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Who pioneered the Atavistic form?
Lombroso in 1876
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From whom did Lombroso gain inspiration for his theory?
Darwin's theory of evolution
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What did Lombroso suggest criminals were?
- Evolutionary throwbacks with particular primitive features
- A separate species with a primitive genetic form and behaviour, helpful for surviving in the wild but making it difficult for them to adapt to society
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What characteristics did the atavist form possess?
- Sloping brow
- Large jaws
- High cheek bones
- Large ears
- Extra nipples
- Insensitive to pain
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What characteristics did Lombroso suggest murderers possess?
- Cold, glassy, blood-shot eyes
- Curly, abundant hair
- Strong jaws
- Long ears
- Thin lips
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What characteristics did Lombroso suggest sex offenders possess?
- Glinting eyes
- Thick lips
- Lots of hair
- Projecting ears
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How is the mentality of an atavist different from that of the typical human?
- Incapable of distinguishing right from wrong
- No guilt or remorse is shown
- Possess no feeling for others
- Unable to form deep, meaningful, loving relationships
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Which research supports the atavistic theory?
Lombroso's own study
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What did Lombroso study and how big was his sample size?
- The proportions of 383 skulls of dead criminals
- The heads of 3839 living criminals
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What percentage of criminal acts did Lombroso claim could be accounted for by atavistic characteristics
40%
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What aspect of Lombroso's theory was different than those before it
- Does not attribute criminal behaviour to wickedness due to lack of willpower
- Acknowledges that the cause of criminal behaviour cannot entirely be laid at the feet of the offender, this is more scientific and less moralistic
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What did Lombroso's theory precede?
It was the forerunner to later biological theories such as genetics and neuropsysiology
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What did Hollin argue in 1989
- Lombroso with some justification can be hailed as the father of modern criminology
- His later theories encompass three major strands of research- Biology, Environment and Psychology
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What did Lombroso consider as well as biology?
Environmental factors make a significant contribution to the causes of some types of criminal behaviour
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What did Lombroso say about prisons?
- They are criminal universities as they reinforce criminal tendencies
- Still maintained, however that people are born criminals
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What criticisms can be made about the nature of atavism?
- Encourages the worst prejudices of stereotyping and has caused much embarrassment to criminologists
- Contributes to the belief that certain races are inferior
- Lead to discrimination, prejudice and possible eugenics
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How does Lombroso's theory fail to consider the self fulfilling prophecy?
If we tell someone they will be a criminal from birth then they possibly will
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How is Lombroso's view of female criminals unsubstantiated ?
- He stated that women were jealous, vengeful and capable of monstrous cruelty, Psychologically worse than men
- If this was the case, wouldn't crime rates be higher for females?
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How can Lombroso's research methods be criticised?
- Was not very rigorous
- Did not use a control group to compare criminals to non criminals
- Makes it difficult to establish cause and effect
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How can Lombroso be criticised in terms of cause and effect?
- Correlation does not prove causation
- It could be that poverty leads to facial defects rather than a criminal personality
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What did Kurtzberg et al suggest in 1978
- People with unpleasant appearances may become criminals because they are rejected by others and turn to crime.
- In Kurtzberg's study it was found that prisoners that were given plastic surgery were less likely to reoffend
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What did goring find in 1913?
After comparing the appearances of 3000 convicts to a control group, little support was found for Lombroso's theory
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