Violent behaviour is complex

• what is the biological explanation?

  both reductionist and determinist
• what does biological determinism explain?

  all human behaviour is a result of biology
• what does biological determinism ignore?

  past experiences & environment
• what is this explanation of behaviour?

  reductionist & over-simplistic
• what does this explanation of behaviour de-emphasise?

  personal responsibility & free will
• what is violent behaviour not determined by?

  biology ALONE
• what other factors play a role in a predisposition to violence?

  social

  psychological

  cultural
• what would be unethical to suggest?

  potential murderers can be identified by looking for dysfunctions in brain structure & deciding their is a possibility this person become violent
• how is violent behaviour best explained?

  network of interacting brain structures
• what does this interacting network of brain structures do?

  not cause violent behaviour, but predispose an indiv to it
• what cannot be determined?

  direction of effect
• what is direction of effect in this case?

  if brain dysfunction cause violence, or violence cause brain dysfunction
• what else is important?

  ethical issues & broader social implications to whether out understanding is advanced from this research
• what can research indicate?

  murderers are born rather than made
• what may the indication of the research lead to?

  more lenient sentences being given & violent criminals not receiving longer sentences they deserve
• what is some wider reading for this argument?

  John Massey
• how can you link John Massey (wider reading) to this argument?

  John Massey had low activity variant of serotonin transporter gene which interacts with the environment
• what was John Massey's serotonin transporter gene triggered by?

  traumatic events (interactionist)
• what is biological determinism?

  ignores that humans have free will = unethical