Brain injuries and disorders

• Brain injuries

  there are some rare cases of brain injuries being identifies as the cause of criminality, such as the case of the railway worker Phineas Gage, whose personality changed after a major brain injury.

  Some studies show that prisoners are more likely than non-prisoners to have suffered brain injuries.
• Phineas Gage.

  The rod damaged the pre-frontal cortex in his brain. This region is implicated in personality changes and agression/violence.

  lost consciousness and convulsed immediately but woke up and was walking and talking soon afterwards with no impairment.

  memory was intact but after a few months his personality changed drastically, he became extravagant and anti-social, badmouthed with bad manners and incredibly aggressive.

  couldn't keep a job or plan his future, he passed away 13 years later poor and suffering from epilepsy.
• Charles Whitman 


  August 1st 1966, killed is wife and mother, then went to Texas university and climbed to the top of the clock tower and shot/killed 3 people, then fired for 96 minutes, killed another 11 people and wounded 31 others. we was then shot by police officer Houston McCoy.

  17 people were killed and the 17th victim died 35 years later due to injuries
• Charles Whitman's autopsy.


  The autopsy discovered a pecan sized tumour near his amygdala which manages fear and aggression.
• can brain damage make someone criminal?

  yes, damages to the pre-frontal cortex can change a persons behaviour as this area of the brain is associated with self-control.
• Raine et al's (1994) study on brain damage.


  Used PET scans (3d scans of the brain) to study the living brains of killers. It was found that criminals were more likely to have damage to the pre-frontal cortex.
• Diseases linked to criminal and anti-social behaviour.

  • 1920s- epidemic of encephalitis lethargica among children were linked to destructiveness, impulsiveness, arson, abnormal sexual behaviour.
  • Dementia, Huntington's chorea, brain tumours- all have been linked to various forms of deviant behaviour.
  • EEG measures brain wave activities- some studies show abnormal readings among 'clearly insane' murderers and psychopathic criminals.
• strengths of Brain injuries and disorders.

  • a few extreme cases do show brain injury leads to changes in behaviour including criminality.
  • some correlation between abnormal Egg readings and psychopathy.
  • prisoners are more likely than non-prisoners to have a brain injury.
• weaknesses of brain injury and disorders

  • Crimes caused by brain injury or disease are rare. Original personality more important.
  • abnormal EEG not necessarily the cause and not found in all psychopaths.
  • Prisoner's higher likelihood of brain injury may be affect of criminality not cause- e.g getting into fights