Lombroso’s believed criminals were physically different from non-criminals. He believed they had
enormous jaws
high cheeckbones
prominent eyebrow arches
long arms
large eye sockets
acute eyesight
The physical characteristics of offenders is due to an earlier stage of evolution where primitive humans and apes co-existed. They were pre-social, unable to control their impulses and had a reduced sensitivity to pain (tattoos).
Murderers have
cold, glossy stares
bloodshot eyes
big hawk like nose
curly hair
Sex offenders have
thick lips
protruding ears
glint in eyes
Thieves have
excessively large cheekbones
expressive face
manual dexterity
small, wondering eyes
Women offenders
shorter
more wrinkled
darker hair
smaller skulls
A recent study in China produced research which suggests facial features can give a criminal away. ID photos of 1,856 Chinese men , half of them having a previous criminal conviction, were entered into an AI programme. They found it wrongly flagged innocent men as criminals 6% of the time but correctly identified 94% of the real criminals.
