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Criminal Behaviour > Origins of Criminal Behaviour > Flashcards

Origins of Criminal Behaviour Flashcards

1
Q

True or False: Cesare Lombroso believed that criminals were more genetically similar to their primitive ancestors than non-criminals - homo delinquens, and believed in the born criminal

A

TRUE

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2
Q

what is somatotyping

A

William sheldon developed a body typing classification system for identifying criminals

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3
Q

What were the three basic body types that william sheldon classified criminals with

A
  1. Ectomorphs : fragile and thin
  2. Mesomorphs : powerful, athletic and muscular
  3. Endomorphs : soft and fat
    - found a strong correlation b/w personality (temperment) and somatotype
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4
Q

What did twin studies show

A

monozygotic (identical) twins should show greater concordance on a characteristic (e.g intelligence, antisocial behaviour) than dizygotic twins, if there is a genetic basis to that traitW

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5
Q

What do adoption studies show

A

adoptees resemble biological parents more in antisocial behaviour, therefore, there is a modest but consistent genetic component to antisocial behaviour

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6
Q

What seem to be genetic markers for criminal behaviour

A
  1. Aldehyde Dehydrogenase 2 allele (ALDH^2)
  2. Monoamine Oxidase (MAO) A (on X-Chromosome)
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7
Q

What are three ways of measuring neurotransmitter activity?

A
  1. Central neurochemical measures
  2. Peripheral measures
  3. Pharmacochallenge techniques
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8
Q

What does Serotonin (5-HT) involved with?

A

involved in regulation of sleep, sexual activity, appetite, analgesia and mood

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9
Q

Research supports an inverse relation ship between serotonin activity and various indices of ______

A

human aggression
1. Aggressive behaviour found to be inversely related to CSF levels of 5-HIAA
2. Children with disruptive behavioral disorders - low levels of 5-HIAA
3. 5-HT functioning thought to be linked to reactive, impulsive subtype of aggression
4. Aggressive behaviour inversely related to MAO levels in men and women

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10
Q

How does Norepinephrine affect human aggression?

A
  • positive relationship between NE activity and aggression proposed
  • positive correlation between elevated levels of MPHG and history of aggression in males
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11
Q

How does Dopamine (DA) affect

A

Low levels of homovanillic acid found to discriminate violent recidivists from non-recidivists

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12
Q

V.ANS Arousal and Antisocial Behaviour

A
  • antisocial individuals are more likely to be chronically underaroused
  • Traditional measures of ANS arousal include:
    ~heart rate
    ~Skin conductance (SC)
    ~Electroencephalogram (EEG)
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13
Q

What does low heart rate, low SC level, and slow- wave EEGs indicate

A

generalized ANS underarousal

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14
Q

what were the findings from the:
EEG
SC
HR

A

EEG - increased aggression and delta and theta waves
SC - Antisocial individuals lower SCLs than noncriminals
HR - Lower resting HR found in conduct disordered, delinquent, and antisocial children

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15
Q

What are two theoretical models to explain these findings

A
  1. Fearlessness theory: low ANS arousal indicated low levels of fear and anxiety, increasing one’s capacity for antisocial behaviour
  2. Stimulation-seeking theory: low ANS arousal is an aversive state, and antisocial individuals seek out stimulation (often in the form of criminal behaviour) in order to bring their arousal to an optimum level

two theories not mutually exclusive

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16
Q

What does the frontal lobe involve?

A

Motor cortex - raw execution of motor movements
premotor cortex - selection of movements to be executed
prefrontal cortex - executive mental functions

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17
Q

What does damage to the prefrontal cortex do (what is an example)

A

can predispose individuals to violent and antisocial behaviour - PG - Phineas Gage

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18
Q

What is pseudopsychopathy or acquired sociopathy

A

Damage to the orbitofrontal region can produce this syndrome which causes;
- immature behaviour
- lack of tact or restraint
- coarse language
- promiscuous/aberrant sexual behaviour
- Lack of social grace

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19
Q

What is a PET; and how does it help to compare criminals to non criminals

A

according to Raine in 1994, murderers had reduced glucose metabolism in prefrontal cortex using this scan compared to noncriminal controls. No difference in glucose metabolism in posterior frontal regions

20
Q

Verbal deficits

A

Juvenile delinquents have evidenced verbal deficits which are proposed to be linked to criminal behaviour - linked to left hemisphere dysfunction

20
Q

What is neuropsychology

A

A branch of psychology that involves examining the structure and function of the brain (including damage) through noninvasive tests and activities

20
Q

Executive functions

A

delinquent youth also displayed impairment on measures of executive functioning - linked to frontal cortex dysfunction

21
Q

Potential explanatory mechanisms (3)

