THE MOBLEY DEFENCE

The Mobley Defence highlights the debatable use of genetic factors in legal defense. Explore twin studies, candidate genes associated with violent behavior, and the diathesis-stress model in understanding offender behavior.

• Genetics
• Crime
• Legal Defense
• Twin Studies
• Diathesis-Stress Model

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Uploaded on Mar 08, 2025 | 0 Views

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1. THE MOBLEY DEFENCE THE MOBLEY DEFENCE Stephen Mobley (1966-2005) was a convicted murderer executed by the State of Georgia for the 1991 killing of John C. Collins, a 25-year-old college student working nights as a Domino's pizza store manager. On appeal, Mobley's attorneys advanced a novel argument that Mobley was genetically predisposed to seeking violent solutions to conflict. The case was described as "perhaps the most widely cited case in which defence lawyers used genetic factors in the defence of their client". Real world application/issues and debates Should genes ever be considered a legitimate legal defence? Why/not?

3. GENETIC AND NEURAL EXPLANATIONS OF OFFENDER BEHAVIOUR AIM: TO EXAMINE AND EVALUATE THE GENETIC AND NEURAL EXPLANATIONS FOR CRIME.

4. 2 advantages of studying twins as a psychologist 2 disadvantages of studying twins as a psychologist

5. PRESENT THE SLIDES BACK TO THE CLASS AFTER YOU HAVE NOTED DOWN THE MAIN INFORMATION.

6. Lange (1930); 13 MZ twins and 17 DZ twins where one of the twins in each pair has spent time in prison. 10 of the MZ twins and but only 2 of the DZ twins had a co-twin that had also spent time in prison. GENETIC EXPLANATIONS TWIN STUDIES Christiansen (1977); studies 87 MS and 147 DZ twins and found a concordance rate of 33% for MZs and only 12% for DZs which supports the view that offending may have a genetic component.

7. CANDIDATE GENES Tiihonen et al (2014) revealed two abnormalities that may be associated with violent crime the MAOA gene (controls dopamine and serotonin) and CDH13 (linked to substance abuse and attention deficit disorder). Tiihonen s sample was 900 Finnish offenders. Individuals with this combination were 13 times more likely to have a history of violent behaviour. This research is in its infancy and has yet to be replicated. MAOA gene: controls dopamine and serotonin in the brain and has been linked to aggressive behaviour

8. DIATHESIS-STRESS MODEL Describe what the D-S model is based on this diagram:

9. NEURAL EXPLANATIONS Prefrontal cortex: individuals who experience antisocial personality disorder show reduced activity in the PFC, the part of the brain that regulates emotional behaviour. Raine (2000) found an 11% reduction in the volume of grey matter in the PFC of people with APD compared to control groups. Mirror neurons: Keysers (2011) only when criminals were asked to empathise with others did their empathy reactions activate. This is controlled by mirror neurons. This suggests that criminals do experience empathy, although it is not an automatic response. These neurons fire in response to the actions of others.

10. CAN YOU THINK OF 2 STRENGTHS/REAL WORLD APPLICATIONS OF THE BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS? Biological determinism presents problems for our legal system since it negates free will and raises the ethical question surrounding what society does with people who carry criminal genes Many adoptees are adopted late so spend their infancy with their biological parents anyway. Some also maintain regular contact with their biological parents. This means that the parents may have had an environmental rather than biological impact. Early twin studies are often unreliable since zygosity (whether twins are MZ or DZ) was based on appearance rather than DNA testing. Therefore they may lack validity. Twin studied involve small sample sizes and the fact that most twins are raised in the same environment is a confounding variable as concordance rates may be due to shared experiences rather than genetics Biological reductionism is an issue within these studies as criminality is complex and environmental factors must be considered.

11. JIM FALLON WARRIOR GENE VIDEO https://www.ted.com/talks/jim_fallon_exploring_the_mind_of_a_killer?language=en