Lombroso & The Born Criminal

Question 1

What is the background about Lombroso (Birth, job etc)?

Answer 1

Born in Verona in 1836, studies medicine before taking positions at lunatic asylums, military doctor in Italy

Question 2

What di Lombroso do in 1876?

Answer 2

He became the professor of legal medicine at the university of Turin and published the book the criminal man

Question 3

What were Lombroso’s 4 major accomplishments?

Answer 3

1. Synthesised a lot of theories into one field
2. He uses a medical model to frame nearly all aspects of his new perspective on criminal behaviour
3. Made blueprints that provided new ways of dealing with deviance
4. He transformed criminology from phrenology into a fully fledged science

Question 4

What was the first independent theory or crime?

Answer 4

Criminal anthropology (claimed that crime and criminality could be studies scientifically)

Question 5

What was so influential about the book “Criminal Man”?

Answer 5

• Became longer and longer
• Critics found it difficult to argue against his claims
• Began to address his theories for punishment

Question 6

What was Lombroso interested in?

Answer 6

Tattoos and the shape of criminals skulls

Question 7

When did Lombroso’s revelation about the born criminal happen?

Answer 7

It happened in 1871 when he was given the task of performing a post-mortem on an infamous killer

Question 8

What did Lombroso mean by the term “born criminal”?

Answer 8

The born criminal were offenders who looked ape-like and were a throwback to a more primitive evolutionary stage

Question 9

What did Lombroso discover about criminal skulls?

Answer 9

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

Question 10

What were the two things Lombroso concluded about the study of skulls?

Answer 10

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

Question 11

What did Lombroso believe about female criminality?

Answer 11

Thought that violent female offenders far exceeded men in there cruelty

Question 12

What were Lombroso’s reasons behind female criminality?

Answer 12

Thought that women were less criminal because they were inferior and maternal instincts helped to restrain them

Question 13

What did Lombroso conclude about women and children?

Answer 13

That both children and women were regarded as born criminals

Question 14

What did Lombroso conclude about children?

Answer 14

Children regarded as morally insane until education and discipline had taught them respect for morality and justice

Question 15

When did Lombroso write his first book on female criminality?

Answer 15

In 1893, “Criminal Women”

Question 16

What did Lombroso’s book “criminal women” talk about?

Answer 16

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

Question 17

According to Lombroso how could you identify a female criminal?

Answer 17

Masculine features, similar to primitive races with their big jaws and masculine features

Question 18

What did Lombroso believe the main cause of crime was?

Answer 18

Atavism - which is a throwback to the earlier stage of evolution

Question 19

What were the secondary causes for crime?

Answer 19

• Weather
• Race
• Heredity
• Sexuality

Question 20

What was Lombroso’s impact on the criminal justice system?

Answer 20

He wanted the criminal justice system to be revamped in order to take into account the dangerousness of criminals

Question 21

What did Lombroso want punishments to be based on?

Answer 21

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

Question 22

True or false? Lombroso’s focus was on individualised punishments to suit the offender and that “born criminals” acted out of biology

Answer 22

True

Question 23

What was Lombroso’s school called?

Answer 23

Criminal anthropology. Founded by Lombroso and two layers

Question 24

What was one accomplishment of Lombroso’s school?

Answer 24

They set up a criminological museum which contained skulls, heads, masks, photos etc of “born criminals”

Question 25

What were Germany’s take on Lombroso’s work?

Answer 25

They agreed with the concept of the “born criminal.” Although they were unsure about atavism

Question 26

True or false? Britain agreed with Lombroso’s ideas?

Answer 26

True