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One Biological Treatment: Improved Diet (Bernard Gesch et al 2002 (231…
One Biological Treatment: Improved Diet
High Sugar Diets & Crime
Simon Moore et al 2009
Found among a group of violent offenders - 69% reported eating 'confectionary' pretty much everyday during childhood
Although unwise to conclude sugar causes violent crime, suggests there's a link between the 2
High sugar diet causes changes in blood sugar levels
Junk food, sugary snacks & sweets create high glucose levels which, in turn trigger major insulin secretions to soak these up - then leads to a shortage of glucose - Hypoglycaemia
Hypoglycaemia - associated with irritability, difficulty making judgements & in extreme cases, violent outbursts
David Benton et al 1996
Found children playing video games become more aggressive as their blood sugar level decreased, suggesting blood sugar levels does impact on behaviour
Vitamins, Minerals & Fatty Acids
Brain functions depend upon biochemical processes & these rely on steady supply of rights sorts of vitamins & minerals
Most important in relation to criminal behaviour would appear to be unsaturated fatty acids, especially omega 3, magnesium, zinc & iron as well as vitamins B, C & D
More junk food consumed > less space in diet for healthier nutritional content
Lack of nutrients been linked to particular mental illnesses, like depression, as well as behavioural problems like aggression
Diet Changes as a Treatment for Crime
To improve diet of offenders, baseline measure of diet is 1st established
Will ascertain what particular minerals & vitamins the offender is currently lacking, & how this can be best addressed
Most cases, multi-vitamin will be added to the offender's diet, after which any effects on behaviour will be monitored over a given period
Bernard Gesch et al 2002
Wanted to test whether improved diet (due to increase in vitamins, minerals & essential fatty acids) was linked to reduction in anti-social behaviour
231 inmates in young offenders institute participated, being involved for between 2 weeks - 9 months(withdrawal was due to reasons of parole or limited cell space)
Those in experimental group were given daily vitamin, mineral & essential fatty acid supplement in addition to their normal diet
Those in control group were given placebo
Groups were matched for disciplinary incident & progress in the prison regime
Conclusion
Would appear that supplementing offenders' diets with vitamins, minerals & fatty acids is linked to a decrease in incidents of anti-social behaviour, including violent behaviour
Gesch's findings are likely to have implications beyond the institutional setting for those eating a poor diet in the wider community
Double-blind procedure was used
Prison staff administering the supplements weren't aware which of the young offenders had been allocated to which group; all pills (supplement & placebo) arrived at the institute in blank packaging
Baseline measure of diet as well as assessments of anger, anxiety & depression were taken at the beginning of the study
Findings
In experimental group, there was 35.1% reduction in disciplinary incidents per 'thousand-person days'
Equivalent figure in the placebo group was 6.7%
Significant reduction in serious violent incidents in the experimental group of 37%
Placebo group, this was just 10.1%
Evaluation
Strength
Stephen Schoenthaler 1983
Found 48% reduction in formal disciplinary incidents among 276 young offenders
Study conducted over 2yrs (significantly longer than Gesch) & involved reduction in in amount of sugar consumed rather than dietary supplements, sugary drinks, cereals & desserts were replaced with low sugar alternatives
Suggests a high sugar diet is associated with anti-social behaviour which can be controlled if sugar consumption is reduced
Counter Argument of this = both studies conducted within situational setting where behaviour is rule-based & highly controlled
Can't know from studies alone whether the effects of diet on anti-social behaviour would generalise to real-life settings
Gesch's study = well controlled
Double-blind procedure minimised effect of demand charactaristics among the offenders, as well as experimenter effects among those staff administering the pills
Also, matched on key variables meant that the difference in outcome between the 2 groups couldn't be explained by other factors, like the nature of disciplinary incidents & progress whilst in prison
This control within the study increases the validity of the findings
Weakness
Cause & Effect Uncertain
Crime = complex social activity that's unlikely to be addressed by treating 1 single factor alone
Those individuals in society with poorest diets are also those most likely to be living in the most socially & economically deprived circumstances
Factors of this sort, rather than diet, may be root causes of offending
Therefore +ve effects of change in diet may be short-lived if offenders returned to the same circumstances following their sentence
Most outcome studies are geared towards reducing aggression & anti-social behaviour
Therefore offenders serving time for financial crime like fraud, for example are unlikely to be helped by change of diet
Therefore meaning that benefits of improved diet may only apply to particular types of offender
Reductionist
Approach obsecures the fact that there's important cognitive factors in offending which should be addressed
Also other therapies, like hormone treatment, have proved successful in the treatment of offenders