CRIM 2251: Criminological Theories - Biological, Genetic, and Psychological Perspectives

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering theoretical, genetic, evolutionary, neurological, and physiological explanations of criminal behaviour from the CRIM 2251 lecture notes and syllabus.

Grade of UN (Syllabus Requirement)

The academic grade assigned in CRIM 2251 if a student fails to complete $30\%$ or more of the evaluative course components.

Violence

An intentional act of threatened, attempted, or actual physical harm directed against a non-consenting person.

Physical Violence

An intentional act that causes physical insult or injury, regardless of how minor, to another non-consenting person.

Instrumental Violence

Violence that is goal-oriented, typically premeditated, and often carried out against someone with little or no connection to the offender.

Reactive Violence

Violence that occurs spontaneously as a reaction to provocation or an event, typically directed against someone the offender knows.

Aggression

A social behaviour intended to hurt or irritate another individual; defined by the text as a behaviour perpetrated or attempted with the intention of harming another individual physically or psychologically (as opposed to socially) or destroying an object.

Forms vs. Functions of Aggression

Forms refer to the manner in which aggression takes place (physically, verbally, or socially), whereas functions refer to the underlying reason why aggression is enacted (such as reactive in response to provocation or proactive for instrumental gain).

Hostile (Expressive) Aggression

Aggressive behaviour enacted in response to anger-inducing conditions where the primary goal is typically to make the victim suffer.

Instrumental Aggression

Aggression that typically originates from competition or the desire for an object or status possessed by another person, enacted to achieve a specific purpose.

Microdynamics vs. Macrodynamics (Aggression)

Microdynamics are individual experiences that strengthen over time, whereas macrodynamics are social network dynamics where aggressive individuals connect with similar peers and escalate each other's aggressiveness through social contagion mechanisms.

Criminology

The interdisciplinary study of crime as both an individual and social phenomenon, researching the origins and forms of crime, its causes and consequences, and social and governmental reactions to it.

Scientific Theory

A set of interrelated constructs (concepts), definitions, and propositions that present a systematic view of phenomena by specifying relations among variables to explain and predict phenomena (Kerlinger, 1973).

Model (in Criminological Research)

A graphic representation of a theory or a concept designed to enhance its understanding (Bartol & Bartol, 2017).

Explanatory Power

The ability of a theory to provide a full and precise account of a phenomenon, successfully explaining both inter-individual differences (between people) and intra-individual differences (within the same person).

Longitudinal Research Design

A research design that repeatedly measures the same participants at different points in time to resolve directional ambiguity in correlational relationships.

Classic Experimental Design

A research design that permits causal inferences by utilizing three essential elements: random assignment of participants, an experimental group, and a control or comparison group.

Quasi-Experimental Design

A research methodology used when full experimental control is ethically or practically constrained, incorporating some characteristics of a true experiment and utilizing matched groups to control for extraneous variables.

Meta-Analysis

A statistical method of data analysis that combines the quantitative findings of multiple independent studies on a topic to generate an overall estimate of effect size or magnitude.

Behavioural Genetics

A field of study examining the role genes play in the formation and development of human and animal behaviour, focusing on the relationship between genetics and behavioural expression across a population.

Molecular Genetics

The field of biology dedicated to studying the chemical and biological structure and function of genes at the molecular level.

Polymorphisms

Genes that exist in more than one alternate form within a population, producing phenotypic variation such as blood type.

Polygenic Traits

Characteristics or behavioural tendencies influenced by the combined actions of multiple genes rather than a single gene pair.

Epigenetics

The study of mechanisms that increase or decrease gene activity and expression without altering the underlying DNA sequence, demonstrating that genetic functioning is malleable rather than fixed.

Concordance Rate

The degree of similarity or frequency with which a specific trait or behaviour is shared by both members of a twin pair (monozygotic vs. dizygotic).

Twin Study Heritability of Antisocial Behaviour

A consistent finding across over $100$ studies ($800{,}000+$ twin pairs) indicating that genetic factors account for $40\text{--}50\%$ of the population variation in antisocial, aggressive, and chronic youthful offending behaviour.

Callous-Unemotional (CU) Traits (TEDS Findings)

Personality characteristics evaluated in the Twins Early Development Study showing high heritability, while also demonstrating significant vulnerability to environmental factors such as childhood maltreatment.

