Neural Explanations of Offending (Year 13 Booklet 6)

Define neural explanations as a biological explanation of offending behaviour

Suggest that there are differences in the brain/nervous system between criminals and non-criminals

What are the 3 biological explanations of offending behaviour?

• Atavistic form

• Genetic explanations

• Neural explanations

What do the biological explanations of offending behaviour assume about criminality?

Assume criminality is innate, and due to factors such as genetics or abnormalities in brain structure/function

What is Antisocial Personality Disorder (APSD) characterised by?

• Lack of empathy

• Reduced emotional responses

• Tendency towards criminal behaviour

What research did Raine et al.(2000) conduct?

Compared brain scans of people with ASPD and controls without ASPD

What 3 differences did Raine find between ASPD brains and control brains

• Reduced activity in pre-frontal cortex

• 11% reduction in grey matter volume

• Reduced activity in amygdala

What is the role of the pre-frontal cortex?

Impulsivity → People ASPD have increased impulsivity

What is the role of grey matter?

Emotion regulation → People ASPD have reduced emotion regulation

What are the 3 roles of the amygdala?

• Pleasure (reduced ability to feel pleasure in people with ASPD)

• Processing fear (People with ASPD feel less fear)

• Aggressive behaviour (Increased aggressive behaviour in people with ASPD)

How might traumatic brain injury explain criminal behaviour?

1. Skull interior is rough and jagged

2. Brain hits skull and rebounds back

3. Leads to bruises, bleeding and swelling of brain tissue

The frontal lobes are most commonly affected by TBI, what is the role of the frontal lobes?

• Planning

• Memory

• Social skills

• Emotional regulation

Give supportive evidence for Traumatic Brain Injury

• Williams et al. 2016

• Studied 200 adult male prisoners in the UK

• Found 60% reported TBI of some kind

• They were also more likely to reoffend post-release

What are mirror neurones?

• Special brain cells that fire both in response to personal action and action of others

• Vital part of social cognition

Give supportive evidence for Mirror Neurones

• Keysers et al.

• Showed participants with ASPD a video of a person experiencing pain

• Only when asked to empathise the participant’s mirror neurones fired to show an empathy reaction

• Shows that people with ASPD have a neural empathy switch that can be turned on/off