Ativistic form

• -        Lombroso’s historical approach laid foundations of profiling.

  o   Cesare Lombroso (1876) was an Italian physician.

  o   He proposed that criminals were ‘genetic throwbacks’ – a primitive sub-species who were biologically different from non-criminals. This is the ‘atavistic form’.

  o   His theory of the atavistic form, though now discredited, laid the foundation for modern offender profiling.
• -        Offenders lack evolutionary development.

  o   Offenders were seen by Lombroso as lacking evolutionary development.

  o   Their savage and untamed nature meant that they would find it impossible to adjust to civilised society and would inevitably turn to crime.

  o   Therefore Lombroso saw criminal behaviour as an innate tendency and thus was proposing a new perspective (for his time) that the criminal was not at fault. In this way his ideas were revolutionary.
• -        Atavistic features biologically determined.

  o   Lombroso argued the criminal sub-type could be identified as being in possession of physiological 'markers’.

  o   These ‘atavistic’ characteristics are mainly features of the head and face that make criminals physically different from the rest of us. These included:

  §  A narrow, sloping brow.

  §  A strong prominent jaw.

  §  High cheekbones.

  §  Facial asymmetry.
• Other atavistic features included dark skin and existence of extra toes, nipple or fingers.

  o   Besides physical traits, Lombroso suggested there were other aspects of the atavistic form including insensitivity to pain, use of criminal slang, tattoos and unemployment.
• -        Different types of criminals have different physical characteristics.

  o   Lombroso also suggested that particular physiological ‘markers’ were linked to particular types of crime.

  o   For example, murderers were described as having bloodshot eyes, curly hair and long ears.

  o   Sexual deviants were described as having glinting eyes with swollen and fleshy lips.
• -        Lombroso’s research found 40% of criminal acts accounted for by atavistic characteristics.

  o   Lombroso meticulously examined the facial and cranial features of 383 dead criminals and 3839 living ones.

  o   From this research he proposed the atavistic form.

  o   He concluded that 40% of criminal acts could be accounted for by people with atavistic features.
• -        One strength of Lombroso’s research is its large contribution to criminology.

  o   Lombroso has been hailed as the ‘father of modern criminology’ (Hollin 1989) and credited as shifting emphasis in research away from moralistic (e.g. ‘weak-minded’) discourse to scientific discourse (e.g. evolution and genetics).

  o   Also, in trying to describe how particular types of people are likely to commit particular types of crime, Lombroso’s theory heralded the beginning of criminal profiling.

  In this way, he made a major contribution to the science of criminology.
• -        Lombroso has been accused of scientific racism.

  o   Many of the features that Lombroso identifies as criminal such as curly hair and dark skin, are most likely to be found among people of African descent. Similarly, his description of the atavistic form being as ‘uncivilised, primitive, savage’ would lend support to the eugenic philosophies of the time(i.e. that certain groups should not be allowed to breed).
• -        A further limitation is the contradictory evidence for the atavistic form.

  o   Goring (1913) compared 3,000 criminals and 3,000 non-criminals and concluded there was no evidence that offenders are a distinct group with unusual physical characteristics.

  o   But he did suggest that many people who commit a crime have a lower-than-average IQ – this offers some limited support for the idea of a criminal sub-species.

  o   However, this evidence does question the key element of his theory that criminals are different in terms of their appearance.
• -        A final limitation is that causation is a problem in Lombroso’s theory.

  o   Even if there are criminals who have atavistic elements in their facial appearance, this does not necessarily mean this is the cause of their offending.

  o   Facial and cranial differences may be influenced by other factors (e.g. poverty or poor diet) rather than being an indication of delayed evolutionary development.

  o   Although, in fairness to Lombroso, in his later work he acknowledged that criminals could be made as well as born.