Criminal Minds: Brain Dysfunction in Criminal Behavior (Essay Sample)

Brain Dysfunction in Criminal Behavior
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Brain Dysfunction in Criminal Behavior
Crime is any act that defies the law of the land. Criminal acts vary from country to country since different nations have differing laws and regulations. Nevertheless, criminal behavior reports, which range from minor incidents such as the stealing of a garden gnome to most horrific crimes such as serial killing, appear on television and in the newspapers on a daily basis. Consequently, the police, relatives of the victims, the judiciary, psychiatrists and criminal psychologists try to find out the reasons that make some people to become criminals. The major question behind their research is whether those people are born criminals or whether they acquire this behavior from experience and the way they are brought up.
During the ancient years, researchers observed the family tree of most criminals and concluded that criminal tendencies are inherited. Recent studies also indicate that some repeat offenders originate from the same family. As a result, for a long time, researchers have been trying to prove that criminality is inherited. However, after carrying out extensive research, they identified that criminal behaviors are mostly caused by brain dysfunction, rather than heritability (Blank, 2013, p. 129). According to the research, brain dysfunction is caused by abnormalities in the structure of the brain, brain damage or disturbances occurring in the brain chemistry.
Considerable information about the functionality of the brain is derived from the case of Phineas Gage, who was a foreman at railway construction site. Phines got involved in an accident that drove an iron rod through his head while at the work site. The rod penetrated his left cheek and past through his head, emerging at the top. Despite the rod destroying a large portion of his brain tissue at the frontal lobes, he survived. However, he changed from being a considerate and mild mannered man into someone who was obstinate, rude, impatient and challenging. The brain’s frontal lobes serve as emotional control center since they are involved in social and sexual behavior determination, problem solving and judgment and memory and impulse control (Anderson, 2006, p. 230). Consequently, any damage caused on these lobes affects the behavioral and emotional control characteristics of an individual. This is what happened to Phineas, whose case illustrates that cases of brain damage can result in criminal behavior.
Abnormalities in the structure of the brain can be brought about by tumors, rather than trauma. This is illustrated by the case of Charles Whitman, who studied architectural engineering at the Texas University. When he was 25 years old, Whitman shot and killed fourteen people, among them including his mother and wife, and injured 31 others. On the morning of the murders, he carried ammunitions to school and shot everyone i...