Criminal Anthropology Trivia Quiz

Answer: positivism

Positivism is the opposite ideology to Classical theory. Classical theory emphasizes more social and individualistic factors, especially free will. In the case of criminality, a Positivist would say that criminals are biologically destined to be criminal, whereas a Classical thinker is more prone to believe that the environment influences a person to become criminal and that they make a choice to do so.

Answer: All of these were considered "deviant" characteristics

The term "physiognomy" broadly refers to the theory that one's personality can be assessed by their appearance, and especially by their facial features. This technique was widely applied to the study of criminality in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, as well as in the later nineteenth century to a lesser extent. John Caspar Lavater was one of the leading scholars of physiognomy.

In 1775, he published "Physiognomal Fragments", a very detailed map of the human face, on which he pointed out many different deviant characteristics.

A report done about Lizzie Borden, accused of murdering her parents in 1892, diagnosed her face as deviant, and the physiognomist who prepared the report concluded that Borden was guilty.

Answer: head

In general, the study of phrenology is used to determine any personality characteristics by feeling the bumps and grooves on some one's head. It ties into older theories of biological criminality, because it was thought that deviance was "stored" in certain areas of the brain. Therefore, if more pronounced bumps were felt over those specific areas, the person was deemed to be criminal.

Answer: Either larger or smaller than average

The early beliefs of craniometrists dictated that larger brains were representative of greater brain activity and that people with larger skull measurements were superior, and that those with smaller brains were less competent and therefore more deviant.

After further study and extensive looks at the brain and skull sizes of deceased criminals, the theory was revised to say that skulls that were both too large and too small were indicative of criminal tendencies. The largest female brain ever recorded belonged to a woman who murdered her husband.

Answer: Italian School

The Italian School of Criminology was founded towards the end of the nineteenth century by Lombroso and two of his students, Enrico Ferri and Raffaele Garofalo. The Italian School follows the positivist ideology of natural sciences being applied to the social sciences. Lombroso, Ferri and Garofalo spent their careers studying various indicators of biological criminality, and the social implications that go along with it.

Answer: atavism

Lombroso developed his theory of biological atavism from the broader concept of physiognomy. Atavism also stemmed from Social Darwinism. Lombroso said that while the majority of human beings have evolved, violent criminals devolved, or are still savage and retain animal-like physical features and behaviours. Lombroso applied the term "atavistic stigmata" to the "criminal" characteristics that had been identified in the study of physiognomy as well as other characteristics that he identified himself while studying the corpses of known violent criminals.

These characteristics include: large jaws, sloping foreheads, large chins, large noses, flattened noses, lack of body hair, long arms, and the inability to feel pain.

Answer: All of these.

The Italian School of Criminology did not necessarily believe that biology was the only factor of criminality, but its scholars certainly did emphasize it as the main influence. The Classical School (and later the Chicago School) felt that other factors were at least equally important, if not more so.

Some of these factors included the social need for crime and the environment in which one was raised (for example, children raised in a violent environment were more likely to display violent behaviour themselves).

The Classical viewpoint especially reflected the notion of free will - that is, even if individuals are biologically predisposed towards criminality, the majority of people know that violent crime is wrong and will not allow themselves to engage in it. On the flip side, people are who are not biologically determined to be criminal may still choose to be.

Answer: No

In an attempt to address the criticism of Classical scholars, Lombroso and Ferri acknowledged that not every criminal is born with the physical deviant characteristics. They agreed that there are many social and environmental factors that lead to criminal behaviour, but they maintained that their theory covered just those who are born with the criminal characteristics, and that those individuals would inevitably engage in criminal behaviour.

Answer: imprisonment

Ferri's theory of penology stated that the purpose of punishment for born criminals should not be deterrence or rehabilitation, but rather incapacitation. How could a born criminal be deterred or rehabilitated if it was in their biology to commit crime? Ferri thought that the reasonable punishment for born criminals should be imprisonment for as long as possible, so that the criminal would be kept away from society and would not be a threat.

