Cards (10)

  • Atavistic form
    A biological approach to offending that links criminal activity to the fact that offenders are genetic throwbacks that cannot conform to 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: 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