Atavistic form: Biological explanations

• Lombroso wrote a book called L'Huomo Delinquent where he suggests that criminals are a sub-species that are biologically different from non-criminals.
• the atavistic form would be best described as speculative and naive, though it is credited for moving criminology into more of a rigorous and scientific realm

  • lead to the foundation of offender profiling
• offenders were seen by Lombroso as lacking evolutionary development and their savage and untamed nature meant that it was impossible to adjust to society and turn to a life of crime
• Lombroso saw criminal behaviour as a natural tendency, rooted in genealogy of those who engaged in it.
• Lombroso argued that the criminal sub-type can be identified as beingng in possession of particular psychological 'markers' that were linked to particular types of crime
• atavistic characteristics are biological determined characteristics, mainly features of the face and head
• Atavistic characteristics of basic criminals:

  • narrow, slopping brow
  • strong jaw
  • high cheekbones
  • facial asymmetry
  • darker skin
  • extra toe, nipple or finder
• Atavistic characteristics for Murders

  • glinting eyes
  • swollen
  • slessy lips
  • projecting ears
• physical traits of a criminal:

  • insensitive to pain
  • use criminal slang
  • tattoo
  • unemployment
• S - Atavistic Form: Contribution to Criminology

  credited as shifting the emphasis in crime research away from moralistic discourse towards a more scientific cred

  • Lombroso has been hailed as the 'father of criminology'
  • held the beginning for criminal profiling
  • there made a contribution for the science of criminology
• L- Atavistic Form: Scientific racism

  distinct racist undertones within Lombroso's work

  • many of the features identified as criminal and atavistic (curly hair and dark skin)are most likely found among people of African descent.
  • his description of ac=tavistic being 'uncivilised, primitive, savage' lends support to many of the eugenic philosophies of the time.
• L - activistic form: Causation is an issue

  having some elements of atavistic characteristics does not necessarily mean that this is the cause of their offending

  • facial and cranial differences may be influenced by other factors (poverty or poor diet)rather than an indication of poor evolutionary development
  • Lombrosos's later research suggested that criminals made as well as born