Lombroso's Theory Flashcards
What did Cesare Lombroso argue?
He argued that criminals were physically different from non-criminals
Lombroso spent many years measuring and recording details of heads and faces of thousands of prisoners, what were his findings?
He found that criminals had distinctive physical features
What physical features did Lombroso claim to be prominent amongst criminals?
Enormous jaws, high check bones, handle-shaped ears, prominent eyebrow arches, exceptionally long arms, large eye sockets and extremely acute eyesight
What did he claim was the difference between a murderer’s nose and a thief’s nose?
He claimed that murderer’s had aquiline noses but thief’s had flattened noses
Lombroso saw criminals as atavistic, what does this mean?
Human’s in a more primitive stage of evolution
How did Lombroso argue that their atavism caused criminality?
He argued they were like ‘savages’ or even ape-like which causes them to be abnormal in modern society
