On this day, Nov. 6, in 1835, Cesare Lombroso, regarded by some as the father of criminology, was born in Verona, Italy. Lombroso, a physician, former director of a mental asylum and a professor of forensic medicine, devised a now-outmoded theory that criminality is determined by physical characteristics.
Lombroso rejected the classical theory of the time that crime was a trait of human nature, he believed criminal behavior was largely hereditary. “Born criminals” could be determined by physical defects like the length of arms, asymmetry of the skull or overlarge ears, he said.
Lombroso’s theories were influential in Europe, but not in the United States, where sociological studies of crime prevailed.
Although his views are largely discredited today, Lombroso’s research methods were clinical and descriptive. His work helped bring science into the study of criminals.
–Scott McCabe
