Lombroso's historical theory

Question 1

what form does Lombroso say humans take

Answer 1

atavistic

Question 2

based on Darwins theory what are humans

Answer 2

genetic throwbacks

Question 3

what can atavistic characteristics be markers for

Answer 3

identifying a criminal/crime they committed

Question 4

examples of atavistic form (4)

Answer 4

extra fingers/toes, large ears, prominent jaw, darker skin

Question 5

what did Lombroso study

Answer 5

post-mortems and living studies of criminal faces

Question 6

what precise measurements did he make

Answer 6

skull and other physiological areas

Question 7

how many bodies did he study

Answer 7

+50,000

Question 8

in a study of _ Italian criminals, _% had one trait and _% had 5

Answer 8

383, 21%, 43%

Question 9

what did he later propose

Answer 9

atavistic form interacts with the environment

Question 10

name+explain the 3 types of criminal

Answer 10

born: atavistic
insane: mentally ill
criminaloids: predisposition triggered by environment

Question 11

E-evidence by Lombroso - how many of the criminals he studied exhibited prognathism? how many had overdeveloped cheekbones?

Answer 11

92% exhibited prognathism

74% had overdeveloped cheekbones

Question 12

E-criticisms of Lombroso’s work - what didn’t he use? what effect does this have?

Answer 12

didn’t use control groups

lowers reliability and validity as can’t see if there is a difference

Question 13

E-criticisms of Lombroso’s work - what did Goring find against Lombroso? what did he agree with? why is his research better?

Answer 13

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

Question 14

E-alternative explanation - what else could cause criminality? who are 2 times more likely to face police action than who?

Answer 14

poverty could cause criminality. kids from deprived backgrounds are 2 times more likely to face police action than better off kids

Question 15

E-practical applications - prior to his work what was crime/criminals seen as? what did he pave the way for?

Answer 15

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

Question 16

E-practical applications - what did he initiate the idea for?

Answer 16

offender profiling as they share characteristics so it was used to start to track offenders due to similar behaviour patterns

Question 17

E-alternative explanations - Eyesenck showed what

Answer 17

a more modern explanations that there are some personalities more prone to commit crimes but the environment must interact with genes

Question 18

E-effectiveness - led to what? increases what?

Answer 18

led to practical applications to identify criminals which increases the validity

Question 19

E-gender/racial biased explain

Answer 19

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