Lombroso
Sociological Theories of Deviance
Sociology 3305
UMD
CESARE LOMBROSO (1835-1909)
PHYSICIAN
1876 WROTE, THE CRIMINAL MAN
DURING AUTOPSY, CERTAIN PHYSICAL STIGMATA WAS APPARENT,
CONCLUDED THE CERTAIN NUMBER OF THESES INDICATED A BORN
CRIMINAL, ATAVISTIC CRIMINAL
STIGMATA RELATED TO AN ATAVISTIC CRIMINAL:
- DEVIATION IN HEAD SIZE AND SHAPE FROM TYPE COMMON TO RACE
AND REGION FROM WHICH THE CRIMINAL CAME
- ASYMMETRY OF THE FACE
- EYE DEFECTS AND PECULIARITIES
- EXCESSIVE DIMENSIONS OF THE JAW AND CHEEK BONES
- EARS OF UNUSUAL SIZE, OR OCCASIONALLY VERY SMALL, OR
STANDING OUT FROM THE HEAD AS DO THOSE OF THE CHIMPANZEE
- NOSE TWISTED, UPTURNED, OR FLATTENED IN THIEVES, OR
AQUILINE OR BEAK-LIKE IN MURDERERS, OR WITH A TIP RISING LIKE
A PEAK FROM SWOLLEN NOSTRILS.
- LIPS FLESHY, SWOLLEN, & PROTRUDING
- POUCHES IN THE CHEEK LIKE THOSE OF SOME ANIMALS
- PECULIARITIES OF THE PALATE, SUCH AS ARE FOUND IN SOME
REPTILES, AND CLEFT PALATE.
- CHIN RECEDING, OR EXCESSIVELY LONG, OR SHORT AND FLAT, AS
IN APES.
- ABNORMAL DENTITION.
- ABUNDANCE, VARIETY, AND PRECOCITY OF WRINKLES
- ANOMALIES OF THE HAIR, MARKED BY CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
HAIR OF THE OPPOSITE SEX.
- DEFECTS OF THE THORAX, SUCH AS TOO MANY OR TOO FEW RIBS,
OR SUPERNUMERARY NIPPLES
- INVERSION OF SEX CHARACTERS IN THE PELVIC ORGANS
- EXCESSIVE LENGTH OF ARMS
- SUPERNUMERARY FINGERS AND TOES
- IMBALANCE OF THE HEMISPHERES OF THE BRAIN (ASYMMETRY OF
CRANIUM)
SUMMARY OF HIS WORK
- HE CONSISTENTLY EMPHASIZED THE NEED FOR DIRECT STUDY OF THE INDIVIDUAL, UTILIZING MEASUREMENTS
AND STATISTICAL METHODS IN ANTHROPOLOGICAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC DATA.
- HE BEGAN WITH THE BASIC ASSUMPTION OF THE BIOLOGICAL NATURE OF HUMAN CHARACTER AND BEHAVIOR:
- A. HE FIRST CONCEIVED OF THE CRIMINAL AS A THROWBACK TO A MORE PRIMITIVE TYPE OF BRAIN
STRUCTURE, AND THEREFORE OF BEHAVIOR.
- B. HE LATER MODIFIED THIS TO INCLUDE GENERAL DEGENERACY OF DEFECTIVENESS.
- C. HE NEVER CLAIMED THAT THE BORN CRIMINAL CONSTITUTED MORE THAN 40% PROBABLY LESS, ONLY
ABOUT 1/3 OF THE TOTAL CRIMINAL POPULATION
- WITH SUCCESSIVE YEARS OF STUDY, DISCUSSION, AND CONTACT WITH CRITICS, HE MODIFIED HIS THEORY AND METHOD
MORE AND MORE TO INCLUDE ALL KINDS OF SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND ENVIRONMENTAL DATA. THROUGH
IT ALL, HE ALWAYS ATTEMPTED TO BE:
- A. OBJECTIVE, IN METHOD, OFTEN STATISTICAL
- B. POSITIVE IN THE SENSE OF DETERMINISTIC
- C. FAITHFUL TO THE BASIC IDEA OF CAUSE AS A CHAIN OF INTERRELATED EVENTS, NOT THE MORE
FAMILIAR AND POPULAR DOCTRINE OF SELF-DETERMINISM OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR, TO SAY NOTHING OF
THE DEMONISTIC
THE FEMALE OFFENDER 1909
MOST WOMEN ARE NOT CRIMINAL
THOSE THAT ARE, ARE MOST OFTEN OCCASIONAL CRIMINALS
BUT, SOME WOMEN ARE ACTAVISTIC CRIMINALS
HARDER TO DETECT THEN MEN
MORE VICIOUS
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