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The tradition and prospects of studying the mechanism of criminal behavior from the standpoint of modern biosocial interpretation of the phenomenology of human aggression

Bakharev Dmitry Vadimovich

ORCID: 0000-0003-3922-3554

Doctor of Law

Professor, Department of Public Law, Perm Institute of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia

614012, Russia, Perm Krai, Perm, ul. Karpinsky, 125

demetr79@mail.ru
Other publications by this author
 

 

DOI:

10.25136/2409-7136.2023.7.43578

EDN:

TBSKKD

Received:

15-07-2023


Published:

03-08-2023


Abstract: In recent decades, there has been an increasing interest in the biopsychophysiological side of the criminal's nature in foreign criminology. The representatives of the biosocial trend are focused on advanced developments in the field of studying the biological side of aggressive human behavior. Serious progress has been made in this direction over the past thirty years, primarily due to the discoveries of cognitive neuroscientists, endocrinologists and molecular geneticists. In addition, specialists in the field of human physiology and nutrition have also made some progress in understanding the patterns of interaction of biological and social elements in the formation of the mechanism of aggression. Discoveries in the field of epigenetics can also give a significant impetus to the development of social sciences, which have fundamentally changed researchers' ideas about the role and relationship of the genetic base and the external environment in the mechanism of heredity. All relevant information on this subject is analyzed and summarized in a timely manner by foreign biosocial specialists, expanding, among other things, the criminological discourse in terms of studying the patterns of formation of the mechanism of criminal behavior, as well as individual crime prevention (primarily violent). This article is an attempt to review advanced research in the field of today's biology of human behavior, as well as those measures that are already being implemented (taking into account current scientific information about the socio-biological side of the criminal's nature) abroad in order to minimize the scale of criminal aggression.


Keywords:

aggressive behavior, criminal personality, personalized therapy, age, twins, neurobiology, neurochemistry, endocrinology, nutrition, epigenetics

This article is automatically translated.

 

Aggression is one of the most complex forms of social behavior of animals in general, and humans in particular. A type of aggression is violence, including criminal. In general, the nature, forms of expression and intensity of an individual's aggressive behavior are an important characteristic of his personality. At the same time, if it is still established that aggression is based not only on contradictions arising during social interaction, but also endogenous (biological) factors, this will be able to correct the already established ideas about the personality of the criminal, existing not only in public opinion, but also among specialized specialists [1, p. 59]

Age correlates of aggressive behavior

So, what is known today about the age-related patterns of human aggression? Studies of its dynamics in the range from infancy to old age indicate that: a) people begin to show physical aggression before the end of the first year of life after birth, and b) the frequency of physical aggression peaks in the first 3-4 years after birth, and then decreases until old age [2, p. 386-387]. This is explained by the fact that "with age, children develop the ability to regulate these spontaneously occurring behavioral acts in accordance with the circumstances of the environment." Such regulation of behavior includes the development of the ability to control one's motivations and needs in accordance with the needs of other people and is "the main feature of socialization" [3, pp. 673-674].

At the same time, the results of research in the field of behavioral sciences in the United States indicate that about 5% of boys consistently show signs of extreme antisocial behavior, and around this figure traditionally fluctuates both the proportion of men arrested by the police for the first time in adolescence, and the percentage of convicted adult young men for violent crimes, and the prevalence in the male population of persons with "antisocial personality disorder" (antisocial personality disorder). The presence of the syndrome of "persistent antisocial behavior" throughout life, American researcher Terry Moffitt fixes about 5-10% of all men; in her opinion, it has a biological basis in the form of dysfunctions of the nervous system. At the same time, its organic origin, she emphasizes, does not have exclusively biological determinism. Rather, individual differences in the state of the nervous system represent the source material for subsequent human interaction with the environment [4, pp. 685-689].

Twin Studies

The level of heritability of aggression in twins in modern genetics is usually assessed as high [5, p. 1142]. In particular, the arguments in favor of moderate or high genetic influence (51-72%) on the likelihood of aggression in several thousand pairs of twins aged 3 to 10 years are presented by Dutch researchers, while boys have traditionally been assessed as more aggressive.

On the example of twins, attempts are also being made to identify neural correlates of aggressive behavior. In particular, a study using tensor morphometry and mapping the thickness of the cerebral cortex in 106 pairs of 14-year-old twin adolescents confirmed the involvement of the frontal-limbic-striated brain contour in the etiology of aggression in adolescence, and the anterior cingulate cortex and temporal regions were associated with aggression in adolescent twins [6, pp. 230-240].

