Recurrent Criminal Behavior and Executive Dysfunction

Recurrent criminal behavior and executive dysfunction.

OBJECTIVE To experimentally test the hypothesis that people who repeatedly participate in forms of non-violent crime exhibit an executive deficit detected in tests of high ecological validity, having changes in prefrontal functioning as neurophysiologic basis. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS A batteiy to assess executive dysfunction was administered--the Behavioural Assessment of the Dysexecutive Sy...

Recurrent Criminal Behavior and Executive Dysfunction

Executive Function and Dysfunction

Executive functioning (EF) is a cognitive capacity that is difficult to define succinctly. Most explanations of EF reflect some degree of self-regulation as applied to cognition, emotion, behavior, adaptive functioning, and even moral reasoning and choice. In line with this, multiple models have been proposed to account for and explain the range of capacities and acts that represent EF, althoug...

Executive dysfunction

Thumbnail The term "executive function" includes the ability to filter interference, engage in goaldirected behaviors, anticipate the consequences of one's actions, and to exhibit the adaptive concept of mental flexibility. The analysis of executive functions represents one of the most important research areas in contemporary neurosciences. It is partially—but not totally— related to frontal lo...

Time Preferences and Criminal Behavior

Time Preferences and Criminal Behavior One main motive behind lengthy prison terms for serious crime is to deter potential offenders from engaging in crime. Yet, economic theory predicts that the scope for punishment as acting as a deterrent depends on how much individuals discount future events when balancing the immediate utility of the crime and the costs of a potential future punishment. If...