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Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) can lead to cognitive behavioural and emotional difficulties. previous studies suggest that TBI is elevated in offender populations. Williams used self report data on adult, male offenders in a prison of 196. Over 60% of these had experienced head injuries. Overall, it was found that 16% had experienced moderate to severe TBI and 48% had mild TBI. These findings indicate that there is a need to account for TBI in assessment and management of offenders.

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How do the different parts of the brain link to aggression?

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How do the different parts of the brain link to aggression?

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Prefrontal-cortex

If the prefrontal cortex isn't functioning correctly, this leads to difficulty to cognitive processing such as social behavior. Therefore, this can lead to aggressive behavior. For example, Phineas Gage. It regulates the amygdala which is in control of emotions. If the amygdala is not regulated properly, aggressive emotions can arise.

Hippocampus

The role of the hippocampus is to store and make memories. If this is faulty, it may not be possible to create memories and learn from past experiences. Thus making a judgement on a situation can provide difficulty to the individual. Causing them to act upon impulse (fight or flight).

Hypothalamus

The hypothalamus helps us to survive, effecting our body temperature, hunger and adrenaline. Dopamine levels decrease. The hypothalamus has been shown to cause aggressive behavior when electrically stimulated but more importantly has receptors that help determine aggression levels based on their interactions with the neurotransmitters serotonin and vasopressin.

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Raine et al (1997) used PET scans to investigate differences between the brains or murderers and non-murderers. Using PET scans, they were able to measure any abnormal brain activity in the murderers’ group in areas of the brain associated with impulsivity and risk-taking behaviour, which may explain increased aggression they found murderers had less glucose activity in some parts of the brain linked to violent behaviour

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Raine et al (1997) used PET scans to investigate differences between the brains or murderers and non-murderers. Using PET scans, they were able to measure any abnormal brain activity in the murderers’ group in areas of the brain associated with impulsivity and risk-taking behaviour, which may explain increased aggression they found murderers had less glucose activity in some parts of the brain linked to violent behaviour

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His hippocampus was damage thus making him unable to make new memories and remember things from the past.

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In a freak accident, his pre-frontal- cortex was damaged. This changed his personality and made him aggressive.

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The Anatomy of a violent brain- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9d1NdUiJjQg

Biological theory behind murder-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcaDSJ1LplQ

A killer's brain-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzqmbZ3gZ9E

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This theory is deterministic as it implies an individual has no control over their aggressive acts/ criminal behavior since brain injuries are not something that can be changed.
- using a deterministic explanation provides a scape goat for the persons behaviour, which could lead to more violent crime as it would perhaps give criminals less incentive to try and change as they would see it as pointless .

- Another implication of using a deterministic explanation is that society may see some treatments/ rehabilitations as pointless, such as token economies/ anger management, therefore withdraw any help with the view it’s a biological problem

- One application could be that it may provide improvements to current treatments as it may suggest using biological treatments along side treatments such as anger management.
- Many researchers have concerns using brain imaging in the legal system to determine criminal responsibility. Imaging cannot tell what a person was thinking at the time of the violent act but can show deficits in areas linked to aggression and impaired volition, which would suggestion reduced culpability (blame-worthiness).

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Brain injury refers to the occurrence of an insult to the brain which causes damage. Because each injury damages a different part of the brain, every injury is unique and often described as either traumatic or acquired based on the particular cause.

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The major functions of the hypothalamus are to maintain homeostasis. The hypothalamus responds to body temperature, hunger, feelings of being full up after eating, blood pressure and levels of hormones in the circulation. It also responds to stress.

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The hippocampus is a small organ located within the brain’s medial temporal lobe and forms an important part of the limbic system, the region that regulates emotions. The hippocampus is associated mainly with memory, in particular long-term memory. The organ also plays an important role in spatial navigation.

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The prefrontal cortex is a part of the brain located at the front of the frontal lobe. It is involved in a variety of complex behaviors including planning, personality development, cognitive behavior and moderating social behavior.

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The theory of brain injuries causing aggression could be seen as reductionist. The theory supports the idea of nature over nurture affecting our behaviour. This limits the description of behaviour to these simple categories and attempts to underestimate the complexity of human behaviour. It fails to consider other factors that may cause aggressive actions such as in Social Identity Theory, where we conform to the in-groups actions. For example, opportunist crimes often take place where people see riot groups stealing, and so join in, associating themselves with the in-group of everyday people, and oppose the out-group of the police. Therefore it could be argued that the idea if brain injuries affecting our likelihood to commit a crime is reductionist.

The biological approach can be considered as high in validity. Most research is conducted using scientific and controlled methods such as brain scans, which have a standardised procedure to follow. A strength of the biological approach is that it provides clear predictions, for example, Raine et al found that murderers had lower glucose metabolism in one side of the brain than the other. He found this using brain scans on them to see their brain activity, which was an objective method. This reduces the risk of them showing demand characteristics to appear better, but also researcher bias. Therefore the approach is more likely to have valid supporting research.

Due to the standardised procedure of brain scans, they can be said to have high reliability. PET scans use a radioactive marker as a way of studying the brain at work. What the scan therefore enables researchers to do is to provide ongoing pictures of the brain as it engages in a mental activity. This means they have a set procedure to follow, and by being conducted in a lab they are controlled and scientific. Therefore, this makes them easy to replicate to test for consistency with findings.