biological explanation for offending - atavistic form

• Cesare Lombrosso (1835-1909)

  • he concluded that artistic genius was a form of insanity
  • he believed criminology was rooted in the genealogy of the individuals
  • investigated the facial and cranial features of hundreds of Italians convicts both living and dead
  • after examining the skulls of 3839 living criminal and 383 dead criminals
  • he concluded that 40% of the crimes were accounted for by atavistic characteristics
  • this was a scientific study, making precise measurements of physiological characteristics of skulls
  • 21% had just one of the atavistic traits
  • 43% had at least 5 traits
• atavistic form

  • an explanation for criminal behaviour, suggesting that certain individuals are born with a criminal personality, and this innate personality is a throwback to earlier primate forms
  • such individuals are distinguishable by facial and other physiological features
  • characteristics of criminals- strong prominent jaw, high cheekbones, dark skins, extra toes, nipples or fingers
  • characteristics of murderers- bloodshot eyes, curly hair and long ears
  • characteristics of sexual deviants- glinting eyes, swollen and fleshy lips
  • characteristics of fraudsters- thin and reedy lips
  • other non-physical traits- unemployment, tattoos and use of criminal slang, insensitivity to pain
• environmental influences

  • Lombroso later admitted that other factors may impact, and went on to distinguish three types of criminals
  • born criminals- throw back identified by atavistic characteristics
  • insane criminals- suffering from mental illness
  • criminaloids- a large class of offenders whose mental characteristics predispose them to crime
• Galton- eugenics

  • led to the idea that genetically unfit people should be prevented from breeding
  • discrimination of minority groups through stereotypes
  • WW2 concentration camps
  • scientific racism
• somatotypes

  • historically, criminals have been identified by their body shapes
  • leptosome- tall, thin- petty thieves
  • athletic- tall, muscular- violent crimes
  • pyknic- short and fat- deception and violence
  • dysplastic- crimes against morality
• contribution to the science of criminology

  • pioneering attempt at introducing science to crime
  • believed in treating criminals with fewer punishments, with a more humane view
  • using evidence was important to him, he believed that ideas should be based on science
• lack of adequate controls

  • he didn’t use a comparison of non-prisoners
  • if he had, he would have seen a similar number of non-criminals woth the same characteristics
• Charles Goring (1913) - contradictory evidence

  • found that by comparing over 3000 convicts and non-convicts there were no differences in physical characteristics apart from a slight difference in physical size
  • matched pairs design
• gender bias

  • with his daughter, wrote an additional book about female criminalso   He stated outrageous comments without studying women at all
  • less evolved than men
  • naturally jealous
  • insensitive to pain
  • passive
  • low intelligence
  • androcentric alpha bias
  • ethnocentric- lacks generalisability and ecological validity
• Glueck and Glueck (1970)- 60% of delinquents were mesomorph (athletic type)
• William Sheldon (1949)- based on his study of 200 delinquents, an even distribution of somatotypes
• scientific racism

  • distinct racial undertones- curly hair, dark skin
  • similarities to eugenic philosophies of the time
  • this remains an uncomfortable and unacceptable legacy of his theories
  • biological determinism
• causation

  • even if physical characteristics are similar in criminals, this does not mean this causes their offending
  • in later research, Lombroso admits that environmental factors can impact criminal behaviour
  • links to social learning theory