New Advances in Cognitive Development Psychology

Brain and Deviance/Criminal Behavior For thousands of years, scholars have debated the duality of good and evil within the human condition, and the choices individuals make regarding actions that could be good are evil. The basic idea of a utilitarian model, is that humans are innately reasonable and able to weight consequences with rational choices -- cost vs. benefits. Kim, et al. (2010) review both control theories and the biology of the brain as a way of understanding criminal deviance.

If one understands why crime is committed, the idea is that one could then help society to develop ways in which criminal behavior is minimized. Choice theory says that individuals look for opportunities, then weigh the positives and negatives (punishment, gain, etc.) and choose whether to proceed further based on that choice. Choice, however, may be have a direct relationship between culture and chemistry. Deviance is defined on a relative sliding scale that is dependent on the dominant culture of the time.

Criminological theories are contradictory simply because humans act in a contradictory manner -- there is no solid evidence that everyone commits deviant behavior for the same reason. We can group causality and actions, but since there are so many different motivations and individual differences, it is unlikely that there will ever be a universal theory of deviance that holds up in all cases. With new advances in neuroscience and technology, scientists now believe that deviance may be traced to dysfunctional brain chemistry or physiology.

Brain scans of habitual criminals suggest that somehow the circuitry of the brain is damaged which contributes to antisocial and psychopathic behavior. Because the human brain is so incredibly complex, there is not a complete understanding of how thoughts, behaviors, and psychological or social characteristics are part of the biology or physiology of the brain -- with 15-33 billion neurons linked with 10,000 or more synaptic connections there are millions of potential interactions that can occur.

This is not to say that behavior is only based on biology, certainly cultural and social issues can contribute to behavior, but that there is a link between criminal behavior and a malfunctioning amygdala (Beaver, 2009, pp.123-5). In human studies, the amygdala has been shown to be heavily involved in the formation and processing of emotional memories, especially fear-related memories, and the interconnection of those memories with reality. It is located deep in the temporal lobes and actually has several distinct characteristics in humans.

It sends impulses to the hypothalamus to activate the sympathetic nervous system, reflexes, the facial nerves and even activates dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine. In humans, the organ is important in memories that are associated with emotional events -- like fear conditioning and an association between stimuli and adverse actions. This is keyed into the limbic system, and if someone has problems in that area, they are more likely to be unmotivated, feel isolated, pessimistic, irritable, quick to temper and exhibit criminal behavior (Kim, et al., 2012).

However, we should understand that new research is showing that there are a number of critical areas in the brain that may affect the likelihood of criminal behavior. Studies among PTSD patients, for instance, show that those with higher anxiety and deviant tendencies have smaller hippocampus regions.

Other studies have shown that the corpus callosum, which coordinates right and left brain activity, may disconnect at times and cause information or senses to be mixed or awry between the hemispheres, resulting in lack of social conscious or potential for deviance (Wright, p. 96). Also, the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for decision making and the ability to have empathy and higher reasoning, does not completely develop until early adulthood (18-22 years of age).

Sometimes, this development is skewed or delayed, which makes these individuals unable to appreciate consequences to their behavior and limit their own judgment (Kim). We also now know that the brain does not stop developing or changing at.