FP - Biological explanations of offending behaviour: A historical approach Flashcards
Atavistic form
An explanation for criminal behaviour, suggesting that certain individuals are born with a criminal personality and this innate personality is a throwback to earlier primate forms.
What did the Greeks suggest the four personality types of criminals were?
Sanguine
Melancholic
Choleric
Phlegmatic
Each relating to a particular body fluid called (‘humours’).
Who developed the atavistic form?
Cesare Lombroso (1876)
What was Cesare Lombroso’s view on criminal personality types?
Offenders possessed similar characteristics to lower primates and this could explain their criminality.
What did Lombroso suggest that criminals are?
‘Genetic throwbacks’ to a ‘primitive sub-species’
What does atavistic mean?
A tendency to revert to an ancestral type.
What was Lombroso strongly against?
The ‘free will’ explanations.
Who did Lombroso support?
Galton and Darwin.
What did Lombroso say criminals lacked?
Evolutionary development - their savage and untamed nature mean that they would find it impossible to adjust to the demands of civilised society and would inevitably turn to crime.
Who identified 18 different characteristics that make up the atavistic type?
Turvey (2011).
What is the basic assumption of the atavistic form?
That the innate physiological make-up of the person causes them to become a criminal.
Who came up with phrenology?
Fraz Gall
What is phrenology?
A process that involves observing and/or feeling the skull to determine an individual’s psychological attributes.
What did Lombroso base his theory on?
His own research using post-mortem examinations of criminals and studying the faces of living criminals. He made precise measurements of skulls and other physiological characteristics - anthropometry.
What is anthropometry?
The measurement of humans.
How many bodies did Lombroso and his co-workers exam over the course of his career?
Over 50,000 bodies.
What did Lombroso find in his study of convicted Italian criminals?
Of 383 convicted Italian criminals, he found that 21% had just one atavistic trait and 43% had at least 5.
What did Lombroso propose after recognising that it was unlikely that only one factor would be the cause of criminality?
He proposed that inherited atavistic form interacted with a person’s physical and social environment.
How is Lombroso’s idea that inherited atavistic form interacts with a person’s physical and social environment to cause criminality a determinist view?
Because it suggests that factors outside a person’s control (nature and nurture) determine whether they become criminal.
The idea that inherited atavistic form interacts with a person’s physical and social environment to cause criminality led Lombroso (1897) to do what?
Distinguish between 3 types of criminals, moving away from the atavistic form as the only explanation for criminality.
What were the 3 types of criminals proposed by Lombroso (1897)?
Born criminals, insane criminals and criminaloids.
What did Lombroso mean by ‘born criminals’?
The atavistic type; ‘throwbacks’ identifiable from their physical characteristics.
What did lombroso mean by ‘insane criminals’?
Suffering from mental illness.
What did Lombroso mean by ‘criminaloids’?
A large general class of offenders whose mental characteristics predisposed them to criminal behaviour under the right circumstances (i.e. certain physical/social environments).
What features in particular did Lombroso say that criminals could be identified by?
Facial, cranial and bodily characteristics.
What sort of facial and cranial features did Lombroso argue could identify criminals?
Narrow, sloping brow, strong prominent jaw, high cheekbones and facial asymmetry.
What sort of bodily features did Lombroso argue could identify criminals?
Dark skin, extra toes, nipples or fingers.
What other features besides facial, cranial and bodily features did Lombroso argue could identify criminals?
Insensitivity to pain, use of slang, tattoos and unemployment.
What physical and facial features in particular did Lombroso say that murderers could be identified by?
Bloodshot eyes, curly hair and long ears.
What physical and facial features in particular did Lombroso say that sexual deviants could be identified by?
Glinting eyes, swollen, fleshy lips.
What physical and facial features in particular did Lombroso say that fraudsters could be identified by?
Thin and reedy lips.
Eugenics
Genetically ‘unfit’ people should be prevented from breeding.
What study led to the 4 somatotypes being proposed for criminality?
Kretschmer (1921) studied over 4000 convicted criminals.
Who suggested there were 4 somatotypes for criminality?
German psychiatrist Ernest Kretschmer (1921).
What were the 4 somatotypes proposed by Kretschmer (1921)?
Leptosome
Athletic
Pyknic
Dysplastic or mixed
Leptosome
Tall and thin; petty thieves.
Athletic
Tall and muscular; crimes of violence.
Pyknic
Short and fat; commit crimes of deception and sometimes violence.
Dysplastic or mixed
More than one type; crimes against morality (e.g. prostitution).
Who came up with alternative names for the 4 somatotypes proposed by Kretschmer (1921)?
Sheldon (1954)
What were the alternative somatotypes proposed by Sheldon (1954)?
Leptosome = Ectomorph Athletic = Mesomorph Pyknic = Endomorph
What type of explanation is the historical approach?
Biological explanation
