Boy Behind Bars: Can Merle Haggard's miscreant youth be explained in terms of frontal lobe dysfunction?
Welcome to yet another Psychology Comes Alive entry. Today we're taking a look at the relationship between criminal behavior or criminal "behaviour" as they say in places like Britain and Canada, eh? First of all, if you're from a school other than the school of hard knocks, I'm going to have to take a look at an article and then apply it to what you've learned about Merle Haggard by following the blog entries over at:
Before attempting to apply this article to Merle Haggard and his miscreant youth, why not do a critical review of this critical review. The article you'll be reviewing will be this one: Neuropsychiatry of frontal lobe dysfunction in violent and criminal behaviour: A Critical Review. You can access the full article for free (provided that you provide a modicum of information) at:
Journal Article
In your review, answer the following questions about the article:
1. Is it concise, pithy and succinct, or purposefully prolix, unnecessarily lengthy and confusing?
2. Why is the issue presented here important? Does the author make the case for the relative importance of the issue being addressed?
3. What are the theoretical implications of the study, and how does the study relate to previous work in the area?
4. What theoretical propositions are tested, if any, and, how were they derived?
5. Did the author provide an original approach to the subject matter?
Now let's apply the article to Merle Haggard. Do the findings presented here fall apart when applied to an individual case, such as that of Merle Haggard, or are environmental and personality factors more salient for you, as a student of all things Merle Haggard.
Finally, after hearing this song, which does a better job of depicting the person of Merle Haggard as a youngster, the research, or the remix?
Boy Behind Bars
Dr BLT
words and music by Dr BLT
from the CD, From Buck Owens Blvd. to Merle Haggard Drive
Dr BLT's website
(hit play)
Posted by Bruce L Thiessen Ph D at 7/14/2009 9:38 AM 
Categories: brain functioning
Tags: sing me back home brain dysfunction Merle Haggard cognition boy behind bars Bakersfield Sound Underground BSU neuropsychiatry brain function Bakersfield sound Portrait of Merle Haggard as a young Delinquent
Categories: brain functioning
Tags: sing me back home brain dysfunction Merle Haggard cognition boy behind bars Bakersfield Sound Underground BSU neuropsychiatry brain function Bakersfield sound Portrait of Merle Haggard as a young Delinquent
After reading the article that was assigned for us to read i found it to be very interesting and informative. I didn't think the article was too lengthy, it provided information that gave the reader complete knowledge and descriptive information to describe the topic and study. Yes, the article may be a little boring since it had so much information provided but the information seemed to help the reader better understand the article. The abstract section of the article helped me as a reader to better understand what the article was going to talk about so that i was aware of what i was going to read upon. The article here is important because, just like it was mentioned in the objectives section its important and interesting to establish the link between frontal lobe dysfunction and violent and criminal behavior. Its also important to see how the "frontal lobe" combined with the terms "aggression," "violence," "crime," "antisocial personality disorder," "psychopathy," "impulse control disorders", and "episodic dyscontrol" as mentioned in the methods section also related to the topic and how it effected the study. Its important to point out that the article mentioned: "clinical observation and current theories of prefrontal network function suggest that frontal lobe disorders may contribute to violent and criminal behavior, the strength of this hypothesized association has yet to be established." To do this study they located articles using a Medline search from 1966 to 2000 and combined the keyword "frontal lobe" with the terms "aggression," "violence," "crime," "antisocial personality disorder," "psychopathy," "impulse control disorders", and "episodic dyscontrol." They then conducted a hand search of relevant reference lists. They only seeked information that contained clinical, laboratory, or neuropsychological test data relating frontal lobe function to aggression, crime, or violence. After several studies and information gathering they concluded by assessing the magnitude and specificity of the hypothesized link between frontal lobe dysfunction and violence, and discuss implications for future research. I don't believe the article provided an original approach to the subject matter, unless i missed the section in the article but to my understanding no he didn't.
The song about Merle Haggard was an interesting song that quickly talked about his past life and his life behind bars.Wasn't very descriptive or anything so i'd have to go with the article to better describe his past life and experiences that led this to where he is, but that's just me and how i learn about things. I find that i need things to be very descriptive and informative for me to understand and learn about something.
