My EPQ

I am thinking about my EPQ, I think I want to do it about the physiological aspects of a criminals mind. But I am not sure if I want to do something else. Any suggestions? ( related to forensic science, law or Biology)

Reply 1

addy_o

I don't have any specific title suggestions, but I would definitely recommend you choose a topic that you can evaluate in a lot of detail as that is where a lot of the marks for the essay come from. You could potentially pick 2 topics, do some research into both of them and then choose the topic with most evaluative potential? How long do you get to complete the EPQ at your school may I ask?

Reply 2

OxFossil

You will struggle to correlate brain physiology with criminality per se, as the idea that the criminal brain is somehow different to that of the non-criminal has long been debunked. However, you may be interested in looking at the effects of early childhood trauma and neglect on brain development and physiology? There's lots of recent work showing how these are related, and there is a forensic dimension in that people who have survived trauma and neglect in infancy tend to show more anti-social behaviours, substance use problems etc. Here's a US summary https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/brain_development.pdf

Reply 3

Em_H01

Original post by adaline_animx

That would make sense to pick topics with a lot of detail, thanks. And I am not sure how long we get to complete our EPQ, we are having an assembly on it next week. I would imagine it will be a few months.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 4

username2889590

There's a lot of debate atm on whether hate speech laws should be allowed to restrict free speech?

Reply 5

Em_H01

OxFossil- Thank you for your help and suggestion, I will definitely look into those topics.

Reply 6

Em_H01

Original post by G-Wizzle

There's a lot of debate atm on whether hate speech laws should be allowed to restrict free speech?

That does sound like an interesting topic to write about, I will research it and see if interests me. Thank you!

Reply 7

RebmaKopy

Original post by OxFossil

Regarding this quote, you could also look further into Bowlby's maternal deprivation theory on the "44 Thieves".

Edit - Its got more to do with Psychology but looks in depth as of how a child may be shaped into a future 'criminal' so to speak.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 8

Reality Check

Original post by Em_H01

OxFossil- Thank you for your help and suggestion, I will definitely look into those topics.

Just remember that a successful EPQ has a narrowly drawn, tight title that's easy to directly answer in the available word count. Don't be too broad - it's the worst mistake to make when setting your title, but your EPQ supervisor should be able to help you avoid this.

Reply 9

addy_o

Original post by Em_H01

If you have a few months then I’d definitely recommend emailing some specialists in the broad topic you’re interested in as they can sometimes suggest some sources and are an excellent source of information themselves - I emailed some researchers at my local uni, and it took them a few weeks to get back to me but the info I obtained from them was really good, and I even cited them in my essay

Reply 10

Em_H01

Original post by adaline_animx

Thank you for your help, I will certainly look into doing that when finalise my EPQ topic.

Reply 11

username2889590

Original post by Em_H01

That does sound like an interesting topic to write about, I will research it and see if interests me. Thank you!

Jordan Peterson talks about it quite a lot. I think he's an awful man, but he debates very intelligently.

Reply 12

OxFossil

Original post by G-Wizzle

Jordan Peterson talks about it quite a lot. I think he's an awful man, but he debates very intelligently.

I'd agree - if by "intelligently" you mean, "dishonestly". His style is one of putting up smokescreens of pretentious misrepresentation in an attempt to obscure his egregious politics. One particularly farcical example I came across this week (I can't seem to avoid it) is a piece he's written recently in which he claims that the fact that some planets are much bigger than others is an illustration of his contention that inequality is the only natural and therefore desirable way of organising society. Please avoid this charlatan.