The neurobiological basis of aggressive behavior

Research in this field has now firmly established that emotions in the human brain are regulated by a hierarchically organized cortical-limbic chain consisting of the amygdala, prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex, hippocampus, hypothalamus and a number of other interrelated areas [7, p. 591]. They are involved in the control of neural circuits that trigger defensive, aggressive or avoidant behavioral patterns. A special role belongs to the first three of them: excessive reactivity of the amygdala in combination with inadequate prefrontal regulation (due to changes in the anterior cingulate cortex) increases the likelihood of aggressive behavior [8, pp. 260-261]. This is evidenced by the results of research demonstrating a negative correlation between the activity of the orbitofrontal cortex and the amygdala in healthy people, and its absence in individuals with intermittent explosive disorder [9, pp. 168-178].

 Neurochemical mechanism of aggression regulation

 The electrochemical impulse between nerve cells (neurons) is transmitted using neurotransmitters (neurotransmitters). One of them is serotonin, while its key role in controlling aggressive behavior is proven: it is serotonin that modulates activity in the prefrontal cortex (including the orbitofrontal cortex and the anterior cingulate gyrus), which are involved in the "descending" control of limbic response to stimuli [10, pp. 557-558]. In the development and regulation of aggressive behavior, the role of another neurotransmitter, dopamine, is also very significant today, although much less definite [11, p. 77].

 The role and place of the endocrine system in the mechanism of aggression formation

The study of the neuroendocrine aggression circuit is mainly focused on assessing its effect on the formation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal systems, in particular, hormones such as testosterone and cortisol. While studies of recent decades have been receiving more and more evidence in favor of the influence of testosterone and cortisol on aggression and related factors (for example, psychopathy), an unambiguous interpretation of this relationship is still quite difficult [12, pp. 52-53]. Apparently, it is influenced by factors such as age, gender and the degree of manifestation of signs of personal aggression and psychopathy. Cortisol and testosterone probably influence aggression and psychopathy by modulating the fear or threat circuit in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex [13, pp. 270-271].

 The genetic foundation of aggression

 The active development of molecular genetics in recent decades has contributed to a surge of interest in the search for genes involved in aggressive behavior. There are two ways to solve this problem. The first of them is the study of candidate genes, the connection of which with a particular form of behavior is very likely. In relation to aggression, polymorphic variants of genes involved in the previously described mechanism of regulation of neurotrophy and functioning of neurotransmitter systems of the brain are naturally considered as such, and, first of all, involved in the metabolism of serotonin and dopamine (for example, monoamine oxidase A (MAOA), dopamine receptor 2 (DRD2), serotonin transporter (5-HTT or SLC6A4) and the dopamine enzyme catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT). To date, many studies have been conducted, both confirming the association of polymorphism of these genes with various forms of aggressive behavior, and refuting this hypothesis [2, p. 390; 8; 14]. Such contradictory results are explained by the fact that the influence of individual genes on aggressive behavior is also mediated by the previous experience of their carriers, and especially by the conditions of early development and upbringing of such individuals [3, p. 674]. As noted by leading Russian experts in behavior genetics, "good parenting conditions, the presence of good parental care block the manifestation of aggressiveness genes, while poor conditions and lack of parental care contribute to the manifestations of aggressiveness. The same pattern was obtained in animal studies (rats, monkeys) and, apparently, is universal for animals" [5, p. 1143].

Environmental (epigenetic) risk factors for the development of aggressive behavior

Epigenetics is the most actively developing field of genetic science in recent decades. It is based on the fact firmly established today that the activity of genes (expression), in addition to the actual genetic molecular factors, can be modified by other factors that do not affect the basic structure of DNA, i.e. epigenetic. As you know, each cell of the human body contains 46 chromosomes consisting of DNA and a protein base – nucleosomes. A network of nucleosomes packs chromosomes into a cell. So, thanks to the achievements of molecular genetics, it has been established that the protein base of the nucleosome can undergo chemical modifications (DNA methylation, histone acetylation, non-coding RNA, chromatin remodeling) that regulate gene activity. As a result, the same genetic "text" can be read differently in the cells of a multicellular organism, which makes them genetically identical, but structurally, compositionally and functionally heterogeneous due to differential gene expression. 

Such epigenetic changes largely depend on negative environmental influences, the implementation of which in early ontogenesis leads, among other things, to a change in the level of aggressiveness due to epigenetic modifications of gene functions. In particular, hypermethylation or increased acetylation of histones of a number of already mentioned genes involved in the regulation of neurotransmitter and hormonal systems (for example, the MAO-A gene), as a result of stress, unfavorable socio-economic conditions of early childhood, maternal smoking during fetal development and other negative effects during pre- and early postnatal development, it can destroy the conditions for the formation of a normal mechanism for suppressing aggressive behavior [3, pp. 675-677].  

