Biological Explanations: Atavistic Form Flashcards
What did Lombroso (18760 suggest about criminals?
Criminality is inherited and someone is ‘born criminal’ could be identified with their looks
What is the atavistic form?
- Biological explanation (by Lombroso)
- Criminals are sub-species
- Genetics did not conform to rules of modern society
- Individuals are distinguishable by facial and cranial characteristics
What do offenders lack of according to Lombroso?
Evolutionary development
What characteristics do ‘criminals’ have according to Lombroso?
- Strong , prominent jaw
- High checkbones
- Dark skin
- Extra toes, nipples or fingers
What characteristics do ‘murderers’ have according to Lombroso?
- Blood shoot eyes
- Curly hair
- Long ears
What characteristics do ‘sexual deviant’ have according to Lombroso?
- Glinting eyes
- Swollen, fleshy lips
What characteristics do ‘fraudsters’ have according to Lombroso?
-Thin and reedy lips
How many people were in Lombroso’s experiment to test his theory?
- 383 dead criminals
- 3839 alive criminals
What was Lombroso’s findings?
40% of acts can be accounted for by atavistic features
What was Lombroso known as?
‘Father of modern criminology’
Was Lombroso’s research a large or small contribution to criminology?
Large
Why is the racial undertones of Lombroso’s work a limitation?
Description fit African decedents characteristics greatly effected the lifestyle of those as they may be wrong accused
What contradicting research did Goring (1913) propose?
No evidence of facial characteristics being more distinct in criminal group after investigating 3000 criminals and 3000 non-criminals
What did Goring (1913) find which was distinct?
Lower IQ in criminals
Why did Lombroso have poor control?
Did not compare to control group of non-criminals and failed to account other confounding variables (psychological disorders)
