describe biological explanations of criminal behaviour
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Course
Criminal behaviour
Institution
AQA
A star graded essay plans on questions surrounding Criminal Behaviour, primarily useful in paper 3 psychology but also applicable to other papers. Each essay plan is written in an easy to understand table format which is clearly labelled. The tables are used to ensure that all criteria is met in th...
Describe the 2 biological explanations of criminal behaviours 10 marks
Inherited criminality A01
Point
Twin studies - Twin studies are used in order to determine whether crime is a result of the influence of
nature or nurture.
- Used to compare the criminality of monozygotic and dyozygotic twins.
- Monozygotic twins = share the same embryo so share 100% genes and the same
environment.
- Dizygotic twins = share 50% DNA and the same environment.
- Investigated by measuring concordance rates (the likelihood of both twins committing
crime when one does)
- E.g coccaro found a 50% concordance rate in MZ twins and only a 19% concordance rate
in DZ twins.
The maoa gene - First investigated by Brunner, suggested that a specific gene was linked to criminality,
referred to as MAOA-L
- MAOA= Monoamine oxidase a
- MAOA is an enzyme that regulates the breakdown of neurotransmitters such as
serotonin.
- Low enzyme activity corelates high aggression due to the abnormal release of
neurotransmitters and adrenaline and noradrenaline.
- Provides a predisposition for committing criminal behaviours.
- Example = tiiohens 2000 finish prisoners, found that the majority possessed MAOA-L.
Differences in the - Abnormalities or abnormal activities in specific areas of the brain have been found to
brain increase aggression.
- Prefrontal cortex is responsible for regulating emotions and is linked to aggression.
- Low activity in the prefrontal cortex increases aggression and may result in individuals
committing violent based crimes such as grievous bodily harm.
Role of the amygdala AO1
Point
What is the - The amygdala is an area of the brain that consists of 13clusters of nuclei, it is located in
amygdala the medial temporal lobe and is part of the limbic system.
- Is responsible for threat regulation and influential in emotional regulation.
Aggression and - High activity of the amygdala has been found to correlate with high levels of aggression.
high activity - This may be due to the fact that individuals with abnormalities in the amygdala are more
likely to misinterpret a situation as a threat.
- For example, coccaro found that individuals with Intermittent explosive disorder (which
leads to individuals becoming violent) had high amygdala activity (through the use of PET
scans) when shown images with individual who were pulling angry faces.
Low activity and - Found that psychopaths had low amygdala activity when shown distressing situations or
psychopathy being given moral dilemmas to solve. This would suggest that abnormal amygdala
activity may be able to explain why psychopaths do not develop empathy.
Fear conditioning - Dysfunction in the amygdala prevent the development of effective fear conditioning.
and dysfunctions - If children have dysfunctions in the amygdala, it prevents them from developing
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