CRIMINOLOGY REVISION NOTES
Biological Theories of Criminality
LOMBROSO’S THEORY
Lombroso believed that criminals were genetic throwbacks from an earlier stage of human
development. This is known as heritable atavistic features.
He conducted a post-mortem and discovered that his subject had an indentation at the back of his
skull which resembled that of an ape. He concluded that some were born with a propensity to
offend and were merely savage throwbacks to early man.
According to Lombroso, a typical criminal would have atavistic features such as:
Large jaw
High cheekbones
Handle shaped ears
Thin lips
Exceptionally long arms
Prominent eyebrow arches
Aquiline noses
Large eye sockets
Extremely acute eyesight
Lombroso examined the facial and cranial features of 383 convicted criminals who were deceased,
and 3,839 living criminals. In conclusion, he believed that 40% of criminal activity could be accounted
for by atavistic features.
WILLIAM SHELDON
Sheldon shared very few ideas with Lombroso’s theory. He conducted a study which involved
examining around 4,000 photographs of men at different angles. Sheldon argued that there are 3
main body types:
Ectomorphs – a thin and fragile person often introverted and restrained
Mesomorphs – a muscular and hard person often aggressive and adventurous
Endomorphs – a fat and soft person often sociable and relaxed
He used a correlation study on college students, it was found that many criminals who were prone
to more aggressive acts was mesomorphic and the least likely were ectomorphic.
You could criticise physiological theories as they can be dangerously stereotyping, unreliable, they
contradict “innocent until proven guilty” and ignores the impact of circumstances and society as a
cause of crime.
BRAIN INJURIES
Injuries and disorders have often been linked with criminal behaviour and longitudinal studies have
identified early life brain injury as a risk factor in offending later in life. Relevant cases to this are
Phineas Gage and Fred West, who both had brain injuries which affected their personality and
behaviour in a negative way. Phineas Gage had an iron bar go through his skull when explosives
Biological Theories of Criminality
LOMBROSO’S THEORY
Lombroso believed that criminals were genetic throwbacks from an earlier stage of human
development. This is known as heritable atavistic features.
He conducted a post-mortem and discovered that his subject had an indentation at the back of his
skull which resembled that of an ape. He concluded that some were born with a propensity to
offend and were merely savage throwbacks to early man.
According to Lombroso, a typical criminal would have atavistic features such as:
Large jaw
High cheekbones
Handle shaped ears
Thin lips
Exceptionally long arms
Prominent eyebrow arches
Aquiline noses
Large eye sockets
Extremely acute eyesight
Lombroso examined the facial and cranial features of 383 convicted criminals who were deceased,
and 3,839 living criminals. In conclusion, he believed that 40% of criminal activity could be accounted
for by atavistic features.
WILLIAM SHELDON
Sheldon shared very few ideas with Lombroso’s theory. He conducted a study which involved
examining around 4,000 photographs of men at different angles. Sheldon argued that there are 3
main body types:
Ectomorphs – a thin and fragile person often introverted and restrained
Mesomorphs – a muscular and hard person often aggressive and adventurous
Endomorphs – a fat and soft person often sociable and relaxed
He used a correlation study on college students, it was found that many criminals who were prone
to more aggressive acts was mesomorphic and the least likely were ectomorphic.
You could criticise physiological theories as they can be dangerously stereotyping, unreliable, they
contradict “innocent until proven guilty” and ignores the impact of circumstances and society as a
cause of crime.
BRAIN INJURIES
Injuries and disorders have often been linked with criminal behaviour and longitudinal studies have
identified early life brain injury as a risk factor in offending later in life. Relevant cases to this are
Phineas Gage and Fred West, who both had brain injuries which affected their personality and
behaviour in a negative way. Phineas Gage had an iron bar go through his skull when explosives