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#1 The article appears to be pithy and succint. IT states teh point of the aritcle and proviedes valid reasoning. This artilce clearly states its hypothesis and lays out the format fo the article in a very organized and clearly logical way. However there were parts in this article that became a little confusing.
#2 The issue is presented to find the relationship of criminal activity an abnormal frontal lobe. The author states taht this reseach was conducted in order to "adopt the definition of aggression as any threatening or physically assaultive behavior directed at persons or the enviornment."
#3 One theoretical implication is that there is a relationship between the abnormal prefronal lobe and criminal activity. The article gives an example of the war veterans with head injuries and have agressive or antisocial behavior, and also have frontal lobe lesions. However this may be the case, they also need to look at the situation that these people were in. They were constantly around war,killing and violent activity, in order to survive.
Then when the article continues to the next situation they switch gears and look at the behavior of the people in executive functions.
#4 Soem of the theoretical propostionst that were offered in this article is the dysfunction of the prefrontal lobe is showen in violent criminals. The ".significant deficits on tests specifically selected to assess orbitofrontal and ventromedial functioning"in psychopatic criminals.
#5 The author provided an original approach to the article in his/her choice of a case study to choose from. However the lay out and the format of the paper seemed to be like any other research paper you would find.
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Going to the first question, the article was pithy, and concise. The author, M.C Brower, used enough words to portray the meaning and stayed on topic. Along the same lines as word use, the author displayed professionalism. The words were scientific, and I felt that his audience are people that are familiar with physiology or brain structures.
Pertaining to the second question, the author is creating a new ideology to criminal behavior, so Bewer is just giving his audience facts. These facts are relevant because of societies high rates of criminal activity and violence. In saying that, the author's information being relevant, makes the topic important and is made important.
In addition, the author describes the theoretical implications. In theory, people that receive frontal lobe damage become more aggressive. The person being more aggressive are prone to more violent behavior. So, since the person received frontal lobe damage, that person is more pron to criminal behavior.
The theory of frontal lobe damage is not entirely old news. I watched an episode about criminals and frontal lobe damage on the Crime channel. Similarly, the researcher found a connection between frontal lobe damage and violent behavior. The researcher used pictures of neurons in the brain to show some correlation. What was found and what Brower similarly found, was that there is a connection between frontal lobe damage and violent behavior.
The author, pertaining to the next question, did not perform any test. Instead, the author wrote a literature review paper that described research previously done. Brower used the sources wisely and followed them.
Going away from the questions, the research article and song give the audience different venues to the topic. The scientific approach gives us concrete evidence, while the song gives us a personal account. One describes violent behavior being caused by frontal damage. The artistic approach shows that the child had no father figure, so the child had no direction. Both are well thought out arguments, and more research into either of them could show true.
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When going over the article regarding frontal lobe injury it does raise the question of its relevance to the actions of individuals. Often when trying to understand the underlying causes for negative behavior one tends to forget the influence of a frontal lobe injury that may have contributed to the negative behavior. The time length and extent of the injury would also need to be considered. With many of the studies and observations done by previous theorist one could argue conditional behavior, operant conditioning, or associative connections, observational learning, and cognitive influence along with a multitude of other theories and ideas. Although the article did bring up some valid points, it was not all comprehensive and some important aspects seemed to have been left out of the article. What other co mobility issues could have attributed to the actions? These also would need to be considered. Past environmental exposure and experience also would have a direct link to displayed behavior. The evidence of chemical imbalance (rather genetically or self administered) also would need to be factored in. These additional attributes, while not excusing behavior would perhaps provide some reasons for the behavior. Then perhaps the governing body, caregiver or overseer would have an insight on how to administer assistance, guidance and help to those in need.
The article was a bit wordy, and yet had some valid points, while not fully addressing all of the issues and factors that help to formulate the thought process of those individuals that chose to dance to the beat of a different drummer, and those who choose to display deviant behavior.
When considering Merle Haggard and the life style that he chose one could argue that perhaps he suffered from a head injury, or from abandonment issues, or his deviant behavior was his way of coping in a world that he was not willing to conform too.
