Evaluation of the Neural Explanation of Offending Behaviour
Cause or Effect?
Is the abnormal brain physiology or biochemistry causing the criminal behaviour, or does the criminal
behaviour cause the abnormal brain physiology/biochemistry? Or, is the abnormal brain physiology or
biochemistry just an intervening variable? Perhaps there are other variables ( e.g. a preference for risk or
growing up in a dysfunctional family) that cause criminal behaviour, and these neural deficits are merely
extraneous variables.
Research only shows a correlation between neural deficits and criminal behaviour. It is not possible to say
that neural deficiencies cause criminal behaviour. This is a problem for psychology, because psychology is a
science and science requires the establishment of cause and effect relationships.
Practical Applications
One potential benefit of research into neural abnormalities is that it could lead to methods of treatment.
For example, if low levels of serotonin cause an increase in aggression, then theoretically people in prison
could be given a diet that would increase their serotonin levels (e.g. by avoiding artificial sweeteners, which
are known to upper the production of serotonin). This means that there are practical benefits to knowing the
neural explanation of offending behaviour which extend beyond academia.
Supporting Evidence for the role of the amygdala
Pardini found that 26 year old men with lower amygdala volumes were more than three times more likely to
be aggressive, violent, & to show psychopathic traits three years later than men of the same age with a
normal sized amygdalae, independent of factors including history of violence and social background.
Raine conducted a longitudinal study and found that children’s inability to be conditioned a fear response at
three years of age was a predictor of later criminal behaviour at the be of 23 years: I.e. those that could not
learn to fear a loud sound when three years old were more likely to commit crime than those that could learn
to fear the loud sound. Raine concluded that the functioning of the amygdala is also responsible for criminal
behaviour.
Cannon and Britton (1925) introduced the term ‘sham rage’ to describe an emotional state found in animals.
They severed neural connections to the cortex of cats, and when externally stimulating the amygdala they
found that they could exhibit the behaviour normally associated with rage and aggression, as demonstrated
by erect hair, growling and baring teeth. In addition, when the amygdala is removed or destroyed, the
animals become more placid.
There is a lot of scientific evidence that suggests that the amygdala plays an important role in the production
of hostile behaviour, which could easily turn into anti-social or criminal behaviour.
Supporting Evidence for the role of testosterone
Dabbs et al (1995) took saliva samples of adult male prisoners to test levels of testosterone. They found that
those with the higher levels of testosterone had a history of violent crime, whereas those with low levels of
testosterone had committed only non-violent crimes. They also found that individuals with higher
testosterone levels were more likely to be involved in direct confrontations with others whilst in prison and
generally broke more prison rules. Thus, there appear to be a link between high testosterone levels and
criminal behaviour, which supports the neural explanation of criminal behaviour.
Animal studies have shown that when they are citrates, there is a reduction in testosterone production and
also aggressive behaviour. Albert et al (1986) found this amongst rats & also noted that there were fewer
attempts to display social dominance amongst the rats that had been castrated. Therefore, this also supports
the link between testosterone and criminal behaviour.
However, this study is anthropomorphic because there are significant biological differences between
rats and humans. For example, humans engage in more higher order cognitive processes than rats.
This makes the generalisation of results from animals to humans more difficult.
Cause or Effect?
Is the abnormal brain physiology or biochemistry causing the criminal behaviour, or does the criminal
behaviour cause the abnormal brain physiology/biochemistry? Or, is the abnormal brain physiology or
biochemistry just an intervening variable? Perhaps there are other variables ( e.g. a preference for risk or
growing up in a dysfunctional family) that cause criminal behaviour, and these neural deficits are merely
extraneous variables.
Research only shows a correlation between neural deficits and criminal behaviour. It is not possible to say
that neural deficiencies cause criminal behaviour. This is a problem for psychology, because psychology is a
science and science requires the establishment of cause and effect relationships.
Practical Applications
One potential benefit of research into neural abnormalities is that it could lead to methods of treatment.
For example, if low levels of serotonin cause an increase in aggression, then theoretically people in prison
could be given a diet that would increase their serotonin levels (e.g. by avoiding artificial sweeteners, which
are known to upper the production of serotonin). This means that there are practical benefits to knowing the
neural explanation of offending behaviour which extend beyond academia.
Supporting Evidence for the role of the amygdala
Pardini found that 26 year old men with lower amygdala volumes were more than three times more likely to
be aggressive, violent, & to show psychopathic traits three years later than men of the same age with a
normal sized amygdalae, independent of factors including history of violence and social background.
Raine conducted a longitudinal study and found that children’s inability to be conditioned a fear response at
three years of age was a predictor of later criminal behaviour at the be of 23 years: I.e. those that could not
learn to fear a loud sound when three years old were more likely to commit crime than those that could learn
to fear the loud sound. Raine concluded that the functioning of the amygdala is also responsible for criminal
behaviour.
Cannon and Britton (1925) introduced the term ‘sham rage’ to describe an emotional state found in animals.
They severed neural connections to the cortex of cats, and when externally stimulating the amygdala they
found that they could exhibit the behaviour normally associated with rage and aggression, as demonstrated
by erect hair, growling and baring teeth. In addition, when the amygdala is removed or destroyed, the
animals become more placid.
There is a lot of scientific evidence that suggests that the amygdala plays an important role in the production
of hostile behaviour, which could easily turn into anti-social or criminal behaviour.
Supporting Evidence for the role of testosterone
Dabbs et al (1995) took saliva samples of adult male prisoners to test levels of testosterone. They found that
those with the higher levels of testosterone had a history of violent crime, whereas those with low levels of
testosterone had committed only non-violent crimes. They also found that individuals with higher
testosterone levels were more likely to be involved in direct confrontations with others whilst in prison and
generally broke more prison rules. Thus, there appear to be a link between high testosterone levels and
criminal behaviour, which supports the neural explanation of criminal behaviour.
Animal studies have shown that when they are citrates, there is a reduction in testosterone production and
also aggressive behaviour. Albert et al (1986) found this amongst rats & also noted that there were fewer
attempts to display social dominance amongst the rats that had been castrated. Therefore, this also supports
the link between testosterone and criminal behaviour.
However, this study is anthropomorphic because there are significant biological differences between
rats and humans. For example, humans engage in more higher order cognitive processes than rats.
This makes the generalisation of results from animals to humans more difficult.
