4 - Atavistic Form Flashcards
How did Lombroso view criminals generally?
Criminals are genetic throwbacks, a primitive sub-species who are biologically different from non-criminals.
Lacking evolutionary development, their savage and untamed nature mean they find it impossible to adjust to the demands of civilized society and inevitably turn to crime.
Criminal behaviour is a natural tendency, rooted in the genealogy of those who engage in it.
What are atavistic characteristics?
A set of particular physiological characteristics that are linked to particular types of crime.
These are biologically determined atavistic (meaning reversion to something ancestral) characteristics make criminals physically different from the rest of us.
List the atavistic features
Narrow, sloping brow
Strong prominent jaw
High cheekbones
Facial asymmetry
Dark skin
Extra, toes, nipples or fingers
Murders - bloodshot eyes, curly hair, and long ears.
Sexual deviants - glinting eyes, swollen/fleshy lips and projecting ears. Lips of fraudsters were thin and ‘reedy’.
Non physical - insensitivity to pain, use of criminal slang, tattoos and unemployment.
How did Lombroso come to his conclusion about atavistic form?
Examined facial and cranial features of hundreds of Italian convicts (living and dead)
Examined the skulls of 383 dead criminals and 3839 living ones, and concluded that 40% of criminal acts could be accounted for by atavistic characteristics.
What are the advantages of this theory?
Lombroso has been hailed as the father of modern criminology. He is credited as shifting the emphasis in crime research away from moralistic discourse (criminals were often judged as wicked and weak-minded) towards a more scientific discussion (that of evolutionary influences and genetics). Additionally, by attempting to describe how particular people are likely to commit particular crime he heralded the beginning of criminal profiling.
What are the disadvantages of this theory?
Distinct racist undertones in Lombroso’s work. Many of the features he described as atavistic (dark skin and curly hair) are most likely to be found in people of African descent. His claim that atavistic characteristics were uncivilized, savage and primitive supported the eugenic philosophy.
Comparison of 3,000 criminals and 3,000 non-criminals conducted and concluded that there was no evidence that offenders had particular facial and cranial characteristics. However, was suggested that criminals are more likely to have a below average intelligence.
Lombroso did not compare his criminal sample to a non-criminal control group. If he had done then the differences he reported may have disappeared.
Many of the criminals Lombroso studied had a history of psychological disorders, which could have been a confounding variable.
Even if criminals have atavistic characteristics this not necessarily mean that these characteristics cause their criminal behaviour. Facial and cranial features can be influenced by poverty and poor diet, which can also lead people to crime.
