Running head: IMPAIRMENTS OF THE BRAIN JUSTIFY CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR 1
IMPAIRMENTS OF THE BRAIN JUSTIFY CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR 2
Impairments of the Brain Justify Criminal Behavior
The human brain is divided in different parts which serve different purposes. Any damage
or injury to the brain can trigger suspicious or abnormal behaviors in a person. There are cases in
which the brain is extremely damaged in specific places and those injuries can turn the
individual’s entire personality around. The effects induced by any injuries to the brain are based
on what region of the cerebrum the damage was made. These effects can lead individuals to have
aggressive and suicidal behaviors, and it is not their accountability since their brains have a
malfunction. As a result of this effects, individuals who are convicted of felonies or accused of
wrongdoing have been using their impairment or dysfunction of the brain, whether being
physical or psychological, as a reason to justify their criminal acts and aggressive behaviors.
Therefore, instead of doing time in jail or prison, people who are evidently damaged from their
brains should be given mandatory therapies or rehabilitation sessions.
In an article written at the Nature Neuroscience website, it is said that there are “long–
term consequences of early … lesions … investigated in two adults” (Anderson, S. W., Bechara,
A., Damasio, H., Tranel, D., & Damasio, A. R.). These consequences lead to impaired social
behaviors even though the individuals had the normal basic cognitive abilities; the two adults
demonstrated that they are not sensitive to the consequences their decisions might have and most
of the times they fail to react to behavioral interventions.
So, individuals who have had an injury in the brain or have had it damaged somehow, are
more prone to behave differently from other who have not. Some of the differences between a
person with an injured or damaged brain are that they are more likely to commit crimes since
they have no feelings whatsoever, they do not differ between the good and the bad, they do not
get to socialize with other individuals since they are afraid or feel superior. The brain and its
IMPAIRMENTS OF THE BRAIN JUSTIFY CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR 3
frontal lobe can lead an individual to have different behaviors if it is damaged. It all depends on
which region of the frontal lobe the injury is at. Apparently, when damage is made to the
“prefrontal cortex is generally associated with behavior changes [and] damage to the dorsolateral
region results in cognitive dysfunction … [an investigation shows] that [the] prefrontal cortex
dysfunction may interact with environmental, social, and psychological influences, leading to
criminal behavior” (Seiden, Jessie A.). Some of the most common cognitive impairments can go
from memory loss, lack of motor skills, being easily distracted, not being able to speak fluently,
and not being able to concentrate. All of this can lead to terrible outcomes such as failure in
school and poverty because of unemployment.
According to the Nature Neuroscience website, the two adults they investigated “had
defective social and moral reasoning, suggesting that the acquisition of complex social
conventions and moral rules have been impaired” (Anderson, S. W., Bechara, A., Damasio, H.,
Tranel, D., & Damasio, A. R.). Therefore, this article concludes that the individuals who have a
damaged or injured cerebrum can definitely result in a medical condition called “syndrome of
resembling psychopathy” (Anderson, S. W., Bechara, A., Damasio, H., Tranel, D., & Damasio,
A. R.).
As mentioned before, there are different reactions and behaviors regarding the place of
brain injury or damage; According to an article found in JNNP.BMJ.com, there is a chart review
that demonstrates how the “frontal lobe lesion [is] the best predictor of involvement in a violent
episode among inpatients on a neuropsychiatric unit” (Bower, M. C., & Price, B. H.). Some of
this violent episode and psychopathic syndromes can include passive syndromes and violent
behaviors. Certain studies have shown significant correlation of diagnoses to the antisocial side
of the disorder found in the brains. Other behaviors include the passive syndromes like ADHD
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and other violent behaviors such as aggressions towards other people and explosive rages.
Basically, “individuals with frontal lobe dysfunction lack the ability to control impulses or
anticipate the consequences of choices” (Seiden, Jessie A.).
There was a set of comprehensive neuropsychological studies made by Kandel and Freed
in 1989 that discovered that “evidence for the association between specifically violent criminal
behavior and frontal lobe dysfunction is weak at best” (Bower, M. C., & Price, B. H.). A
different report of neurological investigations regarding 31 individuals who were “referred by
attorneys in connection with claims of mitigation related to murder charges, found that 64.5% [of
the individuals] showed some physical evidence of frontal [lobe] dysfunction” (Bower, M. C., &
Price, B. H.). Therefore, it is evident that some of the criminals that have gone to court because
of homicide, aggressions, threats, etc., have structural brain damage. There are no studies
