Atavistic form

• Atavistic form (Lombroso)

  An early biological explanation which proposed that criminals are a sub-species of genetic throwbacks that cannot conform to the rules of modern society. Such individuals are distinguishable by particular facial and cranial characteristics
• Criminal features

  • Strong, prominent jaw
  • Narrow, sloping brow
  • High cheekbones
  • Facial asymmetry
  • Dark skin
  • Extra toes, nipples or fingers
• Murderer features

  • Bloodshot eyes
  • Curly hair
  • Long ears
• Sexual deviants

  • Glinting eyes
  • Swollen, fleshy lips
  • Projecting ears
• Fraudsters

  Thin and reedy lips
• Other non-physical traits in criminals

  • Unemployment
  • tattoos
  • use of criminal slang
  • insensitivity to pain
• Lombroso saw criminals as less civilised than the regular person and had more in common with evolutionary ancestors than people in the 1870s
• Lombroso saw offenders as savage and untamed and therefore inevitably turned to crime
• What was Lombroso's procedure

  Examined the facial and cranial features of 383 skulls of dead criminals and 3839 living ones - suggested there was a number of physical anomalies which were key indicators of criminality.

  Concluded 40% of criminal acts could be accounted for by the atavistic characteristics