Thus, the socio-biological mechanism of aggressive human behavior is generally understandable. It involves the neurobiological, neurochemical and neuroendocrine systems of the body. The formation of their cells, as well as the cells of the whole organism, occurs on the basis of a given genetic program, but under the influence of epigenetic (environmental) influence, resulting in tissue-specific patterns of gene expression [3, p. 676]. Accordingly, environmental (social) factors can make a significant contribution to the process of ontogenesis.

Understanding the scheme and stages of aggression formation makes it possible to build algorithms for its personalized therapy, among which it is worth mentioning:

1) experiments on pharmacological correction of changes in epigenetic regulation of genes. In particular, one of the targets of pharmaceutical drugs is the genes of the immune system in order to regulate aggressive behavior by modulating serotonin metabolism [15, p. 992].

2) improving the quality of nutrition. So, to date, most studies of the role of nutrition quality in the prevention of antisocial behavior are focused on assessing the role of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in this process. As is known, they are part of the cell membranes and blood vessels of the human body and are not synthesized in the right amount [16; 17]. Also, when investigating the role of poor-quality nutrition in the occurrence of behavioral problems in preschoolers, it was found that malnutrition or poor-quality nutrition (insufficient consumption of vegetables and fruits with, on the contrary, an excess of fast food, sweets and snacks) demonstrates a convincing relationship with a higher level of antisocial behavior even when leveling the role of heredity and the environment [18].

3) large-scale social programs in the field of crime prevention and deviance. The most famous of them is the non–governmental Program of interaction between nurses and families – Nurse-Family Partnership (NFP), implemented in the United States of America (see the official website – https://www.nursefamilypartnership.org /), aimed at improving the health and life of first-time mothers and their children suffering from socio-economic inequality and other risk factors. 

So, the above-described results of research on the biological side of human aggression quite convincingly suggest that its ignoring cannot be compensated by measures of socio-pedagogical impact of any scale, intensity and duration. Therefore, on the one hand, the formation of a full-fledged personality is impossible without taking into account its biopsychophysiological component, on the other hand, the biological side of the human nature of an adult individual is the result of the previous stages of his interaction with the outside world, as well as the peculiarities of such interaction of his parents, as well as several generations of their ancestors. Accordingly, it is very difficult with such an understanding of the mechanism of socialization to give a clear preference to its biological or social element. It follows from this that the synthetic, i.e. biosocial interpretation of the issues of phenomenology, genesis and public control over crime should become the fundamental basis for the formation of the vector of development of criminological science in the future.

References
1. Antonyan, Yu.M. (2021). Causes of crime. Nauchnyy portal MVD Rossii=Scientific Portal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 1(53), 58–64.
2. Tremblay, R.E. et al. (2018). Developmental origins of chronic physical aggression: a bio-psycho-social model for the next generation of preventive interventions. Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 69, 1, 383–407.
3. Markel, A.L. (2016). Biosocial foundations of aggressiveness and aggressive behavior. Zhurnal vysshey nervnoy deyatel'nosti imeni I.P. Pavlova=Journal of Higher Nervous Activity named after I.P. Pavlov, vol. 66, 6, 669–681.
4. Moffitt, T.E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: a developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, vol. 100, 4, 674–701.
5. Kudryavtseva, N.N., Markel, A.L., & Orlov, Yu.L. (2014) Aggressive behavior: genetic and physiological mechanisms. Vavilovskiy zhurnal genetiki i selektsii=Vavilov Journal of Genetics and Breeding, vol. 18, 4-3, 1133–1155.
6. Yang, Y. et al. (2017). Neural correlates of proactive and reactive aggression in adolescent twins. Aggressive Behavior, vol. 43, 3, 230–240.
7. Davidson, R.J. et al. (2000). Dysfunction in the neural circuitry of emotion regulation – a possible prelude to violence. Science, vol. 289, 5479, 591–594.
8. Pavlov, K.A. et al. (2012). Genetic determinants of aggression and impulsivity in humans. Journal of Applied Genetics, vol. 53, 1, 61–82.
9. Coccaro, E.F. et al. (2007). Amygdala and orbitofrontal reactivity to social threat in individuals with impulsive aggression. Biological Psychiatry, vol. 62, 2, 168–178.
10. Kudryavtseva, N.N. (2015). Serotonergic control of aggressive behavior: new approaches-new interpretations (review). Zhurnal vysshey nervnoy deyatel'nosti imeni I.P. Pavlova=Journal of Higher Nervous Activity named after I.P. Pavlov, vol. 65, 5, 546–563.
11. Makushkina, O.A., Gurina, O.I., & Golenkova V.A. (2021). Biological basis of aggressive behavior. Nevrologiya, neyropsikhiatriya, psikhosomatika=Neurology, neuropsychiatry, psychosomatics, vol. 13, 5, 76–82.
12. Makushkina, O.A., Gurina, O.I., & Vyatkina, A.I. (2020). The study of the level of serotonin, dopamine and indicators of the hormonal profile in persons with mental disorders with aggressive illegal behavior. Rossiyskiy psikhiatricheskiy zhurnal=Russian Psychiatric Journal, vol. 2, 52–53.
13. Rosell, D.R., & Siever, L.J. (2015). The neurobiology of aggression and violence. CNS Spectrums, vol. 20, 3, 254–279.
14. Trifu, S.C. et al (2020). Aggressive behavior in psychiatric patients in relation to hormonal imbalance. Experimental and Therapeutic Medicine, vol. 20, 4, 3483–3487.
15. Mustafin, R.N. et al. (2019). Epigenetics of aggressive behavior. Genetika=Genetics, vol. 55, 9, 987–997.
16. Gesch, C. et al (2002). Influence of supplementary vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids on the antisocial behaviour of young adult prisoners: Randomised, placebo-controlled trial. British Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 181, 1, 22–28.
17. Zaalberg, A. et al. (2010). Effects of nutritional supplements on aggression, rule-breaking, and psychopathology among young adult prisoners. Aggressive Behavior, vol. 36, 2, 117–26.
18. Jackson, D.B. (2016). The link between poor quality nutrition and childhood antisocial behavior: A genetically informative analysis. Journal of Criminal Justice, vol. 44, 13–20.

Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The subject of the research in the article submitted for review is, as its name implies, the tradition and prospects of studying the mechanism of criminal behavior from the standpoint of modern biosocial interpretation of the phenomenology of human aggression. The stated boundaries of the study are fully respected by the author. The methodology of the research is not disclosed in the text of the article, but it is obvious that the scientists used universal dialectical, logical, historical, comparative legal research methods, as well as the method of legal forecasting. The relevance of the research topic chosen by the author is justified as follows: "Aggression is one of the most complex forms of social behavior of animals in general, and humans in particular. Violence, including criminal violence, is a type of aggression. In general, the nature, forms of expression and intensity of an individual's aggressive behavior are important characteristics of his personality. At the same time, if it is nevertheless established that aggression is based not only on contradictions arising during social interaction, but also endogenous (biological) factors, this will be able to correct the already established ideas about the personality of the criminal, existing not only in public opinion, but also among specialized specialists [1, P. 59]". Additionally, the scientist needs to list the names of the leading researchers who studied the problems raised in the article, as well as reveal the degree of their study. It is not explicitly stated what the scientific novelty of the study is. In fact, it manifests itself in the introduction into circulation of a number of modern scientific medical data (including foreign ones), substantiating a synthetic (biosocial) approach to the interpretation of important problems of phenomenology, genesis and public control over crime. Thus, the article certainly makes a certain contribution to the development of domestic criminological science and deserves the attention of the readership. The scientific style of the research is fully sustained by the author. The structure of the work is quite logical. In the introductory part of the article, the author substantiates the relevance of the chosen research topic. In the main part of the work, the scientist determines the age correlates of aggressive human behavior, including twins, describes the neurobiological basis of aggressive behavior, the neurochemical mechanism of aggression regulation, identifies the role and place of the endocrine system in the mechanism of aggression formation, reveals the genetic foundation of aggression, indicates environmental (epigenetic) risk factors for the development of aggressive behavior. The final part of the article contains conclusions based on the results of the study. The content of the article fully corresponds to its title and does not cause any special complaints. The bibliography of the study is presented by 18 sources (scientific articles), including in English. From a formal and factual point of view, this is quite enough. The nature and number of sources used in writing the article allowed the author to reveal the research topic with the necessary depth and completeness. There is an appeal to the opponents, but it is general in nature due to the very focus of the study. The scientific discussion is conducted by the author correctly. The provisions of the article are reasoned to the necessary extent. There are conclusions based on the results of the study ("So, the above-described results of research on the biological side of human aggression quite convincingly suggest that its disregard cannot be compensated by measures of socio-pedagogical impact of any scale, intensity and duration. Therefore, on the one hand, the formation of a full-fledged personality is impossible without taking into account its biopsychophysiological component, on the other hand, the very biological side of human nature of an adult individual is the result of previous stages of his interaction with the outside world, as well as the peculiarities of such interaction of his parents, as well as several generations of their ancestors. Accordingly, it is very difficult, with such an understanding of the mechanism of socialization, to give explicit preference to its biological or social element. It follows from this that the synthetic, i.e. biosocial interpretation of the issues of phenomenology, genesis and public control over crime should become the fundamental basis for the formation of the vector of development of criminological science in the future"), they are reliable, justified and, of course, deserve attention. The interest of the readership in the article submitted for review can be shown primarily by specialists in the field of criminology, provided that it is slightly improved: disclosure of the research methodology and additional justification of the relevance of its topic.