Lombroso Cesare: biography, achievements in psychiatry. Anthropological theory of Lombroso

Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909) - outstanding Italian psychiatrist, criminologist and criminologist. Born on November 6, 1835 in Verona, then ruled by Austria. In 1858 he received academic degree Doctor of Medical Sciences at the University of Pavia. In 1859-1865 participated as a military doctor in the Italian War of Independence. In 1867 he was appointed professor at the mental health clinic in Pavia, in 1871 he was appointed head of the neurological institution in Pesaro, and in 1876 he was appointed professor of forensic medicine at the University of Turin.
Psychiatrists consider C. Lombroso the forerunner of several scientific schools, in particular the morphological theory of temperament. His book Genius and Madness is a classic of psychiatry. Criminologists see C. Lombroso as one of the creators of the theory of forensic identification. None other than Lombroso, in his book “Criminal Man,” outlined the first experience practical application psychophysiological method of “lie detection” (using a device - a prototype of a polygraph) to identify persons who have committed crimes.
In criminology, C. Lombroso is known for being the founder of the anthropological school. In his work “The Criminal Man” (1876), he hypothesized that a criminal can be identified by external physical signs, reduced sensitivity of the senses and pain sensitivity. Lombroso wrote: “Both epileptics and criminals are characterized by a desire for vagrancy, shamelessness, laziness, boasting of a crime, graphomania, slang, tattoos, pretense, weak character, momentary irritability, delusions of grandeur, rapid changes of mood and feelings, cowardice, a tendency to contradictions, exaggeration, morbid irritability, bad temper, whimsicality. And I myself observed that during a thunderstorm, when epileptics have more frequent seizures, prisoners in prison also become more dangerous: they tear their clothes, break furniture, and beat servants.” Thus, the criminal is in special pathological conditions, determined in most cases by different processes or different special conditions. Impressed by his discovery, C. Lombroso began to study the anthropological characteristics of a large array of criminals. Lombroso studied 26,886 criminals; his control group was 25,447 good citizens. Based on the results obtained, C. Lombroso found out that a criminal is a unique anthropological type who commits crimes due to certain properties and characteristics of his physical build. “The criminal,” wrote Lombroso, “is a special creature, different from other people. This is a unique anthropological type that is driven to crime due to the multiple properties and characteristics of its organization. Therefore, crime is as natural in human society as in everything else. organic world. Plants that kill and eat insects also commit crimes. Animals deceive, steal, rob and rob, kill and devour each other. Some animals are characterized by bloodthirstiness, others by covetousness.”
Lombroso's main idea is that the criminal is a special natural type, more sick than guilty. Criminals are not made, but born. This is a kind of two-legged predator, which, like a tiger, makes no sense in reproaching it for bloodthirstiness. Criminals are characterized by special anatomical, physiological and psychological properties that make them, as it were, fatally doomed from birth to commit a crime. To anatomo-physiol. signs of the so-called " born criminal" Lombroso includes: irregular, ugly shape of the skull, bifurcation of the frontal bone, slight jagged edges of the cranial bones, facial asymmetry, irregular structure of the brain, dull susceptibility to pain and others.
The criminal is also characterized by such pathological personality traits as: highly developed vanity, cynicism, lack of a sense of guilt, the ability to repent and remorse, aggressiveness, vindictiveness, a tendency to cruelty and violence, to exaltation and demonstrative forms of behavior, a tendency to highlight the characteristics of a special community (tattoos, speech slang, etc.)
Innate crime was first explained by atavism: the criminal was understood as a savage who could not adapt to the rules and norms of a civilized community. Later it was understood as a form of “moral insanity” and then as a form of epilepsy.
In addition, Lombroso creates a special typology - each type of criminal corresponds only to its characteristic features.
The killers. In the type of killer, the anatomical features of the criminal are clearly visible, in particular, a very sharp frontal sinus, very voluminous cheekbones, huge eye orbits, and a protruding quadrangular chin. These most dangerous criminals have a predominant curvature of the head, the width of the head is greater than its height, the face is narrow (the back semicircle of the head is more developed than the front), most often their hair is black, curly, the beard is sparse, there is often a goiter and short hands. TO characteristic features killers also include a cold and motionless (glassy) gaze, bloodshot eyes, a downturned (eagle) nose, excessively large or, on the contrary, too small earlobes, thin lips.
The thieves. Thieves have long heads, black hair and a sparse beard, mental development higher than that of other criminals, with the exception of fraudsters. Thieves predominantly have a straight nose, often concave, upturned at the base, short, wide, flattened and in many cases deflected to the side. Eyes and hands are mobile (the thief avoids meeting the interlocutor with direct gaze - shifting eyes).
Rapists. Rapists have bulging eyes, a tender face, huge lips and eyelashes, flattened noses, moderately sized, tilted to the side, most of them are lean and rickety blonde.
Scammers. Fraudsters often have a good-natured appearance, their face is pale, their eyes are small and stern, their nose is crooked, and their head is bald. Lombroso was able to identify the features of handwriting various types criminals. The handwriting of murderers, robbers and robbers is distinguished by elongated letters, curvilinearity and definite features at the end of letters. Thieves' handwriting is characterized by extended letters, without sharp outlines or curvilinear endings.
The atomic doctrine of C. Lombroso had great importance in the search for ways and means of diagnosing the personality of a criminal, the development of psychology and pathopsychology of a criminogenic personality, in the formation of the foundations of criminology and forensic psychology, in the search for appropriate measures to influence the personality of a criminal. Many of the results of Lombroso’s empirical research have not lost their relevance (experimental data on the genetics of behavior at the end of the 20th century demonstrated that genetic factors really are the cause of some types of aggressive, incl. criminal behavior). And, most importantly, they are not reduced to primitive schemes for the biological explanation of criminal behavior. C. Lombroso's conclusions are always multivariate and imbued with a constant desire to identify the real mutual influence of biological and social factors on each other in antisocial behavior.

