A03

• interactionist approach

  • lombroso considered it unllikely only one factor is responsible so he proposed that the inherited atavistic form would also interact with the environment people lived in
  • comprehensive considering more than one cause however still deterministic as he is proposing factors out of individuals control are responsible
• limitation- racist

  • Many modern researchers have branded Lombroso and his atavistic theory as racist. 
  • For example, just because an individual had certain atavistic characteristics, does not mean that they are or are destined to become criminal. Following this logic, it appears that certain races are more likely to become criminal than others, such as African Americans, amongst whom curly hair is common.
  • Therefore, this may have lent itself to giving ‘scientific justification’ for discriminatory practices.
• limitation- unscientific

  • The dated methodology adopted by Lombroso did not use statistical analysis or a control group from another culture and non-criminals. Since the entire sample was Italian, findings cannot be applied to another other culture over concerns of imposed etic.
  • Comparisons with a control group of non-criminals are needed to establish statistical significance. Researcher later completed a study and found no significant differences between criminals and non-criminals, except the prisoners were slightly smaller.