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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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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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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