brain injury in crime

Question 1

types of brain injury

Answer 1

traumatic - due to external force
acquired - events after birth

Question 2

healthy PFC

Answer 2

part of limbic system
controls behaviour, personality and decision-making
delays gratification of impulses
inhibits the amygdala

Question 3

damaged PFC

Answer 3

• can’t regulate amygdala - can’t respond correctly to stimuli
• can’t delay impulses
• reduction in volume of gray matter in PFC causes antisocial personality disorder
• lower serotonin in PFC causes more aggression

Question 4

healthy hypothalamus

Answer 4

• regulates autonomic nervous system
• regulates what hormones are released

Question 5

damaged hypothalamus

Answer 5

• can’t regulate appropriate hormone levels
• link to amygdala means incorrect interpretations of stimuli lead to wrong hormones
• increased testosterone, lower cortisol, increased adrenaline

Question 6

healthy hippocampus

Answer 6

• converts STM to LTM

Question 7

damaged hippocampus

Answer 7

• can’t learn from experiences
• can’t condition emotional responses
• can’t create episodic memories

Question 8

Raine et al

Answer 8

• asymmetrical glucose metabolism in the hippocampus and amygdala, higher in the right/lower in the left
• murderers had lower glucose metabolism in the PFC and corpus callosum and reduced vol of grey matter than controls

Question 9

Brower and Price

Answer 9

critical review of articles into frontal lobe dysfunction in violent males and females
antisocial and criminal behaviour linked to injured frontal lobes

Question 10

Williams

Answer 10

60% of young male offenders have a TBI
TBI affects 8.5% of population, young people and males more at risk

Question 11

Phinneas Gage case study

Answer 11

metal rod through his PFC
- before his TBI his boss described him as generous and well-mannered
- after he became impatient, irreverent and ‘almost a new person entirely’

Question 12

strengths of brain injury criminality

Answer 12

• objective data using brain scans
• triangulation so high credibility
• reductionist = more scientific
• can lead to pre-screening for criminality and and biological treatments

Question 13

weaknesses of brain injury criminality

Answer 13

• deterministic, scapegoating in court
• can lead to labelling or self-fulfilling prophecy
• correlational
• opposed by social factors

Question 14

Krutezer et al

Answer 14

couldn’t prove or disprove cause and effect between TBI and violence
of 74 patients, 20% had been arrested pre-injury and 10% post-injury