* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Download Genetic and Neural Explanations
Causes of transsexuality wikipedia , lookup
Pathogenomics wikipedia , lookup
Human genetic variation wikipedia , lookup
Quantitative trait locus wikipedia , lookup
Population genetics wikipedia , lookup
Artificial gene synthesis wikipedia , lookup
Epigenetics of neurodegenerative diseases wikipedia , lookup
Gene expression programming wikipedia , lookup
Gene expression profiling wikipedia , lookup
Genetic engineering wikipedia , lookup
Nutriepigenomics wikipedia , lookup
History of genetic engineering wikipedia , lookup
Designer baby wikipedia , lookup
Public health genomics wikipedia , lookup
Microevolution wikipedia , lookup
Heritability of autism wikipedia , lookup
Genome (book) wikipedia , lookup
Biology and sexual orientation wikipedia , lookup
Irving Gottesman wikipedia , lookup
Biology and consumer behaviour wikipedia , lookup
Behavioural genetics wikipedia , lookup
The Mobley Defence http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/do-your-genes-makeyou-a-criminal-1572714.html Stephen Mobley (1966-2005) was a convicted murderer executed by the State of Georgia for the 1991 killing of John C. Collins, a 25year-old college student working nights as a Domino's pizza store manager. On appeal, Mobley's attorneys advanced a novel argument that Mobley was genetically predisposed to seeking violent solutions to conflict. The case was described as "perhaps the most widely cited case in which defence lawyers used genetic factors in the defence of their client". Should genes ever be considered a legitimate legal defence? Why/not? Real world application/issues and debates Genetic and Neural Explanations of offender behaviour Aim: to examine and evaluate the genetic and neural explanations for crime. How can we test if genes play a part in criminal behaviour? Who can we study? • Twin studies: • monozygotic twins (MZ-100%) • dizygotic twins (DZ- 50%) • Adoption studies: • Find out the effects of genes and the environment • Family studies: • Study rates of schizophrenia in different relatives. E.g. compare concordance rates between mother and child. What is a concordance rate? • This is the coefficient value that is worked out by correlating the crime rate between 2 groups of people e.g. concordance between parent and child • The correlation coefficient tell us the likelihood of both parent and child engaging in criminal behaviours • The higher this number is the more chance there is of criminal behaviours developing • This can then be represented as a percentage value. Twin studies recap 2 advantages of studying twins as a psychologist 2 disadvantages of studying twins as a psychologist Lange (1930); 13 MZ twins and 17 DZ twins where one of the twins in each pair has spent time in prison. 10 of the MZ twins and but only 2 of the DZ twins had a co-twin that had also spent time in prison. Christiansen (1977); studies 87 MS and 147 DZ twins and found a concordance rate of 33% for MZs and only 12% for DZs which supports the view that offending may have a genetic component. Genetic explanations – twin studies Candidate genes Tiihonen et al (2014) revealed two abnormalities that may be associated with violent crime – the MAOA gene (controls dopamine and serotonin) and CDH13 (linked to substance abuse and attention deficit disorder). Tiihonen’s sample was 900 Finnish offenders. Individuals with this combination were 13 times more likely to have a history of violent behaviour. This research is in its infancy and has yet to be replicated. MAOA gene: controls dopamine and serotonin in the brain and has been linked to aggressive behaviour Diathesis-stress model Describe what the D-S model is based on this diagram: Neural explanations • Prefrontal cortex: individuals who experience antisocial personality disorder show reduced activity in the PFC, the part of the brain that regulates emotional behaviour. Raine (2000) found an 11% reduction in the volume of grey matter in the PFC of people with APD compared to control groups. • Mirror neurons: Keysers (2011) only when criminals were asked to empathise with others did their empathy reactions activate. This is controlled by mirror neurons. This suggests that criminals do experience empathy, although it is not an automatic response. These neurons fire in response to the actions of others. Ex: can you think of 2 strengths/real world applications of the biological explanations? Biological reductionism is an issue within these studies as criminality is complex and environmental factors must be considered. Many adoptees are adopted late so spend their infancy with their biological parents anyway. Some also maintain regular contact with their biological parents. This means that the parents may have had an environmental rather than biological impact. Biological determinism presents problems for our legal system since it negates free will and raises the ethical question surrounding what society does with people who carry criminal genes Twin studied involve small sample sizes and the fact that most twins are raised in the same environment is a confounding variable as concordance rates may be due to shared experiences rather than genetics Early twin studies are often unreliable since zygosity (whether twins are MZ or DZ) was based on appearance rather than DNA testing. Therefore they may lack validity. Jim Fallon – warrior gene video https://www.ted.com/talks/jim_fallon_exploring_the_mind_of_a_killer ?language=en