Biological explanations: The atavistic approach

Question 1

What is the atavistic approach?

Answer 1

• The idea that criminals are genetic throwbacks to an earlier species
• They are biologically different to non-criminals
• They lack evolutionary development and have a savage nature, making it hard to meet demands of a civilised society
• Could be identified by facial characteristics

Question 2

What was Lombroso’s research?

Answer 2

• Used post-mortem examinations of over 50,000 bodies
• Made precise measurements of humans
• Concluded 40% of criminal acts could be accounted with atavistic characteristics

Question 3

What are atavistic features?

Answer 3

• Narrow, sloping brow
• Strong, prominent jaw
• Facial asymmetry
• Dark skin

Question 4

Strength: contribution to science

Answer 4

• Contribution to the science of criminology
• Lombroso is the founder of modern criminology. His theory is credited as shifting crime research from a moralistic discourse towards a more scientific and credible realm
• His approach was based on empirical observations and detailed measurements to explain offender behaviour
• Increases validity

Question 5

Weakness: criticism

Answer 5

• It has been criticised on several grounds
• Lombroso’s research had a lack of adequate controls. He did not compare his criminal sample with a non-criminal control group.
• Weakness as we don’t know if the characteristics were unique to criminals or a similar number might have been found in any population
• Reduces validity of the explanation

Question 6

Weakness: contradictory evidence

Answer 6

• Goring (1913) compared 3000 criminals with 3000 non-criminals
• Concluded there was no evidence that offenders are a distinct group with unusual facial and cranial characteristics
• Findings question the key element of the atavistic approach that criminals are different in terms of appearance
• Reduced credibility and reliability of the approach as an explanation, original findings could not be replicated

Question 7

Weakness: scientific racism

Answer 7

• Critics drawn attention to racial undertones
• Curly hair and dark skin are considered atavistic features, most likely to be found among people of African descent
• Similarly his description of the activistic being as ‘uncivilized, primitive, savage’ would lend support to many of the eugenic philosophies of of the time
• This is a problem because the eugenics movement influenced government policies to eliminate ‘unfit’ individuals such as forcible sterilization.
• Due to the heavy social implications, the approach should not be used as an explanation