1. Biological Determinism: The Search for Criminal Traits
Physiognomy: The study of facial features and their relation to human behaviour.
Giambattisti della Porta suggested that a thief had large lips and sharp vision.
By 19th century, these sciences introduced specific biological factors into the study of crime causation
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Phrenology
Posited that bumps on the head were indications of psychological propensities.
Franz Joseph Gall & Johann Kaspar Spurzheim.
A criminological examination according to an 1890 caricature.
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The Italian School
Lombroso
Replaced the concept of free will with that of determinism.
The ‘born criminal’ and atavistic stigmata – physical features of criminals at an earlier stage of development before they became fully human.
Added two categories to the born criminal: Insane criminals and criminoloids.
Insane are not criminal from birth; become criminal from a change in their brains.
Criminoloids make up a groups that includes habitual criminals, criminals by passion and other diverse types.
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The Italian School
Ferri
Agreed with biological bases of criminal behaviour.
Also recognized importance of social, economic, and political determinants.
Key: adherence to preventive measures based on scientific methods.
Garofalo
Study of crime through scientific methods.
Look to psychological or ‘moral anomalies’ for roots of criminal behaviour.
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5. Challenges to Lombrosian Theory
Charles Goring: Offered the major challenge to Lombrosian theory.
Studied 3,000 convicts and compared them to Oxford and Cambridge University students, hospital patients, and soldiers .
His research assistant was Karl Pearson, a famous statistician.
Successfully disputed Lombroso’s claim of a born criminal with the data that he collected.
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6. Return to Biological Determinism
Somatotype school: related body build to behaviour.
Kretschmer’s three physiques: asthenic, athletic & pyknic
Sheldon’s three physiques: endomorph, mesomorph, ectomorph
MESOMORPHS said to be more likely to be involved in criminal behaviour (physically powerful, aggressive, athletic physiques)
Glueck & Glueck: conducted studies on delinquents based on Sheldon’s somatotypes
Eugenics – the science of controlled reproduction to improve hereditary qualities.
Inherited Criminality
Richard Dugdale studied the Jukes family.
Long list of criminals in Jukes family led theorists like Dugdale to research a ‘degenerate trait’
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