Historical approach

• Lombroso suggested that criminals were 'genetic throwbacks'= a primitive subspecies who were biologically different from non-criminals.

  • Lombroso's theory of the atavistic form would be described as speculative and naive.
• Atavistic form= attributes criminal activity to the fact that offenders are genetic throwbacks or a primitive subspecies ill-suited to conforming to rules of modern society.

  • Such individuals are distinguishable by particular facial and cranial characteristics.
• Biological approach

  Offenders were seen by Lombroso as lacking evolutionary development, their savage and untamed nature meant they would find it impossible to adjust to the demands of civilised society and would inevitably turn to crime.

  • Lombroso saw offending behaviour as a natural tendency, rooted in the genes of those who engage in it.
  • Lombroso proposed a new perspective- that offending behaviour was innate and so the offender was not to blame for their actions.
• Atavistic form

  Lombroso argued the offender subtype could be identified as being in possession of particular physiological 'markers' that were linked to particular types of offence.

  • These are biologically determined 'atavistic' characteristics, mainly features of the face and head, that make offenders physically different from the rest.
  • Cranial characteristics= narrow, sloping brow, strong prominent jaw, high cheekbones and facial asymmetry.
  • Physical characteristics= dark skin, existence of extra toes, nipples, fingers. Insensitivity to pain, use of slang, tattoos, unemployment.
• Offender types

  Lombroso categorised types of offender in terms of their physical and facial characteristics.

  • Murderers described as having bloodshot eyes, curly hair and long ears,
  • Sexual deviants had glinting eyes, swollen, fleshy lips and projecting ears.
• Lombroso research

  Lombroso examined facial and cranial features of hundreds of Italian convicts, both living and dead, and concluded there was an 'atavistic form'.

  • He concluded these features were key indicators of criminality.
  • Examined skulls of 383 dead convicts and 3839 living ones and concluded 40% of criminal acts are committed by people with atavistic characteristics.
• Evaluation- Lombroso's legacy

  Strength= changed the face of the study of crime.

  • Lombroso has been hailed as 'father o modern criminology'
  • Also credited as shifting the emphasis in crime research away from a moralistic discourse towards a more scientific position.
  • Also in trying to describe how particular types of people are likely to commit particular types of crime, begining of offender profiling.
  • Suggest Lombroso made major contribution to the science of criminology.
• Evaluation- counterpoint

  Limitation= critics like DeLisi have questioned whether Lombroso's legacy is entirely positive.

  • Attention has been drawn to the racist undertones within lombroso's work.
  • Many of the features Lombroso identified as atavistic are most likely to be found among people of African descent.
  • Suggests that some aspects of his theory were highly subjective rather than objective, influenced by racial prejudices at the time.
• Evaluation- contradictory evidence

  Limitation= evidence that contradicts link between atavism and crime.

  • Goring set out to establish anything physically atypical about offenders.
  • After conducting a comparison between 3000 offenders and 3000 non-offenders he concluded that there was no evidence that offenders are a distinct group with unusual facial and cranial characteristics.
  • So challenges idea that offenders can be physically distinguished from the rest of the population, and unlikely to be a subspecies.
• Evaluation- poor control

  Lombroso failed to control important variables within his research, unlike Goring. He didn't compare his offender sample with a non-offender control group. This could have controlled for an assortment of confounding variables that might have equally explained higher crime rates in certain groups of people.

  • Research has demonstrated links between crime and social conditions like poverty and poor educational outcomes.
  • Suggests lombroso's research doesn't meet modern scientific standards.