atavistic form

• historical approach

  • 1876 Lombroso wrote L'Humo Delinquente in which he said criminals were genetic throwbacks - primitive sub-species biologically different from non-criminals
  • lacked evolutionary development, so their savage and untamed nature meant they found it impossible to adjust to civilised society and would inevitably turn to crime
• atavistic characteristics

  • Lombroso argued that this sub-type had particular biologically determined characteristics linked to particular crimes, that made criminals physically different from the rest of us
• atavistic characteristics

  • narrow, sloping brow
  • strong prominent jaw
  • high cheekbones
  • facial asymmetry
  • dark skin
  • extra toe, nipple or fingers

  murderers: bloodshot eyes, curly hair and long ears

  sexual deviants: glinting eyes, swollen, fleshy lips

  fraudsters: thin and 'reedy' lips

  • also said born criminals were insensitive to pain, used criminal slang, had tattoos and were unenployed
• Lombrosos research

  • examined facial and cranial features of italian convicts
  • examined skulls of 383 dead criminals and 3839 living ones
  • concluded 40% of criminal acts are committed by people with atavistic characteristics
• S - contribution to criminology

  • credited for shifting criminology to a more scientific realm
  • also, in describing how particular types of people are likely to commit particular types of crime, his theory in many ways was the beginning of criminal profiling
• W - scientific racism

  • distinct racist undertones within his work
  • many of the features he identified are most likely to be found among people with African descent
  • similarly his description of them being uncivilised and primitive would lend support to eugenic philosophies
  • controversial aspect which could have negative implications for certain people
• W - contradictory evidence

  • compared 3000 criminals with 3000 non-criminals and found there was no evidence that offenders are a distinct group with unusual facial and cranial characteristics
  • questions his theory that criminals are physically different