The Biology of Childhood Crime and Antisocial Behavior

Abstract

Research into the biological underpinnings of antisocial behavior has not only been increasingly integrated into criminological research, but has also expanded its scope to focus on antisocial behavior that develops during childhood. Many of the biological risk factors that are associated with antisocial behavior during adulthood have also been found to characterize young antisocials. Structural and functional brain imaging studies have implicated several brain regions in the development of antisocial behavior in children, including the amygdala, the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and the temporal region. Neuropsychological studies indicate that antisocial children display multiple behavioral indices of brain dysfunction, including executive dysfunction and IQ de fi cits. Psychophysiological studies have revealed that antisocial children are characterized by underarousal and diminished responses to stimuli and stressors. Early health factors, including minor physical anomalies and prenatal nicotine exposure, both independently and in interaction with social risk factors are associated with antisocial behavior in children. Future research should focus on incorporating a life-course criminological perspective into the study of the biology of childhood crime and antisocial behavior. Longitudinal studies that measure both biological and social risk factors over time will be critical to advancing our understanding of the development of antisocial behavior both during childhood and throughout the life-course.

Pulling Back the Curtain on Heritability Studies: Biosocial Criminology in the Postgenomic Era

“…In recent years, neuroscientists have published several studies of conduct-disordered youth and a few of antisocial adults showing that these individuals manifest minor differences in brain structure or function compared with more conventional individuals (see Portnoy et al, 2013;Raine, 2013). This research often is viewed as contradicting criminology's emphasis on the importance of social environmental influences insofar as these neurological differences are considered to be genetically determined.…”

Antisocial behaviour and teacher–student relationship quality: The role of emotion‐related abilities and callous–unemotional traits

“…anger and frustration); poorer emotion recognition and understanding; and less effective use of strategies to regulate their emotions (Eisenberg et al, 2010;Kostiuk & Fouts, 2002;O'Kearney et al, 2017;Rehder et al, 2017). Antisocial behaviour has also been associated with biological correlates of emotion processing, including structural and functional abnormalities of the amygdala and interacting cognitive control areas of the prefrontal cortex (see Cohn, Popma, Raine, & Cima, 2016;Portnoy et al, 2013).…”

Pulling Back the Curtain on Heritability Studies: Biosocial Criminology in the Postgenomic Era

“…In recent years, neuroscientists have published several studies of conduct‐disordered youth and a few of antisocial adults showing that these individuals manifest minor differences in brain structure or function compared with more conventional individuals (see Portnoy et al., ; Raine, ). This research often is viewed as contradicting criminology's emphasis on the importance of social environmental influences insofar as these neurological differences are considered to be genetically determined.…”