Atavistic form Flashcards
What book did Cesare Lombroso write in 1876?
L’Huomo Delinquente
What did Lombroso suggest in his book L’Huomo Delinquente?
Criminals were genetic throwbacks, a primitive sub species who were biologically different from non criminals
How did Lombroso see offenders?
as lacking evolutionary development with a savage and untamed nature that meant they would find it impossible to adjust to the demands of civilised society so would inevitably turn to crime
How did Lombroso see criminal behaviour?
as a natural tendency rooted in the genealogy of those who engaged in it
How did Lombroso argue criminal subspecies could be identified?
by a set of particular physiological characteristics that were linked to particular types of crime
What does atavistic mean?
a tendency to revert to an ancestral type
What are the biologically determined atavistic characteristics?
Features of the face and head which indicate that criminals are physically different from the rest of us
What are the atavistic cranial characteristics?
Narrow sloping brow, prominent jaw, high cheekbones and facial asymmetry
What are other physical atavistic features of criminals?
Dark skin and extra toes, nipples or fingers.
How were murderers described by the atavistic form idea?
Having blood shot eyes, curly hair and long ears
How were sexual deviants described by the atavistic form?
glinting eyes, swollen fleshy lips and projecting ears
How were fraudsters described by the atavistic form?
Lips thin and ‘ready’
What are other traits, that are non physical, described as criminal by Lombroso?
Insensitivity to pain, use of criminal slang, tattoos and unemployment
Who did Lombroso examine?
The facial and cranial features of Italian convicts (living and dead)
What did Lombroso propose after examining italian convicts?
Atavistic form was associated with a number of physical anomalies which were key indicators of criminality
How many dead criminals did Lombroso study?
383
How many living criminals did Lombroso study?
3839
What did Lombroso conclude after examining the dead and living criminals?
40% of criminal acts could be accounted for by the criminal subspecies
What is the advantage of atavistic form?
Had an important role in the shift away from theories based on feeble mindedness, wickedness and demonic possession and was the forerunner to more biological explanations
What are the disadvantages of atavistic form?
- Critics draw attention to racist undertones in his work - Goring (1913) - did not compare to control group - Cause and effect
Why do critics draw attention to racist undertones in Lombroso’s work?
Many of the features described as atavistic are most likely to be found in african people and supported the eugenic philosophy
Goring (1913)
Set out to establish if there were any physical or mental abnormalities among criminal classes and after conducting comparisons of 3000 criminals and 3000 non criminals he found there was no evidence of the atavistic form
What is the cause and effect issues with Atavistic form?
Even if criminals have atavistic characteristics this does not necessarily mean that these cause criminal behaviour as facial and cranial features can be influenced by poverty and poor diet
