Criminology: The Effect that Biology Has on Crime

‘Every society has made pottery, but that does not mean we have a pottery making gene’ Kohn.A. (1988)

The same could also be said about crime; are we born criminals? or is it something that we learn?

The effect that biology has on crime has been debated over the decades in continuing debates over nature vs nurture. I have based this essay mainly on Cesare Lombroso, who was the first to introduce the theory that biology may influence our behaviours. Firstly, I have investigated how he became known as ‘The Father of Criminology, and how from his legacy we are still seeing advancements today. Due to the long history, large amounts of evidence gathered and the various theories throughout history, I have chosen to only focus on Lombroso to limit my field of research.

There are arguments dating back to 1870 when Cesare Lombroso an Italian forensic physician and prison doctor devised his theory of ‘The Criminal Man’. First published in 1876, and which went through five revised editions in his lifetime. Lombroso took an interest in the field of criminals and determining their personalities and behavioural patterns. Essentially, Lombroso combined his ideas with Darwin’s theory of evolution to indicate that offenders were more primitive and therefore not completely responsible for their criminal actions. For this reason, he is frequently considered the ‘Father of Criminology’ and Founder of Criminal Anthropology. This biological determinism is conflicting to the theory of the classical school of criminology who believe every human has rational freedom of choice and action.

Lombroso’s core beliefs were that some people were born to be criminals and that there were certain features that would determine this individual as a criminal. These features were identified by nose size, wrinkles, sloping forehead and large ear lobes to name just a few. These attributes were referred to as Atavisms. Lombroso believed that evolution from an earlier stage of humans had given the criminals these physical traits. He introduced the idea that criminality was not a matter of sin or free will but could instead be a medical problem that needed to be examined by experts in that field. He was not a believer in free will and was much more interested in factors outside of a person’s free will, that influence behaviour. He studied the cadavers of people who had committed crimes and conducted experiments amongst individuals in prisons to see any correlations. In his later years, he eventually thought that social and environmental factors can contribute to criminality. Lombroso on occasion did take other factors that may be linked to criminal behaviour into consideration, influences such as poverty, climate, educational chances alcohol, and gangs. He also was among the first to study female criminality, speculating that females were more likely to be criminals by passion. Although we now view Lombroso as a controversial historical figure and his findings as slightly barbaric, in his day he gathered a huge following. Today we are still able to find roots in his work, there is the idea that there may be physical characteristics that can contribute to criminal behaviour. These are still studied and remain active in criminology today. The suggestion that genes and brain structure are related to criminal behaviour has seen an increase in interest in the past few decades. Today, neuro-criminology draws on some of Lombroso’s theories to explore the causes of criminal behaviour, examining whether brain injuries or abnormalities can lead to criminality or if violence is caused by a disorder.

Recent studies have found that there may be a genetic origin for violent crime, and that personality traits including criminality can be deduced from facial features.

His ideas have obviously attracted a lot of criticism during and after his life. Many believe that he did not conduct his findings correctly or critically, since he did not use control groups, although he was able to find physical trends amongst his extensive group of offenders, he was not comparing them to a group of ‘normal’ controls. The control groups that Lombroso used for verification were mainly soldiers and inmates, although these were insufficient, given that there were criminals among the soldiers, but also wrongly convicted persons among the prison inmates. Charles Goring disputed this and undertook his own experiments proving, that criminals do not show significant differences in physical characteristics from non-criminals.

Although scholars are reluctant to associate criminal behaviour with any specific gene, due to the emergence of eugenics and ‘breeding out the bad,’ researchers continue to investigate the inheritability of behavioural traits. Some of the most promising work involves the study of twins and adoptees. How do biological siblings act if they are brought up in different households, and the same with a child who is adopted by a different family, the findings were designed to find out if they acted any different to their biological ancestors. 'By studying twins, you can learn a great deal about what makes us tick, what makes us different, and particularly the roles of nature versus nature that you just can't get any other way.”

Biological theories have changed a great deal with advances in the theoretical understanding of human behaviour, our technology has improved substantially allowing us to investigate further, enabling us to measure human characteristics. Earlier attempts were mainly focused on the observable features, now we can investigate the actual composition of a body. Studying biological theories has led to further advancement in the studying of how sociological and environmental events also correspond to our behaviours around crime. Ultimately the goal would be to reach a point where we are able to determine that criminal acts have biological roots. Being able to predict behaviour would therefore help us to better control it.

Biological influences on crime have also started to make their way into court proceedings, with evidence of a person’s biology frequently used as a mitigating factor, although it is still a new practice and the theory involved has yet to be fully understood. 

Conclusion

Although the atrocities of the past are based on bad science and inhumane ethics, it is worth noting that Lombroso has had a huge impact on the modern criminological and biological theory of crime. Criminology as with all sciences is continually being researched and studied to find the most up-to-date and true hypothesis. Criminology becoming a science was the ultimate contribution to the field of criminology by Cesare Lombroso. There is a whole museum dedicated to Lombroso and his work in Italy

There is no gene as we know that can predict a person’s behaviour. ‘If there is a link between genetics and criminal behaviour it is perhaps that some aspects of personality have a genetic component. Therefore, what is inherited is not a tendency to commit criminal acts as such, but rather a predisposition to developing certain aspects of personality, some of which may be linked to a criminal behaviour’. 

As absurd as it seems, it is still a regular occurrence for people to judge others on how they look, where they come from and their genetic background. We already know that there are varying biological factors in a person that can alter the way that they act, such as puberty, pregnancy, menstruation, levels of testosterone, some inherited conditions, and other mental-related conditions such as ADHD. We like to think of others as criminals, as being very different from us, but if you take a look at some of the things you have done in the past, can you say you have never committed a crime? Have you driven over the speed limit? Had a drink under the age of 18 or even pocketed that extra bit of change that the cashier gave you by mistake? Do you think your biology has contributed to you doing these crimes? Or was it simply free will? The fact is that you have probably had lunch with a criminal, are related to a criminal or will find one when you look in the mirror. Since we are all made from different DNA, I find it hard to believe that we are born criminals, and as much as Lombrosian ways are now completely outdated, he has managed to continue to be tremendously influential in the progression of biology and its links into how a person acts. This is all evident through the biomedical progress that is being made every day.