Atavistic Form

• Atavistic form


  A biological approach to offending that attributes criminal activity to the fact that offenders are genetic throwbacks that cannot conform to the rules of modern society. They can be distinguished by particular facial features
• Historical Approach

  • Offenders were seen as lacking evolutionary development and their savage and untamed nature meant they would find it impossible to adjust to the demands of society
  • Lombroso saw offending as a natural tendency rooted in the genes
  • Offending was innate for these people so are not to blame
• Atavistic form physical characteristics

  • In possession of particular physiological markers linked to particular types of offences
  • Makes offenders physically different to everyone else
  • Narrow sloping brow
  • Strong prominent jaw
  • High cheekbones
  • Facial asymmetry
• Atavistic form characteristics

  • Insensitivity to pain
  • Use of slang
  • Tattoos
  • Unemployment
• Offender types

  • Murderer- bloodshot eyes, curly hair and long ears
  • Sexual deviants- glinting eyes, swollen fleshy lip and projecting ears
  • Fraudsters- lips were thin
• Lombroso's research

  • Examined the facial features of many Italian convicts both dead and alive and concluded there was an 'atavistic form'
  • These features were key indicators of criminality
  • Lombroso examined the skulls of 383 dead convicts and 3839 living ones and concluded 40% of criminal acts are committed by people with atavistic characteristics
• AO3 Historical Approach: Poor control

  • Lombroso's research was poorly controlled as it was correlational
  • Investigate relationship between physical defects and criminal behaviour
  • Did not compare with a control group
  • Physical defects could have been due to social conditions such as poverty and poor educational outcomes
• AO3 Historical Approach: Lombroso's legacy

  • Lombroso's research changed the face of the study of crime
  • Credited for shifting crime research to something more scientific and credible
  • Evolutionary influences and genetics are considered
  • Research also lead to the beginning of offender profiling by suggesting particular people commit particular crimes
• AO3 Historical Approach: Racial Prejudice

  • Lombroso's work has racist undertones
  • Atavistic features he identified such as curly hair and dark skin can be mostly found among Africans
  • The theory may be more subjective than objective and may have been influenced by racial prejudices
• AO3 Historical Approach: Contradictory Evidence

  • Contradicts link between atavism and crime
  • 3000 offender and 3000 non-offenders were compared and concluded that there is no evidence that offenders are a distinct group with unusual characteristics
  • Challenges the idea that offenders can be physically distinguished from the rest of the population
• AO3 Historical Approach: Biologically deterministic

  • Suggests criminal behaviour is due to an innate biological factor
  • This suggests that people then have no control over their behaviour so they have no free will
  • Negative implications in the criminal justice system as people would still have to take responsibility over their actions despite their biology