genes crime

glenn

• fMRI scan on 17 p’s with varying psychopathy

• p’s with higher psycho scores showed reduced activity in the amygdala during emotional moral decision making

• amygdala functioning is disrupted during moral decision making in psychopathy

amygdala link to criminal behaviour

• reduced amygdala activation may be undeterred from conning and manipulating others

• predisposing them to impulsive behaviour and engaging in criminal behaviour without remorse

amygdala: correlation, not causation

• cannot be said amygdala causes criminal behaviour

• might be that committing crime causes changes in activity not the other way around

• weakness, know amygdala plays role in criminal behaviour, cannot draw causal conclusions from evidence at this time

amygdala: pardini

• study of 503 males, part of study at 6/7 years old

• 20 years later, identify indv who showed aggressive behaviour since first study

• fMRI measured amygdala volume, found aggressive correlated with lower amygdala volumes

• therefore, differences in amygdala volume could be used to predict involvement in crime

amygdala: non violent crimes

• suggests amygdala has involvement in aggressive/ criminal behaviour

• struggles to explain other crimes such as shoplifting and fraud

• aggression/ violence plays no role

• therefore, doesn’t explain all types of criminal behaviour

inherited criminality

criminal behaviour can be inherited

osborn and west: family

• compared sons of criminal and non-criminal fathers

• 13% sons of non-crime fathers had criminal convictions, 40% sons with crime fathers

• suggests criminal behaviour may be inherited

• higher rates of criminality seen in sons with criminal fathers

raine: twin

• reviewed the literature comparing the delinquent behaviour of twins

• average concordance rate was higher for MZ twins (52%) than DZ twins (21%)

• higher concordance rate in MZ than DZ

• therefore, suggests some genetic influence on criminal behaviour

candidate genes

genes identified that could play a role in the development of a disease/ disorder

brunner: maoa gene

• warrior gene - linked to aggressive and anti social behaviour

• analysed dna of 28 male members of dutch family with history of impulsive & violent crim behaviour (rape and attempted murder)

• men shared mutation in the maoa gene - low levels of maoa

• suggests that criminality can be inherited

genes: tiihonen

• supporting evidence

• 900 finnish offenders - evidence of low maoa activity, and CDH13

• estimated 5-10% all violent crime in finland due to abnormalities in these genes

• howver, generalisability of findings questioned, all Ps finnish

• therefore, study suggests candidate genes → violent crimes, study lacks credibility

genes: reductionist

• oversimplifies causes of criminal behaviour down to genetics

• doesn’t consider other factors such as upbringing and environment

• this means that the explanation is incomplete

• reduces how understanding of what could potentially cause criminal behaviour

genes: biological determinism

• say that criminal behaviour caused by genes, it can give people an excuse for their behaviour

• this could cause people to have diminished responsibility in court proceedings and potentially get reduced sentences

• however, makes criminal behaviour more predictable

• therefore, could lead to problems determining guilt, but could give early intervention to mitigate this problem