Biological explanations: Atavistic form

Question 1

Cesare Lombroso

Answer 1

• investigated facial and cranial features of hundreds of Italian convicts
• concluded majority of crimes were accounted for by atavistic characteristics

Question 2

Atavistic form

Answer 2

• tendency to revert to ancestral types
• offenders possess similar characteristics to lower primates
• determined by physiological makeup

Question 3

features of all criminals

Answer 3

• strong, prominent jaws
• high cheekbones
• dark skin
• extra toes, finger, or nipples

Question 4

features of murderers

Answer 4

• bloodshot eyes
• curly hair
• long ears

Question 5

features of sexual deviants

Answer 5

• glinting eyes
• swollen, fleshy lips

Question 6

features of fraudsters, thieves, and women

Answer 6

f: thin reedy lips
t: small eyes
w: short

Question 7

non physical traits of criminals

Answer 7

• unemployment, tattoos, use of criminal slang

Question 8

empirical evidence

Answer 8

• lombroso: post-mortem and living exams
• examined over 50,000 bodies
• one study in italy looked at 383 bodies
• 21% had one atavistic trait, 43% had at least five

Question 9

environmental factors

Answer 9

• lombroso later recognised innate personality alone cannot account for criminal behaviour
• considered the interactions between innate characteristics and particular environment factors
• 3 types of criminals

Question 10

what are the three types of criminals?

Answer 10

• born criminal
• insane criminal
• criminaloids - individuals who are predisposed to be criminals if certain factors are present

Question 11

optional ao1: somatotypes

Answer 11

• kretschmer studies 4000 criminals and suggested that criminals fall into four somatotypes which have connotations to various crimes

Question 12

types of somatotypes

Answer 12

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 - mixed body types: more than one type, or crimes against morality e.g. prostitution

Question 13

historical context

Answer 13

• wrote a book abt female criminality but never studied women
• wrote women are naturally jealous, maternal, low intelligence, and insensitive to pain, less criminally inclined
• females criminals have masc characteristic making them monsters

Question 14

Lombroso and eugenics

Answer 14

• belief not all humans are born equal - some traits are genetic e.g. intelligence
• Galton: only those with desirable traits should be allowed to breed to ensure natural selection rids human species of undesirable traits
• this ‘science used to justify and perpetuate racial discrimination

Question 15

counter Peel: atavistic form

Answer 15

SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS
- credited as shifting the emphasis of crime research away from moralistic discourse to scientific and credible realm, forensics as actual science, start of profiling
BUT, CRITICISED FOR LINK TO EUGENICS
- concept of eugenics, many lombroso traits likely to be ethic features
- can harm individuals in society e.g. hitler