Predicting our childrens future.

I do not believe I would have my child tested for the purpose of seeking out future issues, unless, there was a 100% cure for anything they find. I feel that intention is everything, and when someone intends to look for bad, that is exactly what they will get. Placebo testing has proven to be valuable when used on cognitive traits showing the resilience of the human mind. I think our society already looks for everything wrong, instead of focusing their intentions on something right. The brain is still being researched on a daily basis; which indicates to me, that our methods have yet to understand the depth or zone of possibilities in this field. We may not be able to comprehend the brains innate nature at this point; but then again, we may be blinded by our own ignorance, which could prevent us from seeing the big picture in regards to the true outcome of our studies.

Labeling children potential psychopaths

As a biology major, I definitely abide by the notion that genetics and biological influence play a huge role in development and throughout life. The article presented compelling evidence about physiological reactions to different stimuli, brain activity in certain regions, and structural variations. This is all very intriguing but.... I would not want any of this sort of pre-screening to go on unless there was some treatment or cure. It could be extremely psychologically damaging to both the child labeled potentially psychopathic as well as to the family. How would you feel if someone told you your brain is that of a dangerous criminal? I believe this would only set the child up for failure, to be judged and rejected, possibly fostering agression. The family would be innately fearful of or cautious toward the child, making the child feel isolated and unloved. We would like to say knowledge of such a predisposition would NOT affect the way we treated someone, but consciously or unconsciously, it would. However, if there were better preventative measures than "keeping a closer eye on them" or sending innocent children to treatment facilities, my opionion would be different. But neither of these solutions would be constructive and no others exist. Until we have a means to treat the biological basis we are attempting to blame for this "condition," we shouldn't be testing for it.

Pre-Crime Starts at Birth

The article this week reminds me of the opening scene in Gattaca. A young boy named Vincent is born naturally, however it is determined that he has a heart defect and is likely to die at the age of 30. His brother Anton is born through genetic selection. As a result of Anton’s superiority, Vincent lives an inferior life thanks to genetic discrimination.

The article doesn’t necessarily show that we’re on a path to pre-crime discrimination, but there is trouble data in this study. Fetal scans show a hole in brain development at 12 weeks, and this can possibly lead to cavum septum pellucidum. (Fischman, 2011) This condition can lead to antisocial personality disorder, psychopathy and aggression. Criminality is a social topic that we tend to avoid. With the highest amount of people incarcerated with 500 people in prison per 100,000 people and with 1.6 million prisoners in 2010. (Scommegna, 2012) Additionally blacks are six times more likely to be incarcerated than whites.

The study did a good job avoiding the politics and cultural significance of our penal problems, but you have to account for racial problems. Black families are less likely to have higher education, therefore they will have a lower income, and their children will lack the proper nutritional and medical care needed to have healthy development. The end of the article states that Raine is currently studying children in Philadelphia to evaluate diet and possible rehabilitation of children that show slow physical reactivity and accompanying behaviors with cavum septum pellucidum.

 It is good to discover biological tendencies that accompany criminal behavior, but you have to evaluate all aspects of human development. Your future is not determined at birth. If my child had developmental “defects,” I’d work to fix the problem, but it is my child and my responsibility to ensure the health of my child, and should never be public information.

 Works Cited Fischman, J. (2011, June 12). Criminal Minds. Retrieved from The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/article/Can-This-Man-Predict-Whether/127792/ Scommegna, T. T. (2012, August). U.S. Has World's Highest Incarceration Rate. Retrieved from Population Reference Bureau: http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2012/us-incarceration.aspx

Could Be A Would Be Killer (?)

The article on Adrian Raine's research was an interesting read. The question to-know or not-to-know is a big one, as either choice could produce some weird consequences. A major concern of assigning numbers would be that of a self-fulfilling prophecy, in which kids with high percentages would believe that the test's results are set in stone and themselves to be destined (as opposed to possibly, maybe, a teensy bit predisposed) to a future as a criminal, and thus behave accordingly. The tests are not entirely accurate, and as was stated in the article, brains do change throughout individuals' lifetimes. There are several other factors that may come into play, as well, indicating that a high test score may not be definitive.

On the other hand, it may be useful to identify those who may be at risk of callous/unemotional traits and/or aggressive behaviors so parents/guardians can take preventative steps while raising the child to try and mediate the antisocial behaviors, if possible.

I wouldn't want to know my own number or my child's number. That seems like potentially dangerous information, and there are somethings I'd rather not know.

Criminal Minds

I found the article to be very interesting and informative. I was surprised to learn that they have tied so many habits to be indicators of criminal intent. By knowing these signs are indications that someone could committee murder or another horrible act it may allow individuals to prevent a tragedy.

 I'm not sure that finding out your number is a good thing. It may cause people to act in the way the number indicates. If there was a way of knowing your number without forming a preconceived idea that you could be a murderer it might be a good thing but it also could sway your actions to fool the people that want to help you.

If my child or another child showed aggressive behavior that could indicate the potential for them to harm another I would seek the help of a counselor. Many criminals have acted out their aggressions on small helpless animals long before they hurt another human being..

Today's technology provides a view into brain activity and allows researchers the ability to compare the activity in the amygdala and prefrontal cortex of known murders and normal individuals to find the differences that may indicate that a person could have murderous tendencies.

