Cesare Lombroso

DQ 1- I am sure you all have studied Cesare Lombroso, the famous Italian criminologist and phrenologist. Lombroso believed that women who were masculine in appearance (whom we might call “ugly”) were more apt to commit violent crimes. Lombroso once stated, “If female born criminals are fewer in number than the males, they are often much more ferocious” (as cited in Dickey, 2009, p. 148). Atavistic (relating to or displaying the kind of behavior that seems to be a product of impulses long since suppressed by society’s rules) tendencies of women were usually halted by the attributes of “piety, maternity, want of passion, sexual coldness, by weakness and in undeveloped intelligence” (p. 148). Charlotte Corday, the murderer of Jean-Paul Marat during the French Revolution, was seen to support his theories. At the time of her beheading, he found her to be a virgin and unrepentant. He felt had she been married and raised children she would never have been an assassin. It was clear that Lombroso profiled women offenders based upon their biological features. See the plates that I have embedded below (Lombroso, 1958). Did Lombroso have an acceptable theory for identifying the violent woman? Can there be physical characteristics indicated criminality?

Dickey, C. (2009). Cranioklepty: Grave robbing and the search for genius. (NC): Unbridled Books.

Lombroso, C. (1958). The female offender. New York, NY: The Philosophical Library.

Cesare Lombroso

Did Lombroso have an acceptable theory for identifying the violent woman?

Largely, Lombroso’s theory would be used in identifying a violent woman. In his theory, Lombroso managed to illustrate how people with inferior physiological differences could be detected once they engaged in criminal activities. Lombroso provided an elaborate explanation on how it was easier to locate or identify an individual involved in a criminal act by just evaluating his or her characteristics. In addition, he was against the views of social positivism because they were not in line with the arguments defined in his theory (Knepper & Ystehede, 2012). In my view, I believe that theory does not fit as the best method………………..

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