Genetic And Neural Explanations

Question 1

What 2 evaluation points can we always use for biological theories

Answer 1

• reductionism
• determinism

Question 2

Why do the concordance rates of MZ twins make the genetic explanation weak

Answer 2

Concordance rates are not high and leave plenty of room for non-genetic environmental factors
-> additionally concordance rates may be due to shared learning experiences rather than genetics

Question 3

Why do even brain scans not support the neural explanation as strongly

Answer 3

• brain scanning studies (e.g. raine et all) show pathology in the brains of criminal psychopaths but cannot conclude whether these abnormalities are genetic or signs of early abuse

Question 4

Why is the term ‘offending behaviour’ too vague

Answer 4

Some specific forms of crime are more biological than others e.g. physical aggression

Question 5

Why is the genetic and neural explanation of criminal behaviour an example of biological reductionism (overtly simplified)

Answer 5

Criminality is complex and explanations that reduce offending behaviour to a gene or imbalanced neurotransmitter may be inappropriate and overly simplistic.

Criminal behaviour does seem to run in families, but so does emotional instability, mental illness, social deprivation and poverty. Twin studies never show 100% concordance rates in monozygotic twins, so genetics cannot be the only explanation for criminal behaviour.

Question 6

Why does this biologically determinist explanation cause legal system issues

Answer 6

If someone has a criminal gene they cannot have personal and moral responsibility for their crime. If this is the case it would be unethical to punish someone who does not have free will.

Question 7

what do genetic explanations for crime suggest about would be offenders

Answer 7

That they inherit a gene or combination of genes, that predisposes the, to commit crime

Question 8

What did Lange (1930) investigate

Answer 8

13 monozygotic (identical) twins and 17 dizygotic (non-identical) twins

Question 9

What did Lange find out about the MZ and the DZ twins

Answer 9

At least one of the twins in each pair had served time in prison
10/13 MZ twins had both spent time in prison
Only
2/17 DZ twins had both spent time in prison

Question 10

What does it mean when it argues that criminal behaviour could be polygenic

Answer 10

No single gene is responsible for offending
-> instead, many genes might be responsible for offending

Question 11

What are the many genes that might be responsible for causing criminal behaviour be called

Answer 11

Candidate genes

Question 12

Who did tilhonen at el (2014) conduct a genetic analysis of

Answer 12

900 Finnish offenders which revealed abnormalities on two genes that may be associated with violent crime

Question 13

What are the two genes that may be associated with violent crime

Answer 13

• MAOA gene
• CDH13 gene

Question 14

What does the MAOA gene control

Answer 14

Dopamine and serotonin in the brain & has been linked to aggressive

Question 15

What is the CDH13 gene linked to

Answer 15

Substance abuse and attention deficit disorder

Question 16

What was found about the Finnish sample individuals with this high risk combination of genes

Answer 16

They were 13 times more likely to have a history of violent behaviour compared to a control group

Question 17

What does the diathesis stress model say

Answer 17

That genetics influence criminal behaviour but this is moderated by the effects of the environment

Question 18

What does the diathesis stress model say a tendency towards criminal behaviour may come through

Answer 18

A combo of genetic predisposition and biology or psychological triggers, such as being raised in a dysfunctional environment

Question 19

What does the neural explanation suggest

Answer 19

Evidence suggests that there may be neural differences in the brains of criminals compared with non-criminals

Question 20

Much of the neural evidence in the area has investigated individuals diagnosed with ?

Answer 20

anti-social personality disorder (APD)

Question 21

What is APD associated with

Answer 21

Reduced emotional responses and a lack of empathy, a condition that characterises many convicted criminals

Question 22

What have brain imaging studies demonstrated about individuals with anti-social personality

Answer 22

They have reduced activity in the pre-frontal cortex of the brain

Question 23

What does pre-frontal cortex of the brain do

Answer 23

Regulates emotional behaviour

Question 24

What did Raine et all find about the volume of grey matter in the prefrontal cortex of people with APD

Answer 24

They found an 11% reduction of grey matter in those with APD versus a control group

Question 25

What did recent research has suggested that criminals with APD can experience

Answer 25

Empathy
But they do so more sporadically than the rest of us

Question 26

What did Keysers et al find that only when criminals were asked to empathise (with a person on film experiencing pain)

Answer 26

They only did it when they did their empathy reaction (controlled by mirror neurons in the brain) activated
This suggested that APD individuals are not totally without empathy but may have a neural switch that needs to be turned on in order to experience it
- in a normal brain, the e,patchy switch is permanently switched on