Evaluation

• Research support (1)-

  Gospic et al (2011)-

  "Ultimate game" , played while responders had brain scanned with fMRI

  Offered to split money in fair or unfair way

  Unfair offers lead to aggressive reaction (rejecting it) and fast and heightened response by the amygdala

  Variation experiment- ps given BZ's (anti-anxiety) which had two effects; reduction in rejected unfair offers and decrease in amygdala activity
• Research support (2)-

  Derntl et al (2009)

  Used MRI scans to investigate effect of testosterone on amygdala activity in healthy male ps

  Found increased levels of testosterone improved amygdala's ability to process threat-related stimuli

  Uses to explain why violent crime is more common amongst men as they have higher concentration of testosterone
• Cause and effect-
• Alternative explanations-

  Social explanations-

  While differences in amygdala can be argued to cause aggressive behaviour, something has to cause the differences such as environmental factors

  Miller and Mullins (2020)- boys encouraged to engage in behaviours that cause risk and competition at a young age with can transition to criminal behaviour in adulthood

  Chesney-Lind and Morash (2017)- girls socialisation emphasises relational skills and risk aversion so lessened criminal behaviour in adulthood, but when it does occur, it is more likely property crime or non-violent crime
• Alternative explanations-

  Inherited criminality-

  It is plausible to argue genes could be a cause of criminality, however it is an incomplete theory

  Not all criminals have dysfunction in their amygdala, and not all people with dysfunction in amygdala are violent individuals

  Raine et al (2007)- Amygdala does not operate on its own, e.g. low activity in the pre-frontal cortex has evidence for aggressive behaviour
• Generic points-

  Reductionist- ignores environmental factors

  Crime is not a set phenomenon, the definition of crime is constantly shifting depending on culture and time period

  There are a lot of methodological issues with conducting research into criminals, for example a gender bias
• Ethics-

  Can we hold people responsible for their actions if it is caused by something out of their control?

  Placing the blame on the offender may absolve society and the government of any responsibility, whereas crime is likely to be very influenced by social policy, society and social inequality