Biological Exp: Historical

Question 1

Atavistic Form - Lombroso

Answer 1

Lombroso (1876) proposed that criminals were ‘genetic throwbacks’ - a primitive subspecies who were biologically different from non-criminals. This is the ‘atavistic form’.

Question 2

Evolutionary Development

Answer 2

1) Offenders were seen by Lombroso as lacking evolutionary development.
2) Linked the idea that atavistic features were likely to result in primitive instincts –> from these primitive instincts, criminal behaviours could develop.
3) Therefore saw offending behaviour as an innate tendency.

Question 3

Atavistic Characteristics

Answer 3

1) Lombroso argued the offender have certain physical characteristics.
These ‘atavistic’ characteristics are biologically determined.

Characteristics of the skull included:
* Heavy brow.
* A strong jaw.
* High cheekbones.
* Facial asymmetry.
* Flat nose.
Essentially, he characterised criminal physical features as being more primitive.

Question 4

Different Characteristics

Answer 4

Lombroso also suggested that particular physiological ‘markers’ were linked to particular types of crime.

E.g. Murderers havr bloodshot eyes, curly hair and long ears.
Sexual deviants were described as having glinting eyes with swollen and fleshy lips.

Question 5

Lombroso’s Research

Answer 5

1) Lombroso examined the facial and cranial features of around 400 dead convicts and 4000 living ones.

–> He concluded that 40% of criminal acts could be accounted for by people with atavistic characteristics.

Question 6

Strength of Theory

Answer 6

IT CHANGED CRIMINOLOGY

1) Lombroso (the father of modern criminology, Hollin 1989) shifted the emphasis in crime research away from
moralistic to scientific.

–> This suggests that Lombroso made a major contribution to the science of criminology.

COUNTERPOINT:

However, many of the features that Lombroso identified as atavistic (curly hair, dark skin) are most likely to be found among people of African descent, a view that fitted 19th-century eugenic attitudes (to prevent some groups from breeding).
This suggests that his theory might be more subjective than objective, influenced by racist prejudices.

Question 7

Limitation of Theory

Answer 7

EVIDENCE CONTRADICTS LINK

1) Goring (1913) compared 3000 offenders and 3000 non-offenders and found no evidence that offenders are a distinct group with unusual facial and cranial characteristics.

2) He did suggest though that many people who commit crime have lower-than-average intelligence.

–> This challenges the idea that offenders can be physically distinguished from the rest of the population.

Question 8

Limitation of Theory

Answer 8

METHODS POORLY CONTROLLED

1) Lombroso didn’t compare his offender
sample with a control group, and therefore failed to control confounding variables.

2) For example, modern research shows that social conditions (e.g poverty) are associated with offending behaviour, which would explain some of Lombroso’s links.

–> This suggests that Lombroso’s research
does not meet modern scientific standards.