Is There a Criminal Brain? Essay

Imagine a world where there were no serial killers and the countless lives that could be saved. We should know why these serial killers commit such heinous acts of violence. This knowledge would help to better understand serial killers and bring the mortality rate down. It has been established through research and experiments that one’s social environment and upbringing affects their criminal behavior. Coyne states, “environmental variables work together to cause problem behavior.” (34) Interpreting that these killers usually have something happen in their life, usually when they are younger, and experiencing negative effects of nurture. Some of these

Overall, this article describes numerous cases of people’s personality and behavior being drastically affected by various forms of brain damage, particularly to the frontal lobe. This is consistent with what we have learned about Phineas Gage and his dramatically changed personality. As such, the author, David Eagleman, concludes that humans are not really “free” and that we are all products of our brains’ physical state, meaning that the notion of all humans being equal in their decisions is fundamentally flawed. He therefore proposes modifying the criminal justice system so that sentencing is customized more for the particular offender, taking into account the functionality of the criminal’s brain,

However, more recently, a study led by King’s College London has claimed that there are differences between the brains of psychopaths and other criminal offenders diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder. Dr. Nigel Blackwood who led the research is quoted as saying “We describe those without psychopathy as 'hot-headed' and those with psychopathy as ‘cold-hearted’.” This statement shows a clear distinction between what should be interpreted as a lack of self-control and ability to repress impulses and what should be diagnosed as psychopathy.
The study took MRI scans of 66 men, two thirds of which were offenders who had been diagnosed with antisocial personality whilst the other third were non-offenders considered to not have any personality disorders. Of the 44 offenders, 17 met the diagnosis criteria for psychopathy (ASPD+P) assessed by the guidelines stated in the DSM-IV. Researchers saw that the members of the study diagnosed as psychopaths had notably less grey matter in areas associated with moral behaviour and understanding other peoples’

This documentary specifies that there is no easy answer to what is going on inside the mind of killers, and we cannot simply place these individuals into “neat diagnostic boxes” that explain why their actions turned so violent. However, the investigators present research studying different avenues regarding ways to “predict” the likelihood that an individual will commit violent crime, will maintaining that no method is perfect. Throughout the presentation, viewers are offered mountains of research highlighting a mix of nature and nurture ranging from neurologists from Harvard studying brain patterns affected by genetics, to psychologists studying maternal care and attachment during infancy.

According to studies led by King’s College researchers, it has been confirmed that “psychopathy is a distinct subgroup of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD)” (Gregory et. al n.p) and similarly to psychopathy, the more severe ASPD behavioral patterns are, the symptoms can be referred to as sociopathic or psychopathic. Furthermore, according to Nigel Blackwood, Ma, MD.MRCPsych, “MRI scans...found that psychopaths had structural brain abnormalities in key areas of their ‘social brains’” (Gregory et. al n.p). The areas of the brain, in which are deficient in psychopaths, are important when comprehending an individual emotions’, intentions, and moral

Many individuals discover the investigation of brain science entrancing when connected to criminal conduct. What makes a few people veer off from societal standards to the point of carrying out violations? Measurable therapists contemplate this inquiry and numerous others. They utilize standards of brain science to get to the foundation of criminal conduct in particular cases, currently working close by the legitimate and criminal equity frameworks in their groups.

The environment a child is surrounded in is what develops a child’s perception into the mind of a criminal. The mind of a child is made purely of innocence until one is exposed to destructive developmental patterns. Children that have grown into the shoes of a criminal had been raised into a home with no control and where the environment creates vulnerability. Those who grow up into childhood with an unorganized lifestyle only want to possess the control and power that criminals contain. Children raised in this unstable environment develop a slow pace of skills adolescents learn earlier on (Shi and Nicol par.2). Juvenile sex offenders do not fully develop basic skills which makes it easier to be negatively pressured by society (par.

Another area of the brain, which is different in men and women, is the Hypothalamus within the brain. The Hypothalamus is separated into two parts. The larger and most distinct portion of the hypothalamus is the preoptic area. This area is directly related to mating and sexual desires. The male preoptic area is 2.2 times larger and has twice as much cell density then females. The difference in the preoptic only becomes apparent after the age of four (Cahill, 2005).

Looking at male and females we can see the noticeable physical differences between the two sex, but besides exterior differences, there are subtle but significant differences within the brain. Spasificly INAH3 which is called “third interstitial nucleus of the anterior hypothalamus” which is typically about two to three times larger

The first question I want to focus on is “are criminals any different than us?” According to a study done by Sudhinta Sinha, involving 37 male convicted criminals were observed. The crimes committed by the criminals included: murder, rape, theft, kidnapping, and forgery with 37 non-criminal citizens (Sinha, 2010). During the case study, the men were given The 16 Personality Factor Test which has an exceptionally high reliability and validity for data (OpenStax, 2016). At the end of the study, Sinha concluded that the criminal men were indeed different than the general population of citizens. The criminals tended to be more careless, under the average intelligence level, and less emotionally stable compared to non-criminal citizens. Using Sinha’s data from the case study, it is shown that criminals are indeed different from us.

law is law that has been built up over the years by decisions of the

The criminal mind is a place of nightmarish pain, suffering, chaos and delusion. What causes someone seemingly living a healthy live in a nice suburban neighbourhood lose themselves to criminal behaviour? How does one achieve this mindset, must you be born with it or do you somehow acquire it through experiences and situations you are surrounded with in everyday life? It makes more logical sense that someone would be influenced to crime through people they know, experiences and situations they have been placed in, and televised entertainment that portrays criminal behaviour. Could the simple act of watching a violent movie impact someone enough mentally to corrupt their entire lifestyle? Does the influence of society from birth have

Through the decades, researchers have tried to solve the mystery of the enigmatic prefrontal cortex. Along with the famous case of Phineas Gage (Harlow,1848), many studies have attempted to answer the burning question of either or not lesions to the prefrontal cortex lead to an antisocial behavior. The PFC, which is found in the frontal lobe and has an executive function, helps us have an appropriate response to social situations. Why is it important to study this matter? Because we are social creatures and knowing how to act in society is one of our basic needs. The studies which will be presented show that there is an obvious link between dysfunction of the PFC and an antisocial way of acting.

What makes a criminal a criminal? Can anyone become a criminal? Answering and understanding these questions is the core work of criminologists as most criminologists attempt to make sense of why people do certain things (Garland, Sparks 2000). This essay will consider the notion that any person could become a criminal and in so doing consider the initial question. This essay will outline a range of theories that attempt to describe human behavior in relation to criminal behavior given the complexities of behaviour. Several theories will be considered as no single theory of behavior can account fully for the complexities and range in criminal behaviour. The theories range from social-control, to classical, to biological, to personality

There is a growing recognition that there are psychological differences between the genders that affect the way that male and females think, communicate and behave. These differences manifest themselves in the playground, at school, at home and at work. The realisation that boys and girls think and learn differently has come from a range of sources, including research on the brain. Recent research in this area suggests that there are two physical differences between male and female brains and always in the way the brains are used between the genders. Firstly, the corpus callosum is relatively larger in females than in males. Secondly, the left side of the cortex grows more slowly in