Biocriminology

Criminology and the Biological Sciences

Numerous biological science subdisciplines, including molecular and behavioral genetics, neurobiology, physiology, psychology, cognitive neuroscience, endocrinology, and forensic psychiatry, provide substantial evidence that certain characteristics contribute to traits that increase risk for antisocial behavior. The vast range of studies from these disciplines, covering vulnerability to antisocial personality disorder, violence, and drug abuse, may seem overwhelming, but several consistencies across the studies reveal a biological pattern that may characterize vulnerable individuals. Findings indicate that vulnerability to antisocial behavior is partially a function of genetic and biological makeup, which is expressed during childhood as particular behavioral, cognitive, and psychological traits such as impulsivity, attention deficits, aggressiveness, and conduct disorder. These traits have been associated with physiological and biochemical responses to the environment; for example, heart rate, hormone levels, and electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings are reportedly different in antisocial populations (Raine 1993). These biological differences, however, do not function in a vacuum to increase risk. Instead, they interact with a multitude of social and environmental conditions in a constantly evolving dynamic to contribute to or protect from social dysfunction. In short, basic genetic or acquired biological traits are thought to contribute to biochemical and physiological conditions that may predispose people to a combination of particular behavioral and psychological outcomes that may occur, or be suppressed, in various environmental settings.

Several brain chemical systems may be involved in sensation seeking, impulsivity, negative temperament, and other cognitive and behavioral correlates of antisocial behavior. These chemicals perform somewhat differently in different people, as a result of both genetic factors and social experiences. The particular way they function determines the level of activity within areas of the brain that are responsible for motivation, emotion, and the experience of pleasure and pain. Although there is a wide range of variation in normal brain function, the variation contributes to personality and temperamental differences among people. Some of these “normal” traits can be associated with either social or antisocial behavior, depending on environmental conditions. For example, sensation-seeking behavior can translate into highly effective practices in the corporate and sports worlds, or, conversely, it can lead to drug abuse. The outcome of such behavior depends not only on biological factors but on social ones, such as the sort of environment a person was raised in.

When certain aspects of brain function occur outside the normal range, behavior and moods are affected and may be considered pathological in extreme cases. Deviations in brain function can be measured in physiological and biochemical processes that influence the behavior and psychology. These biological factors are, in turn, influenced by socioenvironmental factors that can contribute to either the expression or inhibition of antisocial behaviors. In the presence of “negative” socioenvironmental conditions, such as poverty or poor parenting, antisocial behavior becomes more likely. Called “stressors,” these negative conditions act as triggers. Moffitt (1997) has shown that an understanding of these stressors helps to explain the disproportionate number of residents prone to antisocial behavior in lower income neighborhoods where such triggers are prevalent. However, not all inner-city residents engage in antisocial behavior; that outcome remains dependent on individual vulnerability. Certain characteristics of brain function can heighten sensitivity to negative environmental circumstances, increasing the risk for an antisocial outcome.

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