Glenn, Andrea L
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Publication Neurocriminology: Implications for the Punishment, Prediction and Prevention of Criminal Behaviour(2014-01-01) Glenn, Andrea L; Raine, AdrianCriminal behaviour and violence are increasingly viewed as worldwide public health problems. A growing body of knowledge shows that criminal behaviour has a neurobiological basis, and this has intensified judicial interest in the potential application of neuroscience to criminal law. It also gives rise to important questions. What are the implications of such application for predicting future criminal behaviour and protecting society? Can it be used to prevent violence? And what are the implications for the way offenders are punished?Publication Psychopathy and Free Will From a Philosophical and Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective(2015-10-01) Glenn, Andrea L; Focquaert, Farah; Raine, AdrianIn our chapter, we discuss one of the most influential compatibilist accounts of free will, Fischer and Ravizza's (1998) reasons-responsiveness theory, and review the empirical literature on psychopathy that addresses the requirements for moral responsibility that are put forward in their account. Reasons-responsive compatibilist views seem to argue for the absence of moral responsibility or at least diminished responsibility when considering psychopathy. Their view draws upon impairments in the relevant kind of reasons-responsiveness in which one is responsive to both prudential and moral reasons. If moral reasons as genuine reasons that may motivate behavior are somehow aliento individuals with psychopathy, can we argue that these individuals are fully responsible for their immoral behavior? Based on empirical findings, we argue that psychopaths have core affective and cognitive deficits that may impair moral rationality. We conclude that the hard determinist, hard incompatibilist, and reasons-responsive compatibilist view suggest that offenders with severe psychopathy should not be held criminally responsible, and that mild psychopathy should function as a mitigating factor allowing for partial criminal responsibility. We should greatly increase our emphasis on early prevention and rehabilitation while ensuring that society is adequately protected and the feelings and rights of victims are respected. What we fear – or at any rate a very important part of what we fear – in determinism is the prospect that determinism would rule out control, and we very definitely do not want to lose control or be out of control or be controlled by something or someone else – like a marionette or puppet. (Dennett, 1984: 51)Publication Cortisol, Testosterone, and Alpha-Amylase in Psychopathy(2011-05-16) Glenn, Andrea LA recently developed theory suggests that imbalances in hormone systems may contribute to psychopathy (van Honk & Schutter, 2006). Researchers have begun to emphasize the interconnectedness of hormone systems, and recommend examining multiple systems simultaneously in order to examine potential interactions. Very few studies have examined the role of hormones in psychopathy and results have been mixed, possibly due to the examination of only one hormone at a time. In a sample of 178 adults from the community demonstrating a wide range of psychopathy scores, I examine the relationship between psychopathy and two hormones and one enzyme that have been theoretically linked to psychopathy – cortisol, testosterone, and alpha-amylase. In Section 1, I focus on cortisol and testosterone – the end products of two hormonal axes that work together to maintain an appropriate balance between withdrawing in the presence of fearful or threatening stimuli, and approaching in the presence of reward – the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal (HPG) axis. Psychopathy is associated with an apparent imbalance in these processes, as it is characterized by reduced fearfulness, insensitivity to punishment, reward-seeking, and aggression (Hare, 2003). Psychopathy was not associated with cortisol or testosterone measures individually, but was associated with the ratio between baseline testosterone levels and cortisol reactivity to a stressor. In Section 2, I focus on cortisol and alpha-amylase – indicators of the two primary components of the stress response system – the HPA axis and the sympathetic nervous system. Researchers have hypothesized that deficits in this system contribute to the fearlessness and insensitivity to punishment observed in psychopathy, but the relative contribution of the two components, or how they may interact, has not been explored. Psychopathy was not associated with cortisol or alpha-amylase measures individually. However, an interaction was observed indicating that at high levels of alpha-amylase, cortisol was negatively associated with psychopathy. Overall, these results support the hypothesis that psychopathy is associated with an altered balance between highly interconnected hormone systems, and emphasize the importance of examining multiple systems simultaneously.Publication The Neural Correlates of Moral Decision-Making in Psychopathy(2009-01-01) Glenn, Andrea L; Raine, Adrian; Schug, R.A.Publication Psychopathy and instrumental aggression: Evolutionary, neurobiological, and legal perspectives(2009-05-01) Glenn, Andrea L; Raine, AdrianIn the study of aggression, psychopathy represents a disorder that is of particular interest because it often involves aggression which is premeditated, emotionless, and instrumental in nature; this is especially true for more serious types of offenses. Such instrumental aggression is aimed at achieving a goal (e.g., to obtain resources such as money, or to gain status). Unlike the primarily reactive aggression observed in other disorders, psychopaths appear to engage in aggressive acts for the purpose of benefiting themselves. This is especially interesting in light of arguments that psychopathy may represent an alternative life-history strategy that is evolutionarily adaptive; behaviors such as aggression, risk-taking, manipulation, and promiscuous sexual behavior observed in psychopathy may be means by which psychopaths gain advantage over others. Recent neurobiological research supports the idea that abnormalities in brain regions key to emotion and morality may allow psychopaths to pursue such a strategy—psychopaths may not experience the social emotions such as empathy, guilt, and remorse that typically discourage instrumentally aggressive acts, and may even experience pleasure when committing these acts. Findings from brain imaging studies of psychopaths may have important implications for the law.