Research has shown damage and dysfunction to the prefrontal cortex can have an effect on a persons antisocial behaviours. The pre-frontal cortex strong association with moral reasoning, social precessing and inhibition plays a huge role in this, with dysfunction in these areas affecting a person’s emotional response and behaviour. Permanent damage and temporal disfunction from substances like alcohol and drugs can lead to different types of anti-social behaviour such as violence and humour processing. But it must be noted, other factors such as environment and upbringing also play huge roles in what leads people to antisocial behaviour
Cases that study direct damage to the prefrontal cortex hold a lot of evidence for it’s detrimental effects
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The amygdala in particular, as shown in Feinstein, Adolphs, Damasio, and Tranel(2011) research, has a huge role to play in fear acquisition. His case study on a women with focal bilateral amygdala lesions found she exhibited an abundant lack of fear. Fear can play a huge role in social behaviours with the fear of repercussion of our actions stopping us from exhibiting many anti-social behaviours. With dysfunction to these area this fear isn’t present and will therefore not act as a deterrent from anti-social behaviours. Raine(1997) study supports this. He found through the use of PET scans that murderers on trial who had pled ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’ had a significantly less glucose metabolism in the pre-frontal cortex than control subjects, with the amygdala and hippocampus in the left region being particularly effected. These areas are believed to play a huge role in controlling: impulsivity, aggression and immaturity as well as fear. Further evidence for the prefrontal cortex’ association with social behaviours can be seen in Ackley and Benton(1948) research, their subject JP experienced a primary social defect that included a lack of fear and criminal behaviour, caused by huge parts of his prefrontal brain being destroyed by abscess. A further study by Raine, Lencz, Bihrle, Lacasse, and Colletti,(2000) also …show more content…
Bandura et al(1961) research into social learning theory and the acquisition of aggression suggest that aggression and violence can be learnt from behaviours witnessed in the environment and our role models. Research from Lyman et al(2000) also suggest our socioeconomic backgrounds and environment play a huge role, with the effects of impulse on juvenile delinquency and anti-social behaviour being stronger in disadvantaged neighbourhoods compared to affluent neighbourhoods. This research shows us that nurture also has a strong influence on anti-social
Aggression and Violent Behavior, vol. 45, pp. 51–74, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2018.05.007. Accessed 16 May
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) appears to be the most heavily implicated area of the brain in research into antisocial behaviour and its potential causes. This region of the frontal lobe which is involved in regulating executive functions such as decision-making, response inhibition and social behaviour has been demonstrated to be the central brain structure impaired in antisocial individuals. Evidence shows how dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex impairs judgement and consequently leads to inappropriate social behaviour. Such implications would have significant societal ramifications on the extent to which individuals are, and should be, held accountable for antisocial behaviour. Studies have shown that early-onset prefrontal cortex damage leads to defective social and moral reasoning.
Criminal behaviour has always been an interest for psychologists, for they could never quite come to a conclusion between nature and nurture. Research concerning this topic has been organized for many years and due to the never ending debate, is still being conducted. I have decided to read and write about this myself, for I was genuinely curious about the matter and wanted to be a part of the research, as I felt responsible to do so. I believe that in order to stop something, it must be discussed and scrutinized. What effects do genes have on criminal behaviour, why do peer pressure and habitat influence a person to commit crimes and are men really more violent than women?
In the filed of biology psychology, it is said that there are 3 areas of the brain that are mainly involved in our aggression and violence behavior, which are the hypothalamus, the frontal lobes, and the limbic system. Morley and Hall(2003) have investigated o how the human genes have an influences on their criminal behavior. In their research, they have found a positive relationship between criminal behaviors and genes. Brunner et al(1993) conducted an research on a Dutch family, the result showed that some of the family members from the Dutch family with tendency of aggressive behavior turned out to have mutation occurring in their monoamine oxidase A, a type of neurochemical in the brain. Therefore, we tell say that aggressive behavior is somehow related to human brain structure.
Does dysfunction of the prefrontal cortex lead to antisocial behaviour? 990 The development of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) contributes to the human capacity to modulate emotions. This ability is significant as disruption due to brain dysfunction can have harmful effects on an individual’s capability to function adaptively in society. However, the idea that the PFC has a significant role in the regulation of aggression and violence has been challenged by studies that highlight the complexity of the multiple causes of antisocial behaviour and consequences of having an impaired PFC.
