Atavistic form (A01)

Historical aproach-

In 1876, Lombroso, an Italian Physician, wrote a book called L'Huomo Delinquente. In this book, he suggested that criminals were 'genetic throwbacks' - a primitive sub-species who were biologically different to non-criminals. Although Lombroso's theory of atavistic form is described as speculative and naïve, he is credited for moving criminology into a more scientific realm, as his ideas laid the foundations for offender profiling. 

Lombroso saw offenders as lacking evoluntionary development. He argued that their savage and untamed nature meant that they would find it impossible to adjust to the demands of a civilised society and…