Lombroso

• Lombroso Atavism Theory:

  Strengths:

  • Lombroso was the first person to study crime scientifically, using objective measurements to gather evidence. Previously crime was seen as a moral or religious issue.
  • His research showed the importance of examining clinical and historical records of criminals
  • His later work took some limited account of social and environmental factors, not just heredity
  • By arguing that offenders were not freely choosing to commit crime, Lombroso helps us to focus on how we might prevent further offending rather than simply punishing offenders.
• Lombroso Atavism Theory:

  Weaknesses:

  • Research since Lombroso has failed to show a link between facial features and criminality.
  • Lombroso failed to compare his findings on prisoners with a control group of non-criminals. Had he done so he may have found the same characteristics among the general population. In which case, his explanation would be invalid
  • By describing criminals as like ‘primitive savages’, Lombroso equates non-western societies with criminals. This is a form of racism.