Purpose
Any society's safety is substantially important to every individual in that
community. Criminals are considered a sub-population. Being conscious of how criminals are distinctly separated from the average human could possibly lessen criminal activity . The research of this topic helps to understand why criminals think differently than others who do not have criminal thoughts. Many questions are beginning to surface about felonious activity. Cognizance towards criminal behavior would be a significant step forward to having a secure environment.
Background
A criminal, individual who has committed a crime, of any kind, minor or
major, has various unusual thoughts unlike any other ordinary human being who has not committed a crime. The brain is composed of two cerebral hemispheres; Inside of those cerebral hemispheres, it contains amygdala. Amygdala associates with the level of aggression in humans, mostly males, which is a mass of grey matter inside each cerebral hemisphere of the brain (1). The aggression individuals express shows how their behavior can cause and act upon treacherous actions. According to Nordqvist (2017):
“Neuroscience is the study of how the nervous system develops, its structure, and what it does. Neuroscientists focus on the brain and its impact on behavior and cognitive (thinking) functions. They also investigate what happens to the nervous system when people have neurological, psychiatric, and neurodevelopmental disorders.” (p. 1-2)
In most of the research conducted and examined, criminals are more than likely to be referred to as psychopaths. (“Inside,” 2015) Explains that criminals are classified as psychopaths by, “having low levels of activity in a certain brain region called the orbital cortex, which helps to regulate emotions and impulses” (p. 2). About ninety percent of killers in America are males, and about thirty percent of them have the “warrior gene”. It is called this because of the association with violence. The gene impedes with their ability to deal with stressful situations (3). A history of child abuse is a substantial factor that contributes to criminal minds. Criminals tend to have a lack of empathy and remorse displayed, which is then used to manipulate others (3). Humans, even criminals, brains all look the same on the outside, but what is going on inside is what makes them distinct.
Research
A variety of studies have been taken on to discover the differences
between criminal and normal humans brains. One study examined whether male subjects with lower amygdala volumes have a history of aggression and psychopathic features from childhood. In addition, they scrutinized if these same males were at an increased risk of being involved in future aggression or violence. (4) Pardini, Raine, Erickson, and Loeber (2013) State the results from their studies they have conducted:
“Men with lower amygdala volume exhibited higher levels of aggression and psychopathic features from childhood to adulthood. Lower amygdala volume was also associated with aggression, violence, and psychopathic traits at a 3-year follow-up.” (p. 6)
In another, it examined how brains from normal people operate differently of those who are criminals. Nigel Blackwood was the researcher who scanned the brains of 44 men convicted of murder, rape, and violent assault, he also scanned the brains of 22 law-abiding citizens. In result of all his evidence he provided, 17 of the brains scanned passed as obtaining antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy(5). From the understandings of Spector (2012):
“Researchers found that criminals with ASPD+P (antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy) had less structural grey matter than the other two sub-groups in two front sections of the brain — the anterior rostral prefrontal cortex and temporal poles.” (p. 4)
Research from Jeffrey Hancock concludes that unconscious actions reveal psychological dynamics in the criminal's mind, who is completely unaware of it. Michael Woodworth analyzed numerous of factors, such as how frequently they described their crimes using the past tense (6). Parry (2011) explains how the past tense is used and how criminals apply it to their stories:
“The use of the past tense can be an indicator of psychological detachment, and the researchers found that the psychopaths used it more than the present tense when compared with the non psychopaths. They also found more disfluencies — the "uhs" and "ums" that interrupt speech — among psychopaths. Nearly universal in speech, disfluencies indicate that the speaker needs some time to think about what they are saying.” (p. 10)
To conclude their research, that psychopaths use twice as many words than non psychopaths when being questions and interrogated. The pattern of speech associated with criminals suggest that psychopaths were more likely to view their crime as logical reason planning and thought of it as something they ‘had’ to do (6).
Conclusion
Criminal brains are not necessarily underdeveloped, they are just formed in a different way than the average person. The amount of evidence collected clearly shows individuals who have committed a crime and have had some type of experience with trauma, even in childhood, obtain a unique way of making decisions. Speech patterns in criminals are prominent in criminal brains which uncovers that they are allotting time for explanations that are not as bad as they actually are; In other words, coming up with false information (3). (Spector, 2012) describes that psychopaths are characterized by “a lack of guilt, empathy, and love. They are also known for their unapologetically reckless behavior and difficulty controlling impulses.” Psychopaths know right and wrong cognitively, but don't have a feeling for what's right and wrong.
Discussion
While researching this particular topic, I have learned a lot about the criminal mind. The
reason of choosing this topic is because I want to study forensics in college. When I grow up I want to be a forensic psychologist or a criminologist. Studying the criminal brain really interests me because I want to know what goes on and what goes through their brains. Therefore, by researching this topic for my project I was able to get an overview of the kind of things I would be looking at and studying. Additional questions I have after conducting this paper is if criminals can change their ways of thinking and try to be a better person. If I were to do further research, I would expand on if criminals can change after they have committed their crime. Some next possible steps in research that I would like to see done is predicting what criminals are planning or foreshadowing in certain phone calls or letters. Examining these would be a huge step forward in protection for our society. This would allow us to possibly catch criminals before they act upon their words. Psychopaths are a growing problem in society today. By conducting and analyzing more studies of how the normal person's brain functions and how the brain functions in felonious actions, we can possibly even improve medical fields and begin researching a way to cure criminal thoughts