2.2.1.1.1 - Lombroso (1876)

• Lombroso believed that criminals inherited their criminality genetically and that they were born criminal
• Lombroso's theory of criminality is in favour of nature
• Lombroso argues that criminals can be identified by certain atavistic features
• Atavistic feature

  Features that are not present in modern humans but are present in some ancestral species
• Examples of atavistic features:

  • Large or forward projection of the jaw
  • High cheekbones
  • Flattened or upturned nose
  • Low, sloping forehead
  • Long arms, relative to limbs
  • Large ears
  • Large chin and lips
• Lombroso argued that criminals are separate species to humans
• Lombroso believed that criminals were from an earlier stage of human development that manifested in them committing more crimes
• Lombroso believed that the criminals species is:

  • Pre-social
  • Impulse driven
  • Insensitive to pain (often had tattoos)
• Lombroso examined 383 dead and 3839 living criminals
• Lombroso's research showed that 40% of criminal acts could be accounted for by atavistic features
• Lombroso believed that the type of crime committed by a criminal could be determined by their features too
• Lombroso believed that a murderer would have curly hair and bloodshot eyes
• Lombroso believed that sex offenders would have thick lips and protruding ears
• Lombroso suggested that factors such as a person's use of criminal slang, insensitivity to pain, and unemployment could be used to predict criminal behaviour
• Lombroso's theory was published in L'uomo Delinquente [The Criminal Man] in (2006)
• Atavistic feature - Features that are not present in modern humans but are present in some ancestral species
• Atavistic features

  Features that are not present in modern humans but are present in some ancestral species