Aggression, psychopathy and brain imaging — Review and future recommendations

Violent behavior appears to result from a complex web of interacting genetic as well as environmental factors. Psychopathy is a strong predictor for relapse in violent acts. The current review shed light on rapidly expanding knowledge in brain imaging related to violent behavior and psychopathy. A literature search was performed in PubMed, Cochrane and PsycInfo combining the key words: mentally disordered offender/aggression/violence/ crime/forensic psychiatry/brain imaging neuroimaging/fMRI/MRI/PET/SPECT/lack of empathy/psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder. The reviewed material, which consisted of 48 articles, indicates a rather strong consensus on the connection between dysfunctional parts of the frontal and temporal lobes and violent antisocial behavior and psychopathy. In future studies, it would be useful to focus on the limbic system and to investigate which parts of the frontal lobes and cerebral networks that are of interest in the psychopathic personality. Moreover, the reviewed material highlights some of the methodological difficulties in this area of research such as selection bias in the recruitment of patients, inadequate matching of control subjects, and sometimes incongruous results. In the future we hope that brain imaging can be used to map biological deviations in different offenders in order to try to learn more about the different mechanisms behind violent behaviors.     

A humanitarian mission in line with human rights? Assessing Sophia,the EU’s naval response to the migration crisis

This article adds to our understanding of the role of norms in the European Union’s (EU) response to the migration crisis by conducting a critical assessment of the EU’s anti-smuggling naval mission “Sophia”. Is Sophia in line with the normative standards the EU has set for itself in its foreign policies? Conducting the analysis in two steps in line with the main criteria of a humanitarian foreign policy model – first exploring Sophia’s launch and then assessing Sophia’s in theatre behaviour – findings suggest that although concerns for migrants at sea mobilised the initial launch of the mission, the mission is not conducted in line with key human rights principles. As the operation mandate is amended and updated with new tasks, and as the EU-NATO in theatre cooperation increases, the EU is moving further away from what one would expect of a humanitarian foreign policy actor.     

Parent–Child Relations,Conduct Problems and Cigarette Use in Adolescence: Examining the Role of Genetic and Environmental Factors on Patterns of Behavior

This study investigated genetic and environmental influences on the associations between mother–child relationship quality (warmth and hostility) and adolescent conduct problems and cigarette use. Participants included 601 mothers and adolescent twin pairs (aged 12–17 years). Mothers and adolescents provided separate reports of mother-to-child warmth and hostility. A combined measure of mother and adolescent reported conduct problems was used while adolescents provided reports of their cigarette use. Analyses were conducted using bivariate genetic analyses of correlated factors models and regression analyses of monozygotic twin differences. Genetic influences were found for most ratings of the parent–child relationship, with evidence of gender and/or rater-specificity for some measures. The relationship between mother–child hostility with adolescent conduct problems and cigarette use was influenced by genetic and environmental effects. Evidence was found for shared environment effects on the relationship between mother–child warmth and conduct problems. Examining monozygotic twin differences provided further support for non-shared environmental influence on the relationship between mothers’ expressions of hostility and low warmth and adolescent adjustment. Findings are discussed in relation to the interplay between genetic and environmental effects underlying links between parent–child relations and adolescent behavior problems.

Class,Politics and the Progressive Dilemma

This article considers contemporary class inequalities and how they might shape a progressive politics in the UK. Drawing on findings from the BBC Class Survey, it outlines changes in the class structure, class mobility and class identities. It is argued that the class structure is increasingly polarised and fragmented, with a wealthy elite, a vulnerable precariat and fragmented middle and working classes in between. Declining upward social mobility is a source of anxiety for middle‐class and working‐class parents alike. Class identification, especially working‐class identification, has weakened over time, although class snobbery is far from dead. Class has changed and the class basis of politics is changing now too. A progressive politics is possible if the political parties of the centre‐left appeal to the majority of the electorate rather than one class, acknowledge common concerns and worries and appeal to shared hopes and dreams that straddle class boundaries.