BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS: ATAVISTIC FORM AO1 & AO3

Question 1

What did lombroso suggest

Answer 1

• Criminals were ‘genetic throwbacks’ primitave subspecies unable to meet the demands of civilised society.
• Individuales were distinguished by physical features

Question 2

Sexual deviants:

Answer 2

• Glinting eyes
  Swollen,fleshylips

Question 3

Murderers:

Answer 3

Bloodshoteyes,curlyhairandlongears

Question 4

Fraudsters:

Answer 4

Thin and reedy lip

Question 5

E.G (genetic throwbacks)

Answer 5

• Slopping forehead, curly hair, facial asymmetry, protruding jaw, unusual eat shapes,
• Also other characteristics like insensitivity to pain, suing criminal slang and tattoos

Question 6

Lombroso study

Answer 6

Studied over 4000 criminals and found 40% of offences were related to atavistic features

Question 7

Lombroso is created for shifting emphasis from moralistic explanations to more scientific

Answer 7

• One strength of Lombroso’s work is that it was the first attempt at criminal profiling.
• For example, he suggested there were similarities between the cranial and facial features of criminals which was later disproved in the TDA.
• Yet, he wasn’t wrong in assuming that there must be some similarities between people who commit crime. Criminals were categorised into organised and disorganised, highlighting Lombroso’s theory which suggested there were similarities between criminals was in fact correct.
• This is an advantage as the AF has contributed to modern criminology and aids police in identifying criminals faster.

Question 8

Lombroso’s research’s racism

Answer 8

• One limitation of Lombroso’s work is that it includes scientific racism. For example, several critics such as Matt DeLisi have drawn attention to the racist undertone in Lombroso’s work, many of the features that he identified as criminal and atavistic (curly hair,dark skin) are most likely to be found within African
  descent.
• Thus this links undesirable characteristics to race which almost provides justification for eugenics policies.
• This is a disadvantage as it can have severe implications, such as racism, or in severe cases being ethnic cleansing

Question 9

• One limitation of Lombroso’s work is that it only established a correlation relationship, not a casual relationship.

Answer 9

• For example, Lombroso theory states that physiological markers may identify with criminal behaviour however it may be influenced by other factors such as poor diet/poverty, rather than being an indication of delayed evolutionary development.
• This means that there is a third variable connecting criminal behaviour and features- which means the theory isn’t valid. We haven’t been able to pinpoint an exact cause

Question 10

opposing evi

Answer 10

• One limitation of Lombroso’s work is that there is opposing research. For example, Goring found after
  comparing 3000 criminals with 3000 non-criminals there was no evidence of facial characteristics being
  distinct in the criminal group.
• This is a disadvantage as it opposes the idea that criminals could be identified by specific atavistic characteristics, therefore casting doubt on the theory.
• Furthermore, in Lombroso’s study he did not compare his criminal sample to a non criminal sample. This means his research may have had methodological issues as many of the criminals he studied had psychological disorders meaning there were confounding variables that he didnt control. Therefore decreasing the validity of his findings, as we are unsure if his findings were due to chance