THE RISE OF BIOLOGICAL UNDERSTANDINGS OF CRIMINALITY Flashcards
What is phrenology?
a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits
what is degeneration?
based on the premise that certain (lower) social classes and races were predisposed to various neurological and mental illnesses due to bad heredity, resulting in social degradation.
what is eugenics?
practice or advocacy of improving the human species by selectively mating people with specific desirable hereditary traits. It aims to reduce human suffering by “breeding out” disease, disabilities and so-called undesirable characteristics from the human population.
when was phrenology undermined?
1830s
what did Dr Gall find about behaviour regulation?
behaviour was regulated by 27 different faculties, organs or propensities, each located in particular parts of the brain
what were Dr Galls 5 fundamental assumptions?
brain was organ of the mind, it is also aggregation of about 30 seperate organs or faculties, the more active an organ is the larger its size, the relative size of organs can be increased can be estimated by inspecting the contours of the skull, the relative size of the organs can be increased or decreased through exercise and self-discipline
by using phrenology on theives what did Gall discover using phrenology in 1805?
that they had a well developed faculty of greed
what did critics suggest about the means of crime prevention through phrenology?
that through phrenology they should isolate infants with criminal propensities from the rest of the population
what were the initial ideas of fixing degeneration?
that good habits and clean environment would eventually repair the damage
