AC 2.1- Criminological theories - Biological
Biological theories focus on the idea that physical characteristics make some people more likely to commit crime
than others.
Such criminal tendencies can be genetic and therefore inherited. Hence this approach argues people are ‘born’ ba
or as criminals.
Lombroso (1876)
-Suggests that criminals could be identified from the shape of their skull and other physical characteristics like ea
lobes.
-Lombroso is known as the ‘father of modern criminology’. In 1876 he argued that criminals were a separate
species, a species that is in between modern and primative humans. He argued that the physical shape of the hea
and facial features determined a ‘born criminal’.
-In short he believed criminals were individuals who failed to evolve at the same pace as the rest of the human
race. He based this on data from autopsies of convicted criminals.
-Lombroso suggested that criminals were ‘throwbacks’ : their ‘Atavistic’ (primitive features) were biological
characteristics from an earlier stage of human development that manifested as a tendency to commit crime.
-He claimed to have found a variety of bodily features predictive of criminal behaviour:
-Long arms, large teeth, ears lacking lobes, hawk like nose, receding forehead.
-Acocording to Lombroso you can tell what crime someone will commit by the way they look:
-Murderers had bloodshot eyes and curly hair.
-Sex offenders had petruding ears and thick lips.
Sheldon
-Uses body measurement techniques to connect body type with personality types. People could be classified into
body types:
-Endomorphic- fat and soft
tend to be sociable and relaxed
-Ectomorphic- thin and fragile
introverted and restrained
-Mesomorphic- muscular and hard
aggressive and adventurous
Sheldon, using a correlational study, found that many convicts were mesomorphic, and they were less likely to be
ectomorphic
Biological theories focus on the idea that physical characteristics make some people more likely to commit crime
than others.
Such criminal tendencies can be genetic and therefore inherited. Hence this approach argues people are ‘born’ ba
or as criminals.
Lombroso (1876)
-Suggests that criminals could be identified from the shape of their skull and other physical characteristics like ea
lobes.
-Lombroso is known as the ‘father of modern criminology’. In 1876 he argued that criminals were a separate
species, a species that is in between modern and primative humans. He argued that the physical shape of the hea
and facial features determined a ‘born criminal’.
-In short he believed criminals were individuals who failed to evolve at the same pace as the rest of the human
race. He based this on data from autopsies of convicted criminals.
-Lombroso suggested that criminals were ‘throwbacks’ : their ‘Atavistic’ (primitive features) were biological
characteristics from an earlier stage of human development that manifested as a tendency to commit crime.
-He claimed to have found a variety of bodily features predictive of criminal behaviour:
-Long arms, large teeth, ears lacking lobes, hawk like nose, receding forehead.
-Acocording to Lombroso you can tell what crime someone will commit by the way they look:
-Murderers had bloodshot eyes and curly hair.
-Sex offenders had petruding ears and thick lips.
Sheldon
-Uses body measurement techniques to connect body type with personality types. People could be classified into
body types:
-Endomorphic- fat and soft
tend to be sociable and relaxed
-Ectomorphic- thin and fragile
introverted and restrained
-Mesomorphic- muscular and hard
aggressive and adventurous
Sheldon, using a correlational study, found that many convicts were mesomorphic, and they were less likely to be
ectomorphic
