Born to Crime: Cesare Lombroso and the Origins of Biological Criminology (Italian & Italian American Studies) Book

Despite the popular perception that genetic explanations of the causes of crime are new, biological determinism is an idea that dates back to the birth of criminology. This is largely due to the efforts of Cesare Lombroso, widely regarded as the father of modern criminology. His 1876 work, Criminal Man, drew on Darwin to propose that most lawbreakers were throwbacks to a more primitive level of human evolution--identifiable by their physical traits, such as small heads, flat noses, large ears, and the like. These "born criminals" could not escape their biological destiny. The "scientific" appeal of these theories of what Lombroso called criminal anthropology had a powerful and long-lasting influence in contemporary Italy, Europe, and the Western world as a whole, and even today the stereotypes they created resonate in popular culture. Lombroso's influential ideas are explored in this provocative new book.Read More