Edexcel Psychology for A Level Yr 2 Revision Guide

A strength is supporting evidence for the link between brain injury and crime. Fazel et al . (2011) studied the link between brain injury and convictions for violent crime, including murder, sexual offences, robbery and assault. Of those who experienced a brain injury, 8.8% had committed a violent crime compared to 3% in a matched control group of similar size. This suggests that physical trauma to the brain may be a precursor to violent crime. CA The relationship between brain injury and offending is not necessarily causal, other variables may have an influence. People with serious head injury are also more likely to experience mental illness, or be alcohol- or drug-abusers. It is these factors that may create the predisposition to offend, rather than the brain injury itself. A weakness is the complex relationship between the amygdala and crime. The amygdala does not operate alone but is influenced by the OFC (part of the frontal lobe, not the limbic system). The OFC regulates self- control, and reduced functioning is associated with increased aggression and violent outbursts. This suggests that the influence of the amygdala (and all brain areas) on aggression (and crime) is difficult to disentangle. A weakness of the XYY syndrome explanation is the lack of evidence. Re and Birkhoff’s (2015) meta-analysis considered 50 years of evidence and concluded that there is no link between XYY and offending behaviour. Prevalence of XYY males within prison populations, might be explained by social factors (e.g. XYY characteristics make it harder to integrate into society and find work). Therefore, the XYY syndrome is not a credible explanation for crime. Application: Biological research may lead to new ways to assess culpability. Williams et al . (2010) argue for more awareness of brain injuries in the criminal justice system, including standard screening of young people when they first offend. Neural injury should be viewed in the same way as mental health and taken into account in sentencing (punishment should be reduced as the person is less responsible for their crime). This shows that biological explanations may come to have an important influence on decision- making during criminal trials. I&D extra: Biological explanations of criminal behaviour are reductionist. The idea of explaining crime as the result of a single biological factor is appealing because it suggests that there are simple solutions for dealing with crime. But this ignores the fact that offending is more likely to occur in a context of social deprivation, poor education and dysfunctional role models (Farrington et al . 2006). This means that biological explanations may distract us from a truer understanding of crime. Explanations of crime and anti-social behaviour: Biological explanations Check it 1. Explain the link between XYY syndrome and crime and/or anti-social behaviour. (4) 2. Austin is in prison for a violent assault. His parole officer believes an abnormality of the amygdala may be responsible. Explain one strength of this explanation for Austin’s behaviour. (2) 3. Standard essay: Evaluate one biological explanation for crime and/or anti-social behaviour. (8) or (16) 4. Prompt essay: Biological explanations for crime call criminal responsibility into question. Evaluate biological explanations for crime with reference to how society responds to crime and offenders. (16) Revision booster Although the heading here of ‘biological explanations’ sounds quite general, you need to know some very specific concepts as these are named in the specification – make sure that you can respond to direct questions about brain injury, the amygdala and aggression, XYY syndrome and gender differences in crime and anti-social behaviour. Do broken brains lead to broken laws? ‘CA’ stands for ‘competing argument’. OFC = orbitofrontal cortex 101 AO3 Evaluation