The Need to Incorporate Autonomic Arousal in Developmental and Life-Course Criminological Research and Theories

• In Event: Biosocial Criminology: Research, Theory, and Use in the Criminal Justice System

Abstract

In recent decades, although increasing efforts have been made to study the relationship between autonomic measures of physiological arousal and crime, such biological measures do not yet play a central part in criminological research and little effort has been made to incorporate them into criminological theories. This article reviews the empirical literature on the association between autonomic nervous system arousal measures namely heart rate and skin conductance and various risk and protective factors for crime and delinquency including bonding and attachment, temperament, cognition, narcissism, stimulation-seeking, life events, and negative parenting. With a focus on developmental and life-course theories, examples on how autonomic arousal measures can be incorporated into extant theories are illustrated. In light of the associations between such biological measures and the constructs that underlie criminological theories, we suggest a biopsychosocial model in understanding crime and demonstrate how autonomic measures of physiological arousal can inform the development of a more comprehensive theory regarding the etiology criminal and delinquent behavior.

Authors

• Olivia Choy, University of Pennsylvania

• David Philip Farrington, Cambridge University

• Adrian Raine, University of Pennsylvania