by Thomas Austen

Created on: November 04, 2009

Lombroso's theory can no longer be taken seriously do you agree

Cesare Lombroso was an Italian criminologist (1835-1909), he devised a theory that criminality is a psychological trait, however if someone has a criminal mind, this can be recognised by their appearance. Cesare believed that you could tell the difference between criminals and non-criminals depending on their physical attributes. Can an individual's appearance determine whether they are likely to be a criminal offender? Modern criminology now outmodes this old fashioned theory, so; can Lombroso's theory be taken seriously in this day an age?

Cesare Lombroso was born in Verona, Italy; he became renowned worldwide for his studies in the field of characterology; the relationship between physical and mental characteristics. Lombroso tried to link characteristics such as jaw size to psychopathology, sociapathy and general criminal behaviour.

Lombroso's theory is a direct descendent of phrenology, which was created by the German physician Franz Joseph Gall. Phrenology looks closely at the surface of ones head. If an individual possessed bumps in certain parts of the cranium, this may indicate a criminal mentality. The basis of phrenology was a large part of the inspiration for Lombroso's theory.

He also looked closely at craniology and physiognomy. Lombroso went on to study at the universities of Padua, Vienna and Paris, and then later (1862-1876) became a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pavia. He was also a professor at the University of Turin where he lectured criminal anthropology as well as being the director of an asylum in Pesaro, Italy.

Lombroso's main theoretical ideas were inspired by the evolutionary and genetical studies carried out in the early nineteenth century. He believed that certain criminals had physical evidence of an atavist (reappearance of characteristics which were only present in distant ascendants), or hereditary attributes, reminiscent of earlier more primitive stages of human evolution.

These anomalies (named by Lombroso as stigmata) could be expressed in abnormal forms or dimensions of the skull, the jaw, within the entities face and various other parts of the body, such as; in the limbs, shoulders etc. however this theory later became scientifically proven to be highly inconsistent, or more plainly inexistent.

So, how accurate was Lombroso's theory? Well Lombroso may have had the merit of bringing up the importance of scientific studies

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