidents
- falls
- assault
- sporting incident
what are risk factors of TBIs?
- Gender- males more than females
- socioeconomic status
- urban dwelling
- youth
what is the link between gender and young people acquiring TBIs?
- males more at risk than females in youth of acquiring TBI’s
- males- social norms of contact sports, construction jobs so more at risk
- also supported by the prison population- 70% are male, which adds credibility to this explanation
what are the consequences of TBIs?
- poor memory
- reduced concentration / attention
- executive system disorders - poor judgement
- decoupling of cognition - stress / depression
- decreased emotional awareness
- poor impulse control
strength for brain injury as an explanation for crime (frontal lobe supporting evidence) PEE
a strength for brain injury as an explanation of crime is the supporting evidence from Brower and Price. they studied articles relating to evidence of frontal lobe dysfunction in violent males and females, finding that anti social / criminal behaviour relates to frontal lobe damage. therefore, this is a strength because the biological explanation suggests that deficits to the frontal lobe prevent inhibition of amygdala and the individual is unable to anticipate consequences or correctly perceive emotions so they act impulsively.
what is an application for brain injury being an explanation for crime?
pre screening of young people when they first offend can allow punishment to be reduced as the individual has less responsibility of their crime and allows more awareness of brain injuries in the criminal justice system.
weakness of brain injury as an explanation for crime (opposing study) PEE
A weakness of brain injury as an explanation of crime is the study by Kreutzer et al, who were unable to establish cause and effect between TBI and violence. For example only 20% out of 74 patients had been arrested ore-injury and only 10% post injury. Most arrests were after the use of drugs or alcohol. Therefore, this is a weakness as it suggests that crime could be a confounding variable- not a primary cause of crime, and the lack of cause and effect reduces the internal validity of the findings.
Supporting evidence for TBI’s in young people
- Williams report
- found 60% of young people in custody report having experiences some kind of traumatic brain injury
- thought that brain injuries can lead immature brains to misfire- so can interrupt the development of young peoples ability to restrain their impulses
How does Raine link to brain injury
- lower activity in PFC
- lower activity LHS
- higher activity RHS
- ppts were pleading NGRI to murder
- 23 had suffered/experienced a brain injury
Case studies linking to brain injury
PFC- phineas gage- damage can lead to irrational, impulsive behaviour, supporting the explanation.
BUT, CAN ONLY EXPLAIN ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR- p.g. Never committed a crime, and so is deterministic and evidence for individual differences.
How good is research
- case studies have low generalisability
- high validity- triangulation of research- self report data, scans, case studies etc increases accuracy of findings
- high validity- brain scans and medical records- highly scientific, controlled environments, limits EV’s, adds credibility.
Credibility of theory
- reductionist- numerous social and environmental factors in why people are likely to commit crime such as low employment status or peer pressure.
- deterministic- cannot account for free will