Early Childhood Lack of Control (Ages 3–5)

A developmental indicator identified by Caspi et al. (1995) and Moffitt (1993) that reliably predicts aggressive adolescent behaviour, but does not predict non-aggressive rule-breaking behaviour.

Burt (2009) Meta-Analysis

A quantitative synthesis of $103$ studies showing a higher genetic influence for aggressive antisocial behaviour ($65\%$) compared to non-aggressive antisocial behaviour ($48\%$).

Wang et al. (2013) Gender Findings

A study demonstrating that genetic influences increase with age in males for both aggressive and non-aggressive antisocial behaviour, whereas in females, genetic influence for non-aggressive behaviour drops to a minor role with age and aggressive genetic influence drops initially before rising at ages $16\text{--}18$.

Rhee and Waldman (2002) Meta-Analysis

A major behavioral genetics meta-analysis dividing variance in antisocial behaviour into heritability ($0.41$), non-shared environment ($0.43$), and shared environment ($0.16$).

Kendler et al. (2014) Adoption Study

An adoption study showing genetic transmission across both violent and non-violent criminal behaviour, demonstrating that biological parental or sibling violent crime strongly predicts violent behaviour in adopted offspring.

Diathesis-Stress Model

A probabilistic model stating that an individual possesses an underlying genetic predisposition or vulnerability (diathesis) that will only manifest as psychopathology or deviance when triggered by environmental stressors.

Differential Susceptibility Model

An interaction model proposing that individuals with heightened biological sensitivity experience the worst outcomes in adverse environments, but also the best outcomes in supportive, enriched environments ('for better and for worse').

Natural Selection (Serin et al., 2011)

The primary evolutionary mechanism through which species change and adapt over time, shaping functional biological and psychological adaptations that enhance survival and reproductive fitness.

Fight or Flight Response

An automatic sympathetic nervous system survival mechanism that activates the amygdala, hypothalamus, and adrenal glands to prepare the organism to confront or flee physical dangers.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

The autonomic division that counterbalances sympathetic arousal, responsible for calming the body and returning physiological systems back to baseline following stress.

Trauma (Oudshoorn, 2015)

An experience or series of experiences involving overwhelming stress that an individual cannot escape, which can dysregulate and hypersensitize the physiological stress response system into a state of chronic high alert.

Ancestral Reproductive Trade-offs

Three evolutionary cost-benefit balancing strategies favored by natural selection to maximize fitness: present vs. future reproductive efforts, quantity vs. quality of offspring, and mating effort vs. parental involvement.

Alternative Strategy Theories

Evolutionary theories suggesting that antisocial or criminal behaviours are adaptive manifestations of prioritizing mating effort over parental investment.

Conditional Adaptation Theories

Theories asserting that evolved behavioural strategies (mating vs. parenting effort) are conditionally triggered by early childhood environmental cues experienced during the first $5\text{--}7$ years of life.

Young Male Syndrome

An evolutionary tendency for adolescent and young adult males to exhibit elevated levels of risk-taking, competitive aggression, and offending in pursuit of social status and mating opportunities.

MAOA-L Gene Variant

A low-activity polymorphism of the monoamine oxidase A gene that, when interacting with childhood maltreatment, significantly elevates the risk for conduct disorder, violent convictions, and adult antisocial personality symptoms (Caspi et al., 2002; Stetler et al., 2014).

Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (1998, 2002)

A longitudinal New Zealand study tracking a cohort over $26$ years with a $96\%$ retention rate, demonstrating significant gene-by-environment ($\text{G} \times \text{E}$) interactions involving the MAOA gene and childhood maltreatment.

Neuropsychology

The scientific study of brain anatomy, neural systems, physiological functioning, and their direct relationships to psychological processes and human behaviour.

Structural vs. Functional Brain Imaging

Structural techniques (MRI, CT scans) evaluate the physical architecture and morphology of brain tissue, while functional techniques (PET, SPECT scans) measure active brain metabolism and task-based blood flow.

Bufkin and Luttrell (2005) Imaging Review

A meta-review of $17$ neuroimaging studies concluding that aggressive behaviour stems from prefrontal cortex deficits, temporal lobe/limbic dysfunction, and an altered balance between the PFC and left subcortical structures.

