Biological explanations of offending behaviour: a historical approach Flashcards
What was the atavistic form
an early biological explanation for criminal behaviour which was proposed by Cesare Lombroso in 1870’s. It’s not longer seen as credible
Why do we still look at lombrossos work even though its not credible
It has been credited for moving criminology into a more rigorous and scientific realm and his ideas may well have laid the foundation for the modern offender profiling techniques that were to follow.
What did lombroso suggest
Lombroso suggested that criminals were ‘genetic throwbacks’ – a primitive sub-species who were biologically different from non-criminals.
How did lombroso view offenders
as lacking evolutionary development, their savage and untamed nature meant that they would find it impossible to adjust to the demands of a civilised society and would inevitably turn to crime. Therefore he argued that criminals were not to blame for their activities as their behaviour was determined by their physiology.
What did lombrosos work centre on
the idea that criminals had distinguishing physical features which originated from a more primitive stage of development. These biologically determined ‘atavistic’ characteristics, mainly features of the face and head made criminals physically different to non-criminals.
What did the activistic form include
a narrow sloping brow, a strong prominent jaw, high cheekbones and facial asymmetry. Other physical features included dark skin and the existence of extra toes, nipples or fingers.
Evaluation points:
- lombrosos research highlights the importance of adoptoing the scientific method
- A study that’s contradicts lombrosos theory
- No control group
- How lombrosos research shifted crime research to be more scientific and credible
How does lombrosos research highlight the importance of adoptoing the scientific method
Lombroso’s research highlights the importance of adopting the scientific method when investigating explanations of offending behaviour as it is important for research to be reliable to avoid inaccurate conclusions being made about offenders. This is because research like Lombroso’s can be seen as socially sensitive as several critics have drawn attention to the distinct racial undertones within Lombroso’s work. Many of the ‘atavistic’ features (curly hair, dark skin) are most likely to be found among people of African descent.
A study that’s contradicts lombrosos theory
Goring (1913) conducted a comparison between 3000 criminals and 3000 non-criminals and concluded that there was no evidence that offenders are a distinct group with unusual facial and cranial characteristics. This challenges Lombroso’s theory that criminals have distinct physical characteristics demonstrating that Lombroso’s research lacks reliability.
No control group
Lombroso did not compare his criminal sample with a non-criminal control group. Therefore it is possible that, had he done so, the significant differences in atavistic form that Lombroso reported may have disappeared. This significantly reduces the extent to which Lombroso’s research supports his atavistic form theory.
How lombrosos research shifted crime research to be more scientific and credible
Despite the issues with Lombroso’s research, it helped to shifted the emphasis in crime research away from a simple form of moral explanation (offenders judged as wicked and weak-minded) to a more scientific and credible view (evolutionary and genetic), by using anthropometry. Also, in trying to describe how particular types of people are likely to commit particular crimes, Lombroso’s theory, could be seen as the beginning of criminal profiling. In this way he made a major contribution to the science of criminal psychology. In spite of this, this approach is reductionist as it doesn’t consider how other factors interact together in influencing behaviour which reduces the validity of the biological approach to explaining offending behaviour.
Extra evaluation point
It’s misogynistic
