Lombroso & The Born Criminal Flashcards
What is the background about Lombroso (Birth, job etc)?
Born in Verona in 1836, studies medicine before taking positions at lunatic asylums, military doctor in Italy
What di Lombroso do in 1876?
He became the professor of legal medicine at the university of Turin and published the book the criminal man
What were Lombroso’s 4 major accomplishments?
- Synthesised a lot of theories into one field
- He uses a medical model to frame nearly all aspects of his new perspective on criminal behaviour
- Made blueprints that provided new ways of dealing with deviance
- He transformed criminology from phrenology into a fully fledged science
What was the first independent theory or crime?
Criminal anthropology (claimed that crime and criminality could be studies scientifically)
What was so influential about the book “Criminal Man”?
- Became longer and longer
- Critics found it difficult to argue against his claims
- Began to address his theories for punishment
What was Lombroso interested in?
Tattoos and the shape of criminals skulls
When did Lombroso’s revelation about the born criminal happen?
It happened in 1871 when he was given the task of performing a post-mortem on an infamous killer
What did Lombroso mean by the term “born criminal”?
The born criminal were offenders who looked ape-like and were a throwback to a more primitive evolutionary stage
What did Lombroso discover about criminal skulls?
Using techniques from anthropology and phrenology he discovered that criminal skulls were not only malformed but were smaller than normal skulls and similar to apes
What were the two things Lombroso concluded about the study of skulls?
There were a variety of unmistakeable marks for someone who was “born criminal”
-The born criminal could be a hereditary criminal as well as a throwback
What did Lombroso believe about female criminality?
Thought that violent female offenders far exceeded men in there cruelty
What were Lombroso’s reasons behind female criminality?
Thought that women were less criminal because they were inferior and maternal instincts helped to restrain them
What did Lombroso conclude about women and children?
That both children and women were regarded as born criminals
What did Lombroso conclude about children?
Children regarded as morally insane until education and discipline had taught them respect for morality and justice
When did Lombroso write his first book on female criminality?
In 1893, “Criminal Women”
What did Lombroso’s book “criminal women” talk about?
Focused on prostitution, which was the idea behind women being born criminal
- He concluded that only 14% of female offenders were born criminal
- Deviance and women was often more sexual than criminal
According to Lombroso how could you identify a female criminal?
Masculine features, similar to primitive races with their big jaws and masculine features
What did Lombroso believe the main cause of crime was?
Atavism - which is a throwback to the earlier stage of evolution
What were the secondary causes for crime?
- Weather
- Race
- Heredity
- Sexuality
What was Lombroso’s impact on the criminal justice system?
He wanted the criminal justice system to be revamped in order to take into account the dangerousness of criminals
What did Lombroso want punishments to be based on?
The degree of dangerousness posed by the individual to society (those who could be reformed would be kept out of prisons but those who were incurable should be given life long imprisonment
True or false? Lombroso’s focus was on individualised punishments to suit the offender and that “born criminals” acted out of biology
True
What was Lombroso’s school called?
Criminal anthropology. Founded by Lombroso and two layers
What was one accomplishment of Lombroso’s school?
They set up a criminological museum which contained skulls, heads, masks, photos etc of “born criminals”
What were Germany’s take on Lombroso’s work?
They agreed with the concept of the “born criminal.” Although they were unsure about atavism
True or false? Britain agreed with Lombroso’s ideas?
True
