Lombroso Atavistic Form

• What are criminals according to Lombroso? What research did he carry out?

  Criminals are genetic throwbacks who are genetically different from non-criminals - they have failed to evolve unlike the rest of society and therefore have a savage, animal nature and cannot cope with the demands of living in a civilised society and are likely to turn to crime

  Conducted his research by examining the skulls of 383 dead criminals and 3839 live ones and concluded that 40% of criminal acts were due to an "atavistic form"
• What are the characterisitcs of murderers, sex offenders and fraudsters?

  Murderer - Bloodshot eyes, curly hair and long ears

  Sex offender - Glinting eyes. swollen, fleshy lips, projecting ears

  Fraudster - Thin and reedy lips
• What contribution did Lombroso's work make to criminonlogy?

  Made important contributions to criminology. He shifted the emphasis from a moralistic viewpoint towards a scientific theory (genetics and evolution), and also introduced the idea of criminal profiling by trying to describe how people with particular characteristics are likely to commit particular types of crime. This is a strength because as he was the first to study crime in a scientific way, it had many contributions into the development of criminology.
• How is the research socially sensitive?

  There are racist undertones to Lombroso's theory. Many of the features that he identified as being "atavistic" such as the curly hair or dark skin is more likely to be found among people of African Descent. It has also been pointed out that by referring to criminals as "uncivilised and savage" could be used to support the Eugenics movement. This means the research could be more harmful than not
• What contradictory evidence is there?

  Goring (1913) compared 3000 criminals to 3000 non criminals and concluded that there was no evidence that suggested offenders were a distinct group with specific facial and cranial characteristics.

  Goring also used a control group whereas Lombroso did not. This is a problem because it means that Lombrsos has not compared to non criminals and any extraneous variables will not have been controlled (confounding variables) such as psychological disorders or social group. This means the study Lombroso did does not meet the scientific standards and therefore lacks scientific credibility
• Comment on Lombroso's work in terms of the nature nurture debate?

  Lombroso's theory is heavily nativist as his theory suggests that crime has a biological cause such as facial characteristics and these are genetically determined and cannot be changed.

  However, his findings can also be explained through nurture such as environmental or social factors that have led to different physical characteristics. They can be due to poverty, poor diet or injuries rather than them being inherited.
• Comment on Lombroso's work in terms of the free will determinism debate?

  Lombroso's theory is biological determinism as it suggests that people who have these characteristics are going to become a criminal and their behaviour is pre determined by their genetics instead of them getting a choice. This could lead to self fulfilling prophecies (People who have these characteristics become criminal due to their labels of being associated with crime) and may also undermine the CJS (It provides an excuse for criminal behaviour and because they cannot control this the CJS cannot punish them, therefore defeating the purpose of the CJS)