crime - what makes a criminal (biological) Flashcards
(10 cards)
What does physiological mean?
- nature
-comes from within - genes ( warrior gene) , mesomorph, personality,
- Brunner
what does non-physiological mean?
- nurture
- external factors
- family, friends, environment, drug usage
Name two and outline the background studies for what makes a criminal
- Brunner: looked at MAOA and serotonin levels
– researched 5 males and they had increased serotonin but lowered warrior gene levels
– more aggressive - Sheldon + Lombroso: mesomorph bodies more aggressive
- Jahoda: people born on wednesdays much more aggressive
– over 5 years
– Wed: 22% prison
– Mon: 6.9% prison
What was the Aim for Raine?
To see if violent offenders who committed murder and pleaded NGRI ( not guilty for reason of insanity) have brain disfunction
what was the research method for Raine
- quasi experiment
- matched participants
what was the sample for Raine?
- 41 murderes ( 6 with schizopherina)
- 41 non murderers ( 6 with schizopherina)
- ## they were off meds for 2 weeks
what was the procedure for Raine?
- participants injected with tracer
- ppts did a continuous performance task where they had to press a button when they saw something on a screen
- done in PET scan
- done for 32 minutes
- PET scan used box technique and cortical peel technique
What were the findings for Raine?
- no differences in the performance
- NGRI had more activity in the occipital region
- activity in corpus callosum decreased
- activity in prefrontal cortex aslo decrease
what are the possible conclusions for Raine?
- There are different brain functions
- predisposed to violent behaviour e.g reduced activity in prefrontal cortex could result in loss of self control
- However we can’t use PET scan to diagnose murderers
- only studied on one group so can’t generalize
what are the applications for what makes a criminal?
- omega 3 diet
- raine gave 100 children omega 3 and their aggression reduced
- Lewinson: plastic surgery
- facial reconstruction for criminals
- 75% - 45% ( recidivism rates lowered) - chemical castration
- testosterone blocker so reduced aggression