Atavistic Form

Question 1

Outline atavistic form explanation for offending

Answer 1

Biological explanation outlined by Lombroso
- states criminal are genetic throwback —> primitive subspecies genetically different from non-criminals
- criminals lack evolutionary development + therefore are savage and untamed

Question 2

Outline general characteristics of atavistic form

Answer 2

Cranial = narrow sloping brow, prominent jawline, high cheekbones + facial asymmetry
Additional traits = dark skin, extra toe/finger/nipple

Question 3

Outline crime-specific traits of atavistic form

Answer 3

Murderers —> bloodshot eyes, curly hair, long ears
Sexual deviants —> glinting eyes, swollen fleshy lips, projecting ears
Fraudsters —> thin lips

Question 4

Outline Lombroso’s research and evidence for atavistic form

Answer 4

Looked at 383 dead Italian criminals and 3839 living Italian criminals; found that 40% had atavistic form

Question 5

Describe issues with Lombroso’s methodology?

Answer 5

• sample —> dead bodies, changes due to decomposition, decreases validity
• only Italians —> imposed etic, cannot be generalised to other groups
• no control group to compare to —> could have just been common facial features
• only 40%, incomplete
• researcher bias, already knew who were criminals

Question 6

Outline issues with atavistic form as an explanation for offending

Answer 6

Biologically deterministic
~ states that all people with certain characteristics will have criminal behaviour
~ takes away personal responsibility from criminals; may lead to scientific racism and discrimination
~ may also support eugenics by preventing people with these traits from procreating + restricting diversity of the gene pool in racial way
Biologically reductionist
~ biological factors alone as it looks at only genes, brain structure, etc., reducing behaviour to the physical level
~ other factors may be involved, as only 40% of criminals showed atavistic form
~ environmental, upbringing may lead to development of the traits
~ Diathesis stress model —> genetic vulnerability which can be triggered by an environmental stressor
~ interactionist approach may be more suitable as a holistic model
Correlational
~ no cause + effect established, could be a third variabke
~ other factors like diet, drug use, life experience, poverty could lead to the physical differences observed
~ meaning traits are not actually a result of delayed evolutionary development
Sampling issues
~ only looked at Italian criminals
~ cannot generalise findings to the wider population + therefore theory lacks population validity
~ physical features vary across different countries, only tells us about Italy so ethnocentric

Question 7

Outline strength of atavistic form as an explanation of offending

Answer 7

Influential in forensic psychology
~ Lombroso is considered the ‘father of modern criminology’
~ he was the first to shift emphasis of crime research away from moral discourse to a more scientific approach
~ also may have been first to create offender profiles
= contributed to the science of criminology