September 23rd Prompt Responce

     Would I want to know my number? I think it would be a good precautionary thing to know about. Especially if there was a possibility of successful treatments out there that could help. I mean if you were to know yours or even your kids’ number then you could expect the unexpected and be prepared for it when it happens or get control of it before it goes too far. With just like everything else, though, this is a very personal choice to consider. As a society, though, I believe it should not be put out there yet. Society has a tendency to jump on something and take it to the extreme and go out of control with something. There may be an out break of parents and people who would want there number and then there would be the ones who would fight and say the tests are inhumane in some way. Plus if there came good results of prevention of killers or psychopaths then the tests and numbers may get to the point where children and people would have to get their numbers even if they did not want to. I do think the research has been a good thing and hopefully they will be able to figure out a treatment that will help prevent people from becoming psychopaths or killers.

"Criminal Minds"

I enjoyed the content of this article. Knowing the signs of a criminal in the making is important information to know in order to stop a murderer/rapist in the making.

I would be interested in finding out my supposed likely hood of becoming a criminal. If I have children in the future I would definitely be interested in their numbers, so then I would have some chance of intervention. I would be concerned if my child often displays aggressive behavior, enjoyed harming others/animals, or don't seem to care about consequences for their actions. I would most likely have my child go a counselor or therapist and help redirect excess energy in a sport or other recreational activity.

 I am interested in how PET scan showed lower activity in the amygdala and prefrontal cortext of murder's brains. What causes the the negative autonomic responses associated with fear and emotional response in the amygdala? Does the low activity level in the prefrontal cortex cause lack of control of his/her actions and reactions in these killers? 

Psychopathy Article

After reading the article I find it interesting that you really could find out if your child would become a psychopath. With this question though it rises much concern, such as could a parent really handle the news of a psychopath child? This just reminds me of a question we would always bring up way back in my grade school days...would you want to know when you would die? At first your like ahhhh ok I would want to know! But after some second thoughts would you really want to know, just waiting for the day to come for your whole entire life, no thanks on that one. As for the psychopath question (yes it isn't as serious as death) would you really want to know if you have psychopath like qualities just waiting to wander out into your feelings and thoughts? I don't think I would want to know my number just for the reason being I would freak out even more and make it more dramatic than need be, and being a psychopath on top of that would be one scary reaction. As for my child I guess I would just want to know if there was the possibility for change and adaptation. If you can make the brain think otherwise and not act on the actions you want to act on then knowing would only be beneficial. If otherwise there was no option for change then what good would knowing really do? You could possibly help something tragic from happening, but things will still happen.

Psychopath testing

I think that I would want to know if my child showed signs of psychopathy. The brain is adaptable and I would hope that with this knowledge as a parent I would be able to have my child go through interventions and therapies to help the brain change and adapt. I would also like to know so that when my child's behaviors became out of control and aggressive I would know what might be coming next and place the child in an appropriate setting. I also think that there is still some much unknown about the brain that there might be a treatment in the future to change the areas of the brain that seem to dictate psychopathy. Some also believe that CEO of large corporations might show some signs of psychopathy.

As for myself i would like to know. In fact the other day while doing some extra research on this topic i took this test http://personality-testing.info/tests/LSRP.php .  I am not a psychopath by the way.

Nobody remembers all the good stuff Hitler did.

"The real problem is to define when human life is worth living and when it has to be eradicated... Everything will end in catastrophe if natural selection is altered to the point that gifted people are overwhelmed by billions of morons."   Joseph Mengele

Response to Sept. 23rd prompt

This topic is going to be, if it isn't already, a topic that will never have a suitable resolution for everyone.  I don't have children and can see both sides of this argument.  One part of me wants to support this research and require testing.  If we can forestall even one murder, arson, rape, than the test has proved it's worth.  However the flip side is obvious.  If we test everyone, who has access to these records?  Do we immediately move children with those traits into treatment centers?  Detention centers?  The clear answer is we cannot limit anyone's freedom without any wrong doing on their part.  Does knowing this information bias parents towards mistrust or different treatment of their children?  By informing the parents of these traits are we merely hastening the process if the parents treat the child differently?
I can say if I was a parent I would personally want to know about my own child.  If there was anything I could learn that could possibly help me raise my child then I would want that information.  I would still have the fear that the knowledge would somehow taint my approach to raising the child, but, nonetheless, I would want the information and hope that I could raise the child to be one of the 25%.
Another question though.  Who has access to these records?  Assuming it's only the parents and the people who administer the test, can we be assured the information will always reside only with those few people?  How adversely would the child's upbringing be affected if that information were to be leaked or shared with the wrong folks?
It is a slippery slope when we begin to predict behaviors and take preemptive actions...

I would want to know.

This is something I would want to know about my child. The only skeptical thing to me is the fact that it is only 75% accurate. This would mean that out of every four children they labeled as "bad", there would be one child that is going to be innocent. As long as they are not publicly labeling these children than I think it is okay. If this could help stop future murders, rapes, or other crimes then why shouldn't we test kids?

As long as the children are not facing any immediate punishment, but are instead monitored and preventative actions are taken to avoid future crimes, then I would want to know. Knowing this could be eye opening and help parents change the way they act, or help change the way they raise their kids.

Prompt for September 23rd

An interesting article (found here) popped up in the Chronicle for higher education recently. This article is interesting for several reasons, not least of which is that it does a fairly good job of summarizing our current views on psychopathy. One of the more fascinating questions asked is the fundamental "would you want to know?" This is sometimes balanced with the question of "should society be warned?" After reading the article, what do you think? Would you want to know your number? Your child's? How do you feel about the research?