Regardless of the reason why deviant behavior occurs it is not behavior that is expectable in our society and therefore they come with consequences. History, experience, and environments do play a part in the decisions those individuals make however in the physic of every individual is a measure, which informs them of right and wrong. Rather one chooses to adhere to that internal antenna or not, they should be held to the consequences of their actions. Sad but true the school of hard knocks tends to leave indelible lessons in the heart, mind, and body and consequences can last a lifetime and beyond!!!
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I thought this article was pretty concise. It was a bit lengthy but it covered a lot of information. I find this issue to be of importance in the sense that it would be of great help to understand the criminal mind. Our prisons are overflowing with inmates that have commited violent crimes, and to understand this behavior by possibly finding a link between the behavior and frontal lobe dysfunction could possibly lead to a way of "fixing" this social problem someday. This article didn't really seem to adress the importance of the issue as much as it just expressed the facts of the studies that were looked at. It took a look at work that had been done in this area as far back as 1966, but i felt that no real original approach was provided to the subject matter.
When taking these findings and applying it to an individual case such as that of Merle Haggard whom was troubled from a very young age and for a great deal of time, the findings do fall apart. Merle Haggard did not suffer any damage to the frontal lobe, if he had some sort of frontal lobe dysfunction according to some of the tests done to determine this however, is unknown. But in this case I believe environmental factors such as socioeconomic status and family dynamics are of greater significance. Finally, I feel that the remix does a better job of depicting the troubled and musical genius that is Merle Haggard because it is describing the individual case as opposed to the research that is atempting to provide answers on a larger scale.
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First and foremost I will discuss the questions asked for the study then compare the song and study to decide which is best at describing violent or aggressive behavior.
Yes, I do believe that the study is pity and utilizes concise wording and is succinct. The study is a bit wordy and lengthy and is a bit confusing to follow at times.
The topic at hand is definitely important because it addresses reasons why individuals respond to life situations and enact criminal behaviors due to having prefrontal lobe damage. These individuals do respond differently than other persons whom did not suffered prefrontal lobe damage.
Although the author does utilize other studies to make his case on the subject stronger, he does make clear correlations and adds the articles or information adequately which in turn does addresses the topic correctly.
The current theoretical implication of the study is that people who have prefrontal lobe damage or injury does display aggressive or violent tendencies towards others. I had heard about this type of theoretical implication when I was in Psych 101, where we read about a young man in the early 1700's or so, that had suffered this type of injury and then began to display aggressive, explosive and violent behavior towards others after the accident. Before the accident he had been a gentle person and had never treated others with aggression but after the accident because of his change of behavior, he was eventually fired.
The current author's study was basically a review of several studies by other various authors, the study was just arranged and completed by comparing and reviewing other studies.
Now, when comparing the study and the song in order to decide which of the two gives a better approach at describing violent or aggressive behavior, I would have to say that the study does go into the facts and details of topic at hand but the song makes it more of a personable or humanistic viewpoint. I think that a song or poem or true life story always makes a topic or subject of discussion more interesting and descriptive enough for us to understand better.
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No. 1 I thought the article was prolix in that it was long and wordy. Also pithy since it was full of important meaning.
No. 2 The importance of the article was to gain insight as to any correlation and any relationship between abnormal frontl lobe function and violent crime.
No. 3 The theoretical implications of the study were case studies as far abck as 1835 showing that antisocial personslity traits after frontal lobe injury are associated with poor impulse control, and explosive aggressive outbursts in connection with frontal lobe disorder and violence. Other case studies of aquired sociopathy individuals who had ventromedical prefontal injury and war veterans who had head injuries experienced aggressive and antisocial behavior.
No.4 The theoretical propositions that were tested included clinical and neuropsychological measures which found that there is a link between aggressive and antisocial behavior due to dysfunction of the prefontal lobe.
No 5. I believe that the author provided an original approach to the case study.
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I found this article to be very concise and it didn't go off on tangents. Each article mentioned in the author's literature review was very relevant to the subject.
The issue is important because the recognition of this issue is vital in the treatment of the violence and aggression that can be triggered by damage to the prefrontal or orbitofrontal cortex.
This was really more of a lit review than an actual study, but it nicely brought together past and present research that has tended to prove the hypothesis that frontal lobe damage can be a trigger in aggressive and violent behavior. This is something that I studied in other classes, such as physiological psychology, so I was aware of this theory prior to reading the article. I didn't think that the article was too long because each of the studies reviewed were different and there wasn't a lot of repetition, other than the end result. I liked the fact that conflicting articles were also mentioned to give a broader view of the subject. I also like the fact that the weaknesses in some of the previous studies were noted, such as a lack of studies addressing variables such as emotional, sexual, and physical abuse, family dysfunction, and substance abuse.
