Criminology 2

The criminal brain: Understanding Biological Theories of Crime

A Research Paper

Presented to the faculty of the college of criminology Merchant

Marine Academy of Caraga, Inc.

Butuan City

In Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the Degree of

Bachelor of Science In Criminology

By

Jovan Clint B. Caindug

Kent John Morante

Jenny Lingatong

Marissa Dumaplin

Jomar vallera

Christian Torregosa

Maximos Beltran

John Altoveros

Keith Warren Moring

 INTRODUCTION

On the outside, violent offenders come in all shapes, sizes, colors and ages. But on the inside, research
finds that they may share some traits. some of the biological risk factors psychologists and others have
linked to violence — and the interventions they're testing to reduce that risk.

What is the relationship between criminality and biology? Nineteenth-century phrenologists insisted
that criminality was innate, a trait inherent in the offenders brain matter. While they were eventually
repudiated as pseudo-scientists and self-deluded charlatans, today the pendulum has swung back. Both
criminologists and biologists have begun to speak of a tantalizing but disturbing possibility: that
criminality may be inherited as a set of genetic deficits that place one at risk for theft, violence, and
sexual deviance. If that is so, we may soon confront proposals for genetically modifying at riskfetuses or
doctoring up criminals so their brains operate like those of law-abiding citizens. In The Criminal Brain,
well-known criminologist Nicole Rafter traces the sometimes violent history of these criminological
theories and provides an introduction to current biological theories of crime, or biocriminology, with
predictions of how these theories are likely to develop in the future. What do these new theories assert?
Are they as dangerous as their forerunners, which the Nazis and other eugenicists used to sterilize,
incarcerate, and even execute thousands of supposed borncriminals? How can we prepare for a future in
which leaders may propose crime-control programs based on biology? Enhanced with fascinating
illustrations and written in lively prose, The Criminal Brain examines these issues in light of the history of
ideas about the criminal brain. By tracing the birth and growth of enduring ideas in criminology, as well
as by recognizing historical patterns in the interplay of politics and science, she offers ways to evaluate
new theories of the criminal brain that may radically reshape ideas about the causes of criminal
behavior. (Nicole Rafter,NYU Press, 2008)

How the new brain sciences are transforming our understanding of what it means to be human As stated
by Nikolas one of the author of new brain science of criminal. The brain sciences are influencing our
understanding of human behavior as never before, from neuropsychiatry and neuroeconomics to
neurotheology and neuroaesthetics. Many now believe that the brain is what makes us human, and it
seems that neuroscientists are poised to become the new experts in the management of human
conduct. Neuro describes the key developments—theoretical, technological, economic, and biopolitical
—that have enabled the neurosciences to gain such traction outside the laboratory. It explores the ways
neurobiological conceptions of personhood are influencing everything from child rearing to criminal
justice, and are transforming the ways we"know ourselves"as human beings. In this emerging neuro-
ontology, we are not"determined"by our neurobiology: on the contrary, it appears that we can and
should seek to improve ourselves by understanding and acting on our brains. Neuro examines the
implications of this emerging trend, weighing the promises against the perils, and evaluating some
widely

held concerns about a neurobiological"colonization"of the social and human sciences. Despite
identifying many exaggerated claims and premature promises, Neuro argues that the openness provided
by the new styles of thought taking shape in neuroscience, with its contemporary conceptions of the
neuromolecular, plastic, and social brain, could make possible a new and productive engagement
between the social and brain sciences. (Nikolas Rose, Joelle M AbiRached,Princeton University Press,
2013

BODY
As explained, the amygdala — a part of the brain involved in fear, aggression and social interactions — is
implicated in crime. Among the research that points to this link is a neuroimaging study led by Dustin
Pardini, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh. His team found that 26-year-old men with lower amygdala
volumes were more than three times more likely to be aggressive, violent and to show psychopathic
traits three years later than men of the same age with more normal-sized amygdalas — independent of
factors including history of violence and social background (Biological Psychiatry, 2013).

At least one study indicates that such deficits may appear long before people commit crimes. Adrian
Raine, DPhil, of the department of criminology at the University of Pennsylvania, led a study with Yu
Gao, PhD, at CUNY-Brooklyn that examined fear conditioning, which is dependent on amygdala function,
in a group of 1,795 3-year-olds. The researchers put electrodes on the children's fingers while repeatedly
playing two tones: one that was followed by a loud, unpleasant sound and another that was played
alone. Subsequently, the difference in sweat responses to each tone by itself yielded a measure of each
toddler's fear conditioning. Twenty years later, the team identified participants who had gone on to
commit crimes and compared them with noncriminal counterparts, matching them on gender, ethnicity
and social adversity. They found that those children who went on to commit crimes had "simply
failed"to demonstrate fear conditioning, Raine says. In other words, they were fearless when most of us
would be fearful. This finding suggests that deficits in the amygdala, which are indirectly identifiable as
early as age 3, predispose to crime at age 23 (The American Journal of
Psychiatry, 2010).

we know that certain brain characteristics may predispose some people to violence, what can we do
about it? Intervene — and the earlier, the better, says Raine, author of "The Anatomy of
Violence"(Random House, 2013).

In one intervention, for example, he and colleagues found that 3-year-olds who had been assigned to an
enrichment program focused on nutrition, exercise and cognitive skills had better brain functioning at
age 11 and a 34 percent reduction in criminal activity at age 23 when compared with a control group
that did not receive the intervention (American Journal of Psychiatry, 2003). Intervening even earlier,
David Olds, PhD, of the University of Colorado, has found that pregnant low-income mothers who were
visited regularly by home nurses who talked to them about health, education and parenting were less
likely to have children who were arrested by age 15 (Infant Mental Health Journal, 2006).

CONCLUSION
Even simple interventions may make a difference. In one preliminary study, prisoners assigned to a 10-
week yoga class improved their impulse control (Journal of Psychiatric Research, 2013). In an earlier
randomized-controlled trial of British prisoners, those who received vitamin, mineral and essential fatty
acid supplements committed an average of 26.3 percent fewer offenses than those who had received
the placebo. They also showed a reduction in offenses of more than 35 percent, while the placebo-taking
prisoners' records remained stable (British Journal of Psychiatry, 2002). A study in the Netherlands
replicated the effect, and now Raine is testing a similar intervention for children.

This represents the first prospective study to demonstrate that men with lower amygdala volume have a
longstanding history of aggression and psychopathic features and are at increased risk for committing
future violence. Studies should further examine whether specific amygdala abnormalities might be a
useful biomarker for severe and persistent aggression. BIBLIOGRAPHY
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https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.121930211