Atavistic Form

Question 1

What does atavistic mean?

Answer 1

The tendency to revert to and ancestral type

Question 2

What did Lombroso say?

Answer 2

Offenders possess similar
characteristics to lower primates and this
could explain their criminality
- criminality is inherited and that
someone ‘born a criminal’ could be identified by the way they look
- distinct biological class of people that were prone to criminality
- claimed that criminal types were distinguishable from the general population because
they looked different

Question 3

Name some atavistic features

Answer 3

• heavy brow
• large, strong jaw
• large ears
• extra nipples, fingers or toes

Question 4

Lombroso study

Answer 4

Lombroso measured the physical
features of almost 4000 criminals and the
skulls of almost 400 dead criminals

Question 5

Halo effect

Answer 5

When we assume that beautiful people have good qualities, and ugly people bad qualities

Question 6

What did Kretschmer do?

Answer 6

Studied 4,000 criminals and
suggested that criminals fall into four
somatotypes which have connotations with
various crimes

Question 7

What are the four somatotypes?

Answer 7

1. Leptosome – tall and thin (petty thieves)
2. Athletic – tall and muscular (crimes of violence)
3. Pyknic – short and fat
   (crimes of deception and violence)
4. Dysplastic or mixed
   (more than one type of crime, or crimes against morality e.g. prostitution)

Question 8

Goring (1913)
UK

Answer 8

Tested Lombroso’s findings by comparing
2,348 London convicts with a control group
- did not replicate Lombroso’s findings
and concluded that criminal behaviour is not
linked to physical appearance

Question 9

Hooton (1939)
USA

Answer 9

Conducted a 12 year study comparing 13,873
male prisoners in 10 states to a control group
of 3,023
- he supported Lombroso’s research and found
that criminal behaviour was due to biological
inferiority and ‘degeneration’
- criminals have unattractive physical features.

Question 10

Correlational link

Answer 10

• Kaplan’s theory that poor social interactions can bring about criminality (reluctancy to conform)
• ugliness could cause poor social interactions
  which could cause anti-social or criminal
  behaviour

Question 11

Positive evaluation of atavistic form theory

Answer 11

• has tried to be scientific by using large group of people, observations, and measurements

Question 12

Negative evaluation of atavistic form theory

Answer 12

• lack of a control group (he measured features of criminals but had no
  control group - features could be present in law abiding citizens, no way of knowing)
• some people have learning disabilities (some learning difficulties have physical characteristics e.g. down syndrome, people would possibly turn to crime during Lombroso’s time as they would be shunned from society)
• determinism (people are born as criminals - no other factors, negative view of humanity and doesn’t view any environmental or social factors, or free will)