I'm not sure how original the approach to the subject was, but it was well-researched and very well written.
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The Journal Article submitted by Brower and Price was concise AND confusing! My background is in the Arts and not Neuropsychiatry so I was a bit out of my element. However, I do understand the authors intent and conclusions and have read other material that pertains to the connection between “frontal lobe dysfunction and violent behavior.” I am really intrigued by the advances in neuropsychiatry, specifically I have been exposed to new studies on teen brain development and am very interested in learning more. It’s amazing to me how much we are coming to understand brain function, but even more amazing to me is how much we have yet to learn!
Again, we have the Nature versus Nurture debate. Although, is it still a debate? Have we not come to the conclusion that we as humans we are a blend of both? Merle Haggard included? From what little I know of Haggard I can assume that his environment played a large role in his delinquent behavior. Losing his father at 9, having his Mother go back to work. The family dynamic completely changed and Merle was lost. It could be that he suffered from an inferiority complex which Alfred Adler describes as, “people with an inferiority complex have a poor opinion of themselves and feel helpless and unable to cope with the demands of life.” His inability to cope resulted in his acting out. However, his amazing talent and gift for music enabled him to overcome “organic inferiority.”
Human behavior is so complex, all tools should be used to better understand man. Whether it’s Scientific Research, Art, Dance or Music...
“Art is the desire of a man to express himself, to record the reactions of his personality to the world he lives in.” Quote: Amy Lowell
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1. I felt the article was manipulated in a way where they chose to speak of their selected articles, studies to prove their point. The research conducted does not state the factors or other questions involved in the study such as the use of alcohol, or abuse of drugs, family issues/history, abuse physical/mental/sexual, or poverty. However, I do like the way they break down the research topics.
2. The topic’s importance was stated “to establish a link between frontal lobe dysfunction with violent or criminal behavior.” However for obvious reasons I felt a study like this should also have been presented differently. For example, there may be a measure to calculate violence. Or examining ones frontal lobe may predict aggression, violence, abuse, or antisocial behavior. In order to provide a purpose to society how this study can aid the general public.
3. The academic insinuations of the study “support the expected association of increased aggression with focal orbitofrontal, or ventromedial frontal injury, or both. The neuropsychological literature, however, tends to find increased aggressive behaviour associated with deficits in execution function, which correlate with dorsolateral prefrontal dysfunction.” They also suggests that “dysfunction may predominate in persons with comorbid features of fetal or birth related brain injury, developmental learning disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, substance misuse, and antisocial personality disorder.” This would produce these individuals to become violent and be unsuccessful career wise or socially. Thus, driving them to become aggressive and/or violent.
4. There were many subjects tested the search was constructed by researching articles found on MEDLINE from “1996 through 2000, combining the keyword frontal lobe with the terms aggression, violence, crime, antisocial personality disorder, psychopathy, impulse control disorder, and episodic dyscontrol.” They then “hand” picked the articles to use as reference.
5. The approach the author provided in my opinion was original, depending on what your definition or original means. It was not broad or creative it is typically what people use to research an idea or a point. However, I did not like that they only searched one search engine and not several and they hand picked their articles which many of us can agree that this would influence the outcome.
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This article is pithy and succinct (too long).The issue in the article is important because the research is to find the relationship between injury or abnormal frontal lobe with crime,aggression,violence, antisocial disorder,and episodic dyscontrol. Research findings indicate the relationship between an abnormal frontal lobe and criminal activity. The article gives examples of different situations and environment. like the war veteran with head injuries and their aggressive behavior and other examples like the behavior of people in executive functions. The theoretical propositon- the dysfunction of the lobe is found in many violent criminals. The article states that through clinical studies and theory it has been confirmed that their is an association between increased aggression and focal orbitalfrontal injuries.The article had an original approach.For Merle Haggard I believe that both environmental and personality factors both take an important part in an individuals personality and behavior.A combination of both the remix and the article or research give be a better picture of Merle Haggard.
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