Raine and Scerbo

• Claims

  • physiological theory, Neurochemical Theory
  • antisocial behaviour and aggression is linked to serotonin levels
  • brain chemistry can be influence by diet, drug usage, food additives and steroids
• Components

  • combined meta-analysis from 23 studies
  • found lower levels of serotonin lead to higher levels of aggression
  • suggested if people ate foods rich in nutrients aggressive behaviour would decrease
• Credibility

  • reliable as they used 23 studies
  • scientific, high-tech research
  • objective, qualitative data
  • deterministic
  • reductionist
  • overly simplistic
• Application

  • Horace Williams: beat a hitchhiker to death, had 2000x the normal amount of testosterone due to steroids
• Refuting Evidence

  • no explanation for why people commit non-violent crimes
  • Albert et al: suggests not all studies find a correlation between aggression and testosterone levels
• Supporting Evidence

  • Buitelaar 2003: found delinquents given shots that lowered dopamine levels showed a decrease in aggression
  • Bond 2005: conducted clinical studies with antidepressants that increase serotonin and found they showed a decrease in aggression