Executive Functioning (Hoaken et al., 2007)

Higher-order cognitive processes mediated by the prefrontal cortex that allow individuals to create and adapt plans flexibly, exercise self-control, and guide actions via internal ideas rather than external stimuli.

Predatory vs. Reactive Murderers (Raine et al., 1994, 1998)

PET scan research showing that impulsive, reactive murderers exhibit significantly reduced prefrontal cortex activity, whereas predatory, cold-blooded murderers display relatively normal prefrontal functioning.

Disinhibition Syndrome (Lyons & Welsh, 2017)

A condition characterized by an inability to exercise mental control over emotional reactions or consider alternative, socially acceptable responses in stressful circumstances, typically caused by prefrontal cortex deficits.

Episodic Dyscontrol Syndrome (EDS)

A condition linked to temporal lobe abnormalities characterized by sudden, uncontrollable, and highly aggressive emotional outbursts that are out of character for the individual (associated with Intermittent Explosive Disorder).

Limbic System

An intricately connected network of subcortical structures located beneath the medial temporal lobe that governs primal drives including fear, aggression, hunger, and sexual arousal.

Amygdala

A limbic structure responsible for emotional processing, fear conditioning, somatic memory, and threat assessment; dysfunction may cause misinterpretation of neutral social cues as hostile threats.

Hormones

Slow-acting biochemical messengers released into the bloodstream by the endocrine system (such as the pituitary and adrenal glands) that regulate metabolic growth, stress states, and broad behavioural drives.

Book et al. (2001) Testosterone Meta-Analysis

A meta-analysis identifying a weak but positive correlation ($r = 0.14$) between testosterone and human aggression, which is twice as high in young males aged $13\text{--}20$.

Challenge Hypothesis (Archer, 2006)

An evolutionary biological hypothesis proposing that male testosterone levels are not static, but fluctuate dynamically upward during social or physical situations that challenge mating opportunities, reproductive success, or dominance status.

Cortisol

The primary glucocorticoid stress hormone released by the adrenal cortex via hypothalamic signaling, displaying complex, conflicting relationships with conduct problems (with studies linking aggression to both high and abnormally low cortisol states).

Serotonin Deficiency Hypothesis

The biological proposition that deficient levels of the neurotransmitter serotonin impair behavioural regulation and directly increase impulsive aggression and violence.

Dopamine (and Aggression)

A major central nervous system neurotransmitter involved in reward seeking, exploratory behaviour, and pleasure, whose overproduction or dysregulation is linked to elevated aggression and psychotic agitation.

Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids (AAS)

Synthetic derivatives of testosterone designed to stimulate muscle growth, which have been linked in longitudinal and self-report studies to increased rates of serious violence, trait aggression, and impaired self-control.

Beaver et al. (2008) Steroid Study

An analysis of over $6{,}000$ young males from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health revealing that steroid users were significantly more involved in serious violence even after controlling for polydrug use and baseline antisocial propensities.

Hauger et al. (2021) Weightlifter Findings

A study showing AAS-dependent weightlifters had higher self-regulation difficulties and reported antisocial personality scores over twice as high as non-dependent users and nearly $15\times$ higher than non-using control athletes.

Psychophysiology

The scientific study of the relationships between the underlying physiological and chemical functions of living organisms and their psychological states or overt actions (Lyon & Welsh, 2017).

Autonomic Arousal Theory

A theory postulating that chronic and violent offenders possess chronically low baseline autonomic nervous system arousal, resulting in diminished fear, high thrill seeking, and impaired passive avoidance learning.

Behavioral Activating System (BAS)

In Jeffrey Gray's arousal model, the biological motivational system that responds to environmental reward cues and incentives, clinically associated with sensation seeking and impulsivity.

Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)

In Jeffrey Gray's arousal model, the neuropsychological system that monitors cues of punishment, novel stimuli, and non-reward to suppress maladaptive behaviour, clinically linked to anxiety and avoidance conditioning.

Low Resting Heart Rate (Ortiz & Raine, 2004)

A robust biological marker demonstrating a medium-sized correlation with antisocial behaviour in youth across both sexes, interpreted as indicative of physiological under-arousal or a low fear threshold.

Neurotoxins (in Criminology)

Environmental chemical substances (such as lead, maternal tobacco nicotine, and in utero alcohol or opiates) that disrupt healthy central nervous system development, particularly during gestation and up to age $2$, acting as biological risk factors for criminal conduct.