Association of Poor Childhood Fear Conditioning and Adult Crime

• Published in: The American journal of psychiatry Vol. 167; no. 1; pp. 56 - 60
• Main Authors: Gao, Yu, Raine, Adrian, Venables, Peter H., Dawson, Michael E., Mednick, Sarnoff A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Arlington, VA American Psychiatric Association 01.01.2010
• Subjects: Acoustic Stimulation; Adult; Amygdala - physiopathology; Biological and medical sciences; Child Behavior - physiology; Child Behavior - psychology; Child Development - physiology; Child, Preschool; Cohort Studies; Conditioning, Classical - physiology; Crime; Crime - psychology; Crime - statistics & numerical data; Criminals - psychology; Criminals - statistics & numerical data; Criminology; Ethnic Groups - psychology; Ethnic Groups - statistics & numerical data; Family; Fear & phobias; Fear - physiology; Female; Galvanic Skin Response - physiology; Humans; Male; Mauritius; Medical sciences; Neuropsychology; Prefrontal Cortex - physiopathology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Punishment; Scientific imaging; Social Class; Social Environment; Mauritius; Human; Affect affectivity; Fear; Criminality; Adult; Emotion emotionality; Conditioning; Child

ObjectiveAmygdala dysfunction is theorized to give rise to poor fear conditioning, which in turn predisposes to crime, but it is not known whether poor conditioning precedes criminal offending. This study prospectively assessed whether poor fear conditioning early in life predisposes to adult crime...