BE - Atavistic theory

• What does the Atavistic form mean?

  A biological approach to offending that attributes criminal activity to the fact that offenders are 'genetic throwbacks' or a primitive sub-species ill-suited to conforming to the rules of modern society Such individuals are distinguishable by particular facial and cranial characteristics.
• Who proposed the atavistic theory?


  Cesare Lombroso
• What was Lombroso's theory and when was it dominant?

  Lombroso's theory of the 'born criminal' dominated thinking about criminal behaviour in the late 19th and 20th century.
• According to Lombroso, what is the cause of criminality?

  They have genetic throwback, which causes atavistic features.
• What was Lombroso's original research into criminality?

  He conducted a post-mortem exam and discovered that his subject had an indentation at the back of his skull, which looked like an apes skull.