Forenics - THEORIES OF OFFENDING - PHYSIOLOGICAL

Atvistic Form - LOMBROSO

Criminals have different features due to a more primative evolutionary stage of development

• norrow sloping brow
• prominant jaw
• extra *******, toes and fingers
• high cheekbone
• large ears

Lombroso believed that each criminal subtype could be identifyed by their physical charectistics such as a murder would have curly hair, blood shot eyes and a prominant jaw bone. Origninaly he believed all these charecteristics were inhertited and therefore criminals are born not made but he later went on to suggest that physical charecteristics contributed only one third to criminal behaviour and the rest was due to environmental factors such as poor education.

Evaluation

• He did not compare criminals with non criminals - were these features found in non criminals too?
• The criminals he studied had psycological disorders so it is possible the physical features were due to the disorer not the criminality
• …