Lombroso's historical theory Flashcards
what form does Lombroso say humans take
atavistic
based on Darwins theory what are humans
genetic throwbacks
what can atavistic characteristics be markers for
identifying a criminal/crime they committed
examples of atavistic form (4)
extra fingers/toes, large ears, prominent jaw, darker skin
what did Lombroso study
post-mortems and living studies of criminal faces
what precise measurements did he make
skull and other physiological areas
how many bodies did he study
+50,000
in a study of _ Italian criminals, _% had one trait and _% had 5
383, 21%, 43%
what did he later propose
atavistic form interacts with the environment
name+explain the 3 types of criminal
born: atavistic
insane: mentally ill
criminaloids: predisposition triggered by environment
E-evidence by Lombroso - how many of the criminals he studied exhibited prognathism? how many had overdeveloped cheekbones?
92% exhibited prognathism
74% had overdeveloped cheekbones
E-criticisms of Lombroso’s work - what didn’t he use? what effect does this have?
didn’t use control groups
lowers reliability and validity as can’t see if there is a difference
E-criticisms of Lombroso’s work - what did Goring find against Lombroso? what did he agree with? why is his research better?
Goring found the criminals he studied didn’t have the same features but he did agree there was partly a biological component. his research had higher validity due to the use of a control group and comparisons
E-alternative explanation - what else could cause criminality? who are 2 times more likely to face police action than who?
poverty could cause criminality. kids from deprived backgrounds are 2 times more likely to face police action than better off kids
E-practical applications - prior to his work what was crime/criminals seen as? what did he pave the way for?
prior to his work crime was seen as a choice, criminals were weak minded and could be deterred with harsh punishment. he paved the way for environment and biology removing free will and forces outside our control drive criminal behaviour
E-practical applications - what did he initiate the idea for?
offender profiling as they share characteristics so it was used to start to track offenders due to similar behaviour patterns
E-alternative explanations - Eyesenck showed what
a more modern explanations that there are some personalities more prone to commit crimes but the environment must interact with genes
E-effectiveness - led to what? increases what?
led to practical applications to identify criminals which increases the validity
E-gender/racial biased explain
he never studied women so results can’t be generalised. he said women are less evolved than men so less likely to become criminals. he made criminals look like a black man with a low grade of intelligence