A
  1. verbal deficits directly cause antisocial behaviour
  2. Verbal deficits are symptomatic of generalized left hemisphere dysfunction
  3. Neuropsychological deficits are only relevant in life-course persistent young offenders (vs adolescent limited)
22
Q

TRUE OR FALSE:
Natural selection and evolution can be linked to antisocial behaviour

A

TRUE

23
Q

What is adaptation

A

Any anatomical structure, physiological process, or behavioural pattern that enabled an organism to survive and reproduce in its ancestral environment

24
Q

Antisocial behaviour as an evolved life history strategy; applies to psychopathy:

A
  • low parental investment
  • high mating effort
  • short term mating
  • lots of biological offspring
  • low group altruism
  • deceitful and manipulative tendencies
  • coercion if necessary
25
Q

What is inherited?

A
  • possibly a general predisposition for rule violations and seemingly, selfish, dishonest, exploitative behaviour
  • unlikely that specific antisocial behaviours are inherited (e.g an armed robbery gene)
  • different biological markers (direct/indirect) likely exist
  • social environment would regulate the expression of a potential criminal genotype, social experiences have potential to alter the course of brain development
  • no single biological marker is a necessary or sufficient cause of violence, aggression, or criminal behaviour
26
Q

What did Freud think of psychodynamic models of crime

A
  • Behaviour is instinctually (urges) driven (sex and aggression)
  • Behaviour is unconsciously determined
  • Behaviour involves reconciling competing tensions between innermost desires and societal expectations
    ID EGO and SUPEREGO
27
Q

The Gluecks

A

Famous study comparing large samples of delinquent and non delinquent youth
- delinquency due to weak superego from faulty parenting (code for a lack of conscience or moral compass)
- emphasis on family and parenting variables
- acknowledged temperamental, physical, psychological and other variables

28
Q

Absence of S&P controls= criminality (what is S&P controls)

A

Social = ties to primary groups
personal = internalized individually
stresses the importance of personal controls, particularly those provided by the family

29
Q

Family is most significant in development of ________

A

personal controls
- children from close, cohesive family with prosocial values, unlikely to be delinquent

30
Q

What is the social bond theory (Hirschi)

A
  • individuals more likely to turn to crime if their bond to society is weak or broken
  • stresses the “four elements of the social bond”
31
Q

What are the four elements of the social bond

A

Attachment: strength of emotional ties to others
Commitment: extent to which one pursues conventional goals
Involvement: how busy somebody is with prosocial activities
Belief: basically prosocial (i.e conventional) values and morality

32
Q

General theory of crime (Gottfredson, hirschi)

A
  • individuals with low self-control gave a greater propensity to commit crimes when they have the opportunity to do so
  • Low self control = impulsive, present-oriented, unstable relationships, low remorse for harming others
  • poor self-control rooted in early childhood socialization
  • Criticism = simplistic and contradicted by findings showing that adults forming stable social bonds (e.g marriage, stable job) are less likely to become involved in criminality
33
Q

Behaviorism

A

prior to 1930’s, focus was on unconscious and unobservable processes
- watson - too vague, untestable, unscientific
- watson - focused on behaviour and promoted the removal of “mind” from psychological study
- goal is to understand, predict, and control (modify) human behaviour

34
Q

What are four components of classical conditioning

A

Unconditioned stimulus (US)
unconditioned response (UR)
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
Conditioned response (CR)

35
Q

Eysenck’s “conditionability” (fetishes)

A

Deviant Sexual arousal patterns.
Arousal paired with previously neutral stimulus - undergarments, rubber rain boots (not inherently arousing)
- behavioural modification procedures to change

36
Q

Operant conditioning

A

learning either to perform or withhold a particular response because of its consequences

37
Q

reinforcement (+/-)
Punishment (+/-)
“extinction”

A
  • increase frequency of types of behaviour
  • decreases frequency of types of behaviour
  • the frequency of a behaviour becomes zero due to lack of reinforcement
38
Q

What does positive and negative refer to

A

+ = application of a stimulus
- = removal

39
Q

Reinforcement always _____
Punishment always ______

A

increases behaviour, decreases behaviour

40
Q

positive reinforcement

A
  • material gain
  • thrill/adrenaline
  • positive peer responses
41
Q

Negative reinforcement

A
  • reduction of fear/anxiety
  • removal of perceived obstacles or stressors
42
Q

Social learning theory (Bandura)

A

We learn primarily through observing and listening to people around us
- to engage or not engage in a particular behaviour
- VIcarious learning and self-efficacy

43
Q

differential association-reinforcement theory

A

people learn to commit deviant acts through interpersonal interactions in their social environment

44
Q

if criminal behaviour is learned…

A

criminal behaviour can be replaced with more adaptive strategies to reach goals
may be reconditioned

Criminal Behaviour (4 decks)

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