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Industry: Email Alert RSS FeedBiosocial studies of antisocial and violent behavior in children and adults: a review - 1
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, August, 2002 by Adrian Raine
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
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A second brain imaging study found an interaction of a different type in seeking an answer to a different type of question. Although the relationship between physical child abuse and violence is well established (Lewis, Pincus, Bard, & Richardson, 1988; Tarter, Hegedus, Winsten, & Alterman, 1984; Widom, 1997), there appears to be little or no research, biological or social, on factors that differentiate abused victims who go on to perpetrate violence from those who refrain from adult violence. The study in question (Raine, Park, et al., 2001) asked two main questions: (a) what are the brain correlates of adults in the community who have suffered severe physical abuse early in life and who go on to perpetrate serious violence in adulthood? (b) what characterizes those who experience severe physical abuse but who refrain from serous violence? Four groups of participants were recruited from the community: (i) nonviolent controls who had not suffered abuse, (ii) severe physical child abuse only (i.e., had suffere d severe physical or sexual abuse in the first 11 years, but were not violent), (iii) serious violence only (violence that either caused bodily injury or trauma, or were life-threatening acts), and (iv) severely abused, seriously violent offenders. All underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing a visual/verbal working memory task. Results showed that violent offenders who had suffered severe child abuse show reduced right hemisphere functioning, particularly in the right temporal cortex. Abused individuals who had refrained from serious violence showed relatively lower left, but higher right, activation of the temporal lobe. Abused individuals, irrespective of violence status, showed reduced cortical activation during the working memory task, especially in the left hemisphere. These findings indicate that a biological risk factor (initial right hemisphere dysfunction), when combined with a psychosocial risk factor (severe early physical abuse) predisposes to serious violence. They also suggest that relatively good right hemisphere functioning protects against violence in physically abused children.
NEUROPSYCHOLOGY AND NEUROLOGY
Neuropsychological and neurological deficits, especially those associated with executive function deficits, are a reasonably well-established risk factor for antisocial behavior in children, adolescents, and adults (Moffitt, 1990a; Morgan & Lilienfeld, 2000; Raine, 1993). Although most neuropsychological and neurological research has not explored the interaction between neuropsychological dysfunction and psychosocial factors in predisposing to violence, a few studies are beginning to suggest that this may be a promising avenue for future research.
Prospective, Longitudinal Findings
Lewis, Lovely, Yeager, and Femina (1989) in a follow-up study of 15-year-old juvenile delinquents found that although having only neurocognitive deficits was associated with an average of 2.1 adult violent offenses, and only experiencing child abuse was associated with an average of 1.9 adult offenses, the combination of three neurocognitive indicators combined with child abuse was associated with an average of 5.4 violent offenses in adulthood. Consequently, the combination of neurocognitive and psychosocial risk factors was associated with particularly high rates of violence in adulthood.
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