An assessment of criminal behaviour from a biological perspective

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An assessment of criminal behaviour from a biological perspective

Prior to 1990 there was a huge amount of research looking at biological and biochemical factors in relation to criminal activity, studies by Hippchen (1978) looked at the role of vitamin and mineral deficiencies in criminal behaviour and the effect vitamin B3 deficiency has on children and adolescents, however Weiss (1983) argued that hyperactive children have an increased risk at later delinquency, other such studies have examined dietary factors such as levels of protein, carbohydrates and sugar in relation to criminal behaviour.

    Following 1990 there have been a number of studies in the area of biology and it’s relation to crime, it has long been argued that physiological under arousal may be a causal determinant of violent and criminal behaviour (Eysenk, 1977, Hare 1970, Quay, 1965) and following several studies into the subject under-arousal by Raine and Liu (1998) it was found that low levels of physiological arousal at an early teenage age influence the chance of criminal activity in later life, other biological factors were also found during the studies, violent adults were found to often have dysfunctions to the prefrontal regions of the brain and it was also found that birth complications and maternal rejection at age one influenced the chance of violent crime at age eighteen. The theory is supported by Miller et al. (1997) in this study the presence of antisocial conduct was compared in a random sample of 22 patients with frontal lobe damage versus 22 participants with no known damage, results showed that 10 patients with frontal lobe damage showed antisocial behaviours compared to only 1 participant with no damage, this difference was highly significant (P = 0.004). The study supports a relationship between frontal-temporal dysfunction and certain types of antisocial activities. Another study carried out by Bennett et al. (2001) also supports the view that pre-frontal lobe deficits cause violence and crime, pointing out that there is much less crime committed by females than males due to females having fewer frontal lobe deficits than males, females also acquire social cognitive skills earlier in life than males and have better pro-social skills, these superior social cognitive skills are influenced by many factors, including better interhemispheric communication and fewer frontal lobe deficits.

   An example of a study that further explains gender differences associated with crime was carried out by Dabbs et al. (1995) the study concerns the endocrine system which consists of the regulation of hormones and has been linked to the practice of violent crime, these hormones include testosterone progesterone and insulin, these hormones exert a strong influence on behaviour, testosterone is the most prominent of all hormones that is related to criminal behaviour, Dabbs et al. study was carried out over five years on 692 prison inmates to find how testosterone related to crime and behaviour , they found that higher levels of testosterone were related to crimes such as rape, homicide and assault and that lower levels of testosterone were associated with crimes such as burglary and theft, they also found that within the prisons inmates with high testosterone levels behaved more dominantly and frequently got into more trouble, inmates with lower levels were said to act more sneaky and treacherous . Dabbs & Hargrove (1997) studied 87 female inmates in a maximum security prison aged 17 to 60 and found a direct link between testosterone levels and aggressive behaviour, they also found that as age increased aggression decreased, and that behaviour of inmates with different levels of testosterone was similar to the males.     One major criticism to the likes of Dabbs et al. study, which has been pointed out by researchers including Raine and Liu (1990) is that such studies only look at institutionalised populations within there data, ignoring the wider picture and the overall cause of criminal behaviour.

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Research by (Soler, Vinayak & Quadagno 2000). Into aggressive child’s play has found a significant correlation with high testosterone in boys, Sanchez (2000.)

Bernharet (1997) suggests that testosterone doesn’t act alone in creating aggression; it is this combined with low levels of the brain chemical serotonin that creates aggression. Overall this research shows high testosterone levels to create ‘dominance seeking behaviour’ which was also found in businessmen and successful athletes as well as criminals, this indicates that other influences coupled with high testosterone influences the outcome of becoming a violent offender. Booth and Osgood (1993) believe that high testosterone ...

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