BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION: ATAVISTIC FORUM Flashcards
who came up with the atavistic forum?
Lombroso
what is the atavistic forum?
that criminals had different physical features when compared to non-criminals and that these characteristics were heritable.
what are some of the facial and physical features criminals are deemed to have?
- face is asymmetrical
- excessive dimensions of jaw and cheekbones
- excessive length of arms
- ears of unusual size
AO3: how is ‘supporting evidence’ a strength to the atavistic forum?
Lombroso based his theory on his own research using post mortem examinations on criminals and studying the faces of living criminals. he and his colleagues examined over 50,000 bodies. in one study of 383 convicted criminals, he found 21% had 1 atavistic trait and 43% had atleast 5.
AO3: how is ‘methodical issues’ a limitation to the atavistic forum?
Lombroso only used Italian participants. some of the features he refers too are more common in the Italians, this means its culturally biased. there was also no control groups so they didn’t look at non-criminals. he may’ve found the same amount of non-prisoners with the same characteristics that he found in criminals. therefore, the methodical issues limits the validity of the research and theory.
AO3: how is ‘emphasised criminal stereotypes’ a limitation to the atavistic forum?
by stereotyping criminals, it leads to a stigma within the public. we can see the negative impact on this with cases such as Christopher Jeffries. this is where he was thought to be a criminal by the public, just because of his appearance and being eccentric.
AO3: how is ‘led to other scientific explanations’ a strength to the atavistic forum?
this had an important role in the shift away from theories based on wickedness and demonic possession. Lombroso is regarded to be the founding father of modern criminology, and his theory of the born criminal came to dominate thinking about criminal behaviour in the late 19th and early 20th century.
