Biological explanations of CB (Atavistic Form) Flashcards
What are synonyms of Atavistic?
- Primitive, undeveloped, naïve, untutored, savage etc.
Atavistic form (Lombroso)
- Lombroso suggested that criminality is inherited and that someone “born criminal” could be identified by the way that they look.
What are ‘atavistic features’?
- Lombroso suggested that there was a distinct biological class of people that were prone to criminality. He believed that criminals are distinguishable by particular facial and cranial features.
- He called these ‘atavistic features’ that show them to be at a more primitive stage of evolution than non-offenders; they are “genetic throwbacks” who are ill-suited to conforming to the rules of modern society.
Features of these ‘criminals’
Lombroso believed that these individuals were wild, untamed, uneducated and unable to fit in 1870’s society (unsocialised) and therefore they would inevitably turn to crime.
- Features of the thief= expressive face, manual dexterity, small + wandering eyes.
- Features of the murderer= cold, glassy stares, bloodshot eyes.
- Features of sex offenders= thick lips and protruding ears.
What was Lombroso’s research?
- In a study of 4000 dead and alive Italian criminals he found 40% of them had atavistic features.
- This research lacked scientific rigor; he did not use a control group to compare his participants against.
Evaluating Lombroso’s research (research against)
- Goring (1913) carried out a study comparing over 2000 London convicts with a control group.
- He failed to replicate Lombroso’s findings.
- This weakens Lombroso’s theory.
Evaluating Lombroso’s research (determinism)
- Hard deterministic view= Lombroso argued that criminals’ behaviour was determined by their physiology and so they were not to blame for their crimes.
- This deterministic approach does not align with the assumptions of modern society and the criminal justice system, so the theory lacks value in the real world.
- Free will vs determinism debate is important!!!
Evaluating Lombroso’s research (conflicting evidence)
- Lombroso interpreted the presence of atavistic features as a cause of offending behaviour, but it could be argued that these traits might have interacted with social factors.
- Agnew= said that possessing these unpleasant physical characteristics might lead to unpleasant social interactions, this leads to frustration and anger which, in turn leads to the offending behaviour.
- This suggests that this theory is reductionist/ too simplistic and is reducing criminal behaviour down to facial and cranial features.
Evaluating Lombroso’s research (socially sensitive)
- This explanation is socially sensitive; some of the features described by Lombroso are linked to skin colour and other traits are associated with the concept of race, so it has been accused of scientific racism.
Lombroso’s research (Eugenics)
- Also, this theory has also been used to support eugenics.
- Eugenics is a philosophy arguing that those who are born with genetic advantages should be allowed to breed for the good of society but those who are born with genetic disadvantages should be eliminated to improve the genetic quality of the human population.
Lombroso’s research (+)
- Lombroso’s research is not highly regarded BUT his research paved the way/ was the forerunner for offender profiling + opened our eyes that we could identify offenders by specific characteristics (it is possible to narrow down the search).