Interestingly, his theory did not call for the execution of born criminals, even though that would appear to be the most logical way to keep born criminals away from society.

Answer: True

Logic would dictate that since there are fewer female criminals than male criminals in nearly every society on Earth, that females should be considered more "evolved" than men. Instead, Lombroso argued that women were in fact more atavistic than men, but their "natural passivity" neutralized their criminal tendencies. Lombroso also said that females should be treated as "latent criminals" - that is, women were believed to be incapable of holding as many rights and responsibilities of men and were unworthy of full citizenship. Those were his thoughts on "normal" women; women who displayed masculine traits were thought to be criminal. Studies of female prisoners in Sicilian prisons during Lombroso's career found the women to have darker skin, more body hair and larger craniums and features - supposedly masculine qualities.

Answer: Eugenics

While some societies have adopted policies of "positive eugenics" (encouraging people with desirable genes to reproduce), unfortunately most people who have applied the concept of eugenics have gone with the ideas of "negative eugenics" (weeding out "inferior" populations).

In this case of criminality this may not be a bad thing; ridding a society of criminals could be good. However, if we remember some of the ways that criminals were being identified, we can see these were not terribly scientific or exact ways of determining who was deviant, and unfortunately there have been societies who have taken the concept of getting rid of "undesirable populations" to extreme levels, including the sterilization of the mentally ill in Canada in the first half of the twentieth century, and of course the Holocaust in Europe in the 1930s and '40s.

Answer: mesomorph

Mesomorphs are characterized as having hard, rectangular bodies, often more muscled than the other two types, as well as more restless and energetic. Ectomorphs are lean, fragile and nervous, and endomorphs have soft, round bodies and are typically easy-going and sociable. People who are fairly equally represented by all these types are classified as average.

In the 1940s, William Sheldon held a study comparing the body types of young men who had criminal records and were in reform school to those of young men who were attending college.

His conclusions from this study were that the delinquents tended to be more mesomorphic, and that physical inadequacy (as well as racial degeneration) was the basic cause of crime, and he recommended eugenics as the best long-term way to solve the problem of crime. Even more recent studies have shown that incarcerated offenders tend to be more mesomorphic, but these findings are now backed up with social reasons rather than simple biology.

Answer: y

The theory of the "XYY Monster" was popular in the 1960s and '70s. A 1963 study by Patricia Jacobs showed that the percentage of the prison population who had XYY chromosomes was nearly double the percentage of the general male population who have an extra Y chromosome.

It was thought that these men were "supermales" and therefore more likely to be criminal, since hyper-masculine qualities were associated with crime, especially violence and sexual deviance. The XYY "disorder" was even used as a defense in murder trials in the 1970s, in a way similar to the insanity defense, by saying that it was not the individual's fault.

However, as studies continued to be done on the "disorder", it was shown that men without the extra Y chromosome were just as likely to commit crimes as those with one.

Answer: True

This is true, and has to do with the levels of adrenaline in the body and the way the individual's brain assess "dangerous" situations. Just as some people are naturally more nervous than others, some people's senses are not aroused by stimuli that may excite (either in a good way or a bad way) "normal" people.

The people who are biologically less aroused by everyday factors can be more prone to seek out thrilling events or activities. This is referred to as innate risk-seeking. While most people who look for adventure turn to things like roller coasters or skydiving or similar things, there are some who seem to prefer the thrill of drug use, stealing or even murder.

Answer: a loaded gun

As is the case with most human behaviours that have classically been a nature versus nurture debate, criminality is now thought to be caused by a combination of biological and social influences. While it is still true that someone who seems biologically more inclined towards crime may never become criminal, and someone who is not more biologically inclined may still become criminal, sociologists and psychologists now believe that the majority of criminals are somewhat predisposed towards deviance, and that their environment reinforces this predisposition.

The biological factors are the bullets in the gun, there to be used if and when the time is right, and the social factors pull the trigger.