It is important to understand how the human brain works along with mental health issues to create violent individuals. The prefrontal cortex is located in the frontal
We learn from the things we experience, the things we see, and the people with whom we associate. We learn from our surroundings , experiences, acquaintances, friends, and family. Contends that we learn aggression like any other behaviour-by watching others and imitating their behaviour” (2014). This theory explains that people act and do illegal things because that is all they have been taught. Those in gangs who may use violence to resolve conflict and/or establish a respectable name for themselves have been surrounded with those who do the same thing.
The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is an important part of the brain and is responsible for executive function. It is in charge of thought analysis, helps us to think abstractly and is contracted to the regulation of behaviour. The PFC is also concerned with governing social control which is why research has been carried out into finding a relationship between dysfunction of the PFC and antisocial behaviour (ASB) (http://www.wisegeek.org). According to the 1988 Crime and Disorder Act ASB is defined as ‘Acting in a manner that caused or was likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons’ (http://www.police-foundation.org.uk).
Today, there are proven facts that people who have parents that are criminals have a high chance of becoming criminals themselves. Not only can people become criminals because of their family but they can also become criminals because of the environment that they surround themselves in. This is where nature versus nurture comes into play. A person’s nature is their genetic makeup, basically meaning that a person’s nature is the genes they get from their parents. Also, a person’s genotype, one’s genetic makeup based on the sequencing of the nucleotides we term, provides them with physical traits that set the stage for certain behaviors (56).
Emotional and cognitive development are related with a child’s ability to control behavior in social situations (Wasserman et al., 2003). Poor cognitive development can impede academic achievement, which in turn affects behavior and puts a child even more at risk of becoming a delinquent. Hyperactivity, in which a child is restless and fidgety, makes it more likely that a child would later be involved in delinquent behavior; however, hyperactivity alone does not necessarily lead to delinquency. As Lahey, McBurnett and Loeber stated (2000), “hyperactivity leads to delinquency only when it occurs with physical aggression or oppositional behavior” (pg. 4). A dangerous combination of hyperactivity and physical or oppositional behavior can put children at risk of becoming violent young
Bad Parents Raise Bad Children W.E.B. Du Bois said that “children learn more from what you are than what you teach”. Society always takes pride solely in the way a child has been raised by its parents. Children do not misbehave because they feel like misbehaving, but because something vital is missing in that child’s nurturing. Many parents allow their young to deviate from what is morally right or equal and their authority and choose violence over all odds as a solution for anger. Firstly, the consequence of ill nurturing can be the outcome of long-term mental health issues because of the child being prone to violence, anger, and stress.
Social learning theory will be used to examine the basis of learned behavior, specifically early exposure to violence, and how the behaviors observed by an individual may later become imitated in one’s relationships. Conflict theory will also be used to examine
Treatment and interventions for antisocial behavior are limited to treatments that target overall behavioral improvement. This paper will discuss the potential improvements in interventions for individuals with antisocial behavior, through the help of neurological understandings of the brain. Neurological understandings of the brain can help develop interventions that can improve behavior among the youth for better behavioral outcomes in adulthood. Current interventions give the tools for individuals to learn from presenting behavioral problems, but they do not address the core of the problem in identifying the mechanisms behind impaired responses for future contingencies. Also, neurological understandings can help with the development of
Esbensin, Peterson, Taylor and Freng (2010) implies that “ young people who have committed serious violent offenses have the highest level of impulsive and risk-seeking tendencies.” Moreover, extreme violent criminal activity being performed in front of youth increases the risk of them performing acts of extreme violence themselves. Because youth see those acts as acceptable so committng those violent activities make youths to become ruthless. Smith and Green (2007) assert that violent activities becoming ruthless and the perpetrators even more ruthless.
No one is born with a criminal mind. No is born with thoughts of killing someone or robbing a store. Although certain altercations in your brain due to genetics and biology can make people more susceptible to criminal thoughts and activities. Those with damaged frontal lobes or amygdalae may experience issues with their personalities and emotions. Thus, they may have trouble discerning between good or bad, due to not being able to feel remorse, guilt, or shame.