Atavistic form

• Lombroso proposed that criminals were genetic throwbacks - a primitive subspecies who were iologically different from non criminals. This is the atavistic form
• Offenders were seen by Lombroso as lacking evolutionary development. their savage and untamed nature meant that they would find it impossible to adjust to civilised society and would turn to crime
• Lombroso saw offending behaviour as an innate tendency and thus was proposing a new perspective that the offender was not at fault
• The offender subtype could be identified by their physiological markers. These atavistic characteristics are biologically determined
• Characteristics of the skull included:

  • narrow, sloping brow
  • strong prominent jaw
  • high cheekbones
  • facial symmetry
• Other physical features include dark skin and existence of extra toes, nipple or fingers. Other aspects included insensitivity to pain, use of slang, tattoos and unemployment
• Lombroso also suggested that particular physiological markers were linked to particular types of crime. Murderers were described as having bloodshot eyes, curly hair and long ears. Sexual deviants were described as having glinting eyes with swollen and fleshy lips
• Lombroso meticulously examined the facial and cranial features of 383 dead convicts and 3839 living ones. He concluded that 40% of criminal acts could be accounted for by people with atavistic characteristics
• One strength of Lombroso's theory is it changed criminology. Lombroso shifted the emphasis in crime research away from moralistic to scientific. Also, in describing how particular types of crime, the theory heralded offender profiling. This suggests that Lombroso made a major contribution to the science of criminology
• A counterpoint to Lombrosos theory is that many of the features that Lombroso identified as atavistic are most likely to be found among people of African descent, a view that fitted 19th century eugenic attitudes. This suggests that his theory might be more subjective than objective influenced by racist prejudices
• One limitation is evidence contradicts the link between atavism and crime. Goring compared 3000 offenders and 3000 non offenders and found no evidence that offenders are a distinct group with unusual facial and cranial characteristics. He did suggest though that many people who commit crimes have lower than average intelligence. This challenges the idea that offenders can be physically distinguished from the rest of the population, therefore they are unlikely to be a subspecies
• One limitation os Lombroso's methods were poorly controlled. Lombroso didn't compare his offender sample with a control group and therefore failed to control confounding variables. E.g: modern research shows that social conditions are associated with offending behaviour, which would explain some of Lombroso's links. This suggests that Lombroso's research does not meet modern scientific standards