Posted: September 4th, 2023

The Brain and Violence: Secrets of Your Mind

Assignment 3
a. The required length of each assignment submission should be 2 full pages (double-spaced). This includes the original question texts and your answers to the questions. The References section (if you have references) will NOT be counted toward the length requirement. A cover page is not required.

b. Assignments must be typed and well organized.

c. Use Times New Roman 12-font size.

d. Use 1 inch margins on the top, bottom and both sides (Gutter = 0 inch).

e. Assignments must be free of spelling and grammatical errors.

f. The assignments can be structured in essay format or by using bullet points as long as they are clearly explained and get to the point.

Read the video transcript “The Brain and Violence: Secrets of Your Mind” and answer the following questions.
1. The video is about the root causes of extreme violence by psychopaths and serial murderers. Which school of criminology (Classical School vs. Positivism School) can the main ideas/theories in the video be identified with? Which theories in Chapter 3 can you relate this video to? (5 points)
2. What are the typical traits of a psychopath and serial killer such as Tommy Lynn Sells and Joel Rifkin? (5 points)
3. According to Professor Adrain Raine and Dr. Daniel Amen, based on brain scans, what are the typical characteristics of psychopaths’ brains that are different from the normal brains? (5 points)
4. In the professional wrestler Chris Benoit’s case, what might be the leading cause of his murder-suicide behavior according to Dr. Julian Bailes, the chief neurosurgery of WVU? (5 points)
5. The experts interviewed in the video largely disregarded the idea that social/environmental factors and poverty may be the root causes of violence. What is your take on this? Support your arguments with evidence (from the video, or from what you have learned so far in this class, or from other sources; make sure to cite your sources appropriately). (5 points)

1. The video is about the root causes of extreme violence by psychopaths and serial murderers. Which school of criminology (Classical School vs. Positivism School) can the video’s main ideas/theories be identified with? Which theories in Chapter 3 can you relate this video to?
The video’s main ideas stem from the positivist school of criminology, specifically biological positivism, which believes that criminals and the criminal behaviors originate from abnormalities within the brain or DNA due to the basic internal defects (Chapter 3: Individual Causes of Delinquency). For instance, the researchers indicated finding structural impairments at the amygdala brain part. The amygdala plays a significant function in generating emotion in a human being, and it would be structurally deformed in the case of psychopaths.
Also, the Contemporary Biological Positivism, specifically sociobiology, is evident in the video. This theory encompasses the interaction between an individual’s biological factors and the environmental factors that influence the individual (Chapter 3: Individual Causes of Delinquency). In the case of Dr. Fallon, he grew up in a large and supportive family. These environmental patterns, he believes, played a role in him becoming a fun and loving family man. However, he also understands that if he did not grow in this kind of environment, and with the understanding of his brain and genetics, he would have grown to do very bad things and a worse outcome.
2. What are the typical traits of a psychopath and serial killers such as Tommy Lynn Sells and Joel Rifkin?
● They are individuals who lack a conscience, remorse or any form of guilt after committing their crimes. Tommy confirmed for having no emotions nor feelings such as love, and he asserts that hate is what exudes from him. Joel Rifkin would act ver casually after the murders despite committing the grotesque murder of the 51-year-old woman and cutting her off into pieces as he says.
● The individuals are very impulsive, and they do anything to satisfy the impulse. Tommy indicates that his actions were like a drug, and his killings satisfied that drug. Joel indicated that homicides and related events were euphoric, and he was looking for that feeling every time he committed them.
3. According to Professor Adrain Raine and Dr. Daniel Amen, based on brain scans, what are the typical characteristics of psychopaths’ brains different from normal brains?
● The brains of psychopaths would have a structural impairment to the amygdala part of the brain, responsible for generating emotions.
● A brain like that of Joel Rifkin had low activity in their prefrontal cortex, which is the most human thoughtful part of the brain. An image of a normal brain would be bright in the front, but for the psychopaths, it would be dark.
● Poor functioning in brain parts necessary in controlling and regulating one’s behavior, such as in Donta Page.
4. In the professional wrestler Chris Benoit’s case, what might be the leading cause of his murder-suicide behavior, according to Dr. Julian Bailes, the chief neurosurgery of WVU?
The leading cause would be the severe brain damage, including the presence of many dead neurons that Chris Benoit suffered. The brain damage affected the brain’s emotional circuitry, and it is possible that his wrestling career that involved a lot of brain collision had turned him into a bad man from being a good man and led him to commit the homicides.
5. The experts interviewed in the video largely disregarded the idea that social/environmental factors and poverty may be the root causes of violence. What is your take on this? Support your arguments with evidence (from the video, from what you have learned so far in this class, or from other sources; cite your sources appropriately).
From an analysis of this video and the various environments which the psychopaths lived in a while committing the crimes, it is evident that social and environmental factors and poverty do play a significant role in causing violence. For instance, Dr. Fallon did study his brain and genetics and indicated that he was vulnerable to being a violent individual (The Brain and Secrets of your Mind Film). However, the loving and supportive family helped him to become the opposite of that. This is a similar case for the psychopaths. Apart from the biological patterns, especially in their brain damage, these individuals did live in environments that pushed them to live that kind of life. Tommy Sells indicated that the sexual abuse he suffered in his early years would convince him to kill the children and have them not live through that kind of life (The Brain and Secrets of your Mind Film). Poverty will limit these individuals to receive treatment and therapy needed if a doctor has carried out scans on their brains. The individuals do have some behaviors that would prompt mental assessments, but the lack of resources would limit their access, and they end up growing into violent people.

References
The Brain and Secrets of your Mind Film.
Chapter 3 Individual Causes of Delinquency

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