Is There a Criminal Brain? Essay

Several serial killers have a definitive and common personality profile. Almost every major social, biological, psychological behavioural influence that has been seriously suggested as playing a role in causing crime has been thoroughly thought as potentially

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’

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.

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,

When I first began to read this article the first thing that popped in my head was the movie “Minority Report.” In this movie people were incarcerated for crimes that they did not yet commit because people believed that three individuals could foresee the future. Which to some extent I believe that brain pathology and neurocriminology. Yes, there have been studies where some criminal’s brains function differently than a normal individuals. However, there needs to be a lot more research done because not everyone who may have these same disorders are going to make the same decision on becoming a criminal. In the article they say that there are many different factors that could influence an individual into a life of crime such as environment,

Every television network has a prime time show focused on law enforcement or some form of criminal activity. From Columbo to Law & Order, this genre has stood the test of time. In the opening of Law & Order, there is a brief statement about how all cases are fictional but they added that there story lines are ripped from the headlines. Many hard working, law abiding citizens are fascinated with criminals and the crimes they commit. One explanation maybe that deep in our subconscious we would all love to get away with the perfect crime, secretly we have all had the thought of making a hated co-worker disappear rob a bank, but not get caught. In the 90’s, there was a movie where Tom Cruise was a future police officer. It was called Minority Report. In it, he was in charge of the “pre-crime Unit”, which consisted of 3 psychics. The sole purpose of this unit was to predict a

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.

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.

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

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).

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

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

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.

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

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