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Biological Theories (Physiological Theory) : Lombroso - Coggle Diagram
Biological Theories (Physiological Theory) : Lombroso
The Victorians believed that it was
possible to spot a criminal by their features
.
Lombroso (1876)
argued that
criminals were physically different from non-criminals
and he spent several years measuring and recording details of heads and faces of thousands of criminals.
From this research, Lombroso found that criminals could be identified by certain features. He called these atavistic features
Large jaw
Low sloping foreheads
High cheekbones
Flat upturned nose
large chin
Hard shifty eyes
Insensitivity to pain
Tattoos
Lombroso's theory tested upon the idea of born criminals. He claimed that
different types of criminals had different physical features
. Fir instance thieves had flattened noses. Lombroso saw criminals as
atavistic
which is a
throwback to an earlier stage of evolution.
He claimed that criminals were like 'savages'. These criminals
could not distinguish right from wrong
, showed no guilt or remorse, and because they had no feelings for others, were unable to form meaningful and loving relationships
In Lombroso's view, these people were born criminals and we could identify them scientifically by reading their bodies. In his study, he
sampled the proportions of almost 400 skulls of dead convicts
and the heads of over
3,000 living one
s. His key findings was that
40% of criminal acts were carried out by people who had atavistic features
.
Females did not show these physical attributes,
but were
psychologically worse
than male criminals as they were
more jealous and capable of monstrous cruelty
Strengths
Lombroso was the
first person to scientifically study crime using objective methods
. Garland (1994) claims that the subject of criminology which we know today grew of the works of Lombroso. He is in fact regarded as the
'founding father' of criminology
His ideas are
still relevant today
. For example, he labelled
prisons as 'criminal universities'
and suggested that prisoners came out much worse than when they went in. Given current re-offending rates, this idea is still very relevant today
Recent research in China in which a
computer was programmed to look for criminal facia features
supports the work of Lombroso. Half were criminal and half were not and it
correctly identified 83% of the criminals
Limitations
Not everyone with atavistic features is a criminal and not all criminals have atavistic features
Lombroso's work is accused of being
very deterministic
as it assumes we cannot escape destiny and are born criminals
Used
poor controls and sampling procedures
in his study as most were
mentally disturbed individuals
Lombroso
did not use a control group
. A
group of non-criminals to act as a comparisons**
to
confirm that non-criminals did not have atavistic features
and that these features were
unique to criminals
It
focuses on the role of nature
and ignores the influence of nurture
This explanation is
socially sensitive
as some features described by Lombroso are
linked to skin color and other traits associated with race