biological theories

• early biological theories focus on physical attributes and appearances

  those who were ‘biologically inferior’ were more likely to be involved in criminal activity

  studies stem from ‘phrenology’- the study of the conformation of the skull as indicative of mental faculties and traits of character
• what were Lombrosos’ theories?

  (1876) argued that criminals were PHYSICALLY different from non-criminals

  (1897) compared criminals to those in earlier stages of evolution and distinguished them by body type.

  he concluded they were distinguished by physical stigmata: large hands, ears and feet, tattoos, receding chins and twisted noses.
• what were the 4 different types of criminals Lombroso (1897) identified?


  born criminals- who could be distinguished by physical atavistic characteristics (ancient or ancestral)

  insane criminals- describe as idiots, imbeciles, paranoiacs, epileptics and alcoholics.

  occasional criminals- depicted as criminalises who committed crimes in response to opportunities, but had innate traits

  criminals of passion- those who commit violent crimes on impulse such as anger or jealously rather than being premeditated.
• what are the features of a thief according to atavistic form?

  expressive face, manual dexterity, and small wandering eyes.
• what are the features of a murderer according to atavistic form?

  cold, glassy stares, bloodshot eyes, and a big hawk-like nose
• what are the features of sex offenders according to atavistic form?

  thick lips and protruding ears.
• what are the features of female offenders according to atavistic form?

  shorter and more wrinkled, darker hair and smaller skulls than ‘normal’ women.
• Lombroso saw criminals as atavistic- throwbacks to an earlier primitive stage of evolution.

  they were pre-social, unable to control their impulses and had a reduced sensitivity to pain (suggests why they often had tattoos)

  he argued that criminals were like ‘savages‘ or even apes, in a more primitive society they would be normal but in modern society they are abnormal
• strengths of Lombroso. 


  S- first person to study crime scientifically

  S- shows importance of clinical and historical records of criminals

  S- could help focus on prevention not punishment
• weaknesses of lombroso 


  W- no further evidence to link facial features and criminality

  W- did not compare with control groups of non-criminals.

  W- racist and ethnocentric. equates criminals with savages/non-western society.
• what was Sheldon(1949) study

  Sheldon conducted a study where he compared the bodies of college students and criminals. He concluded that criminals tended to have the mesomorphic type.
• what were the 3 somatotypes?

  ectomorphic- skinny

  mesomorphic- in the middle

  endomorphic- fat
• Glueck and Glueck (1950) compared make delinquents to non-male delinquents finding a number of physical differences between the two groups.

  eg. delinquents had wider chests, bigger forearms and upper arms.

  there was a substantially higher portion of mesomorphs (60%) in the delinquent than non-delinquent group (31%)
• strengths of sheldon

  S- other studies replicate findings.

  S- most serious delinquents had most mesomorphic bodies
• weaknesses of sheldon’s study

  W-criminality likely to be a combination of biology and environment

  W- mesomorphic build may be result of criminality (and not the other way around)

  W- social class might be true cause of offending and mesomorphy

  W- mesomorphs more likely to be labelled