November 6, 1835 was born in Italy Cesare Lombroso – famous psychiatrist and forefather of the anthropological trend in criminology and criminal law. The main idea of this direction was to prove the existence of born criminals.

“Study the personality of the criminal...Then you will understand that crime is not a random phenomenon, but a completely natural act.” - Cesare Lombroso

Lombroso argued that criminals are not made, but rather born. The psychiatrist was convinced that there was a special connection between a person’s physique and his character. And in order to understand this connection, which will help expose the criminal, he only needs a caliper and a ruler. These devices are needed in order to take measurements of certain parts of the human body and, after analyzing the measurements obtained, to reveal all the secrets that physiology hides.

One of the most significant works for medicine was the study of glycolysis process .

In order to declare his theory of identifying criminals, the doctor had to study thousands of thieves and murderers. When it was impossible to study living criminals, Lombroso studied their skulls. He was searching for objective morphological criteria. The collection of criminals he collected became a terrifying reality for many.

Lombroso identified four types of criminals: murderer, thief, rapist and swindler. And for each type he made a description of appearance.

Appearance of a typical rapist

Large bulging eyes, plump lips, long eyelashes, a flattened and crooked nose. Most often they are lean and rickety blonde, sometimes hunchbacked.

Appearance of a typical thief

An irregular small skull, an elongated head, a straight nose (often turned up at the base), a running or, conversely, tenacious gaze, black hair and a sparse beard.

Appearance of a typical killer

Large skull, short head (width greater than height), sharp frontal sinus, voluminous cheekbones, long nose (sometimes curved down), square jaws, huge eye orbits, protruding quadrangular chin, fixed glassy gaze, thin lips, well-developed fangs. The most dangerous killers most often have black, curly hair, a sparse beard, short hands, and excessively large or, on the contrary, too small earlobes.

Appearance of a typical scammer

The face is pale, the eyes are small and stern, the nose is crooked, the head is bald. In general, the appearance of scammers is quite good-natured.

This theory does not exactly apply to women, because it is not physiological deformity that allows identifying criminals among women, as in men, but psychological deformity, which includes:

Tendency to antisocial behavior.
Lack of maternal feelings.
“Promiscuous” sex life, etc.

It is worth noting that thanks to Cesare Lombroso also appeared the first “prototype” of a lie detector. The basis for detecting lies was measuring a person's blood pressure while he was answering questions. Pressure surges indicated false answers.

For many people, the portrait of a potential maniac and brutal killer is very stereotypical. And it was formed, as a rule, not without the influence of cinema. Crime films and thrillers, largely thanks to the brilliant acting of the actors, already in childhood plant this very external stereotype in our subconscious

"Gentlemen of Fortune" Associate Professor (E. Leonov)

"Heart of a Dog" Polygraph Polgirafovich Sharikov (V. Tolokonnikov)

Or maybe the emergence of these stereotypes is more scientifically explained by the so-called well-known to many. Cesare Lombroso's theory?

In the nineteenth century, this psychiatrist raised the ears of the entire European society. He insisted that maniacs are already born. A child is born, and he is already a future bandit, because he has the genes of a bandit.

According to Lombroso, even very high-quality education will not correct what nature has laid in the child. He will definitely be a bandit if he has these same genes. The psychiatrist considered such people to be underdeveloped and suggested identifying them in childhood and immediately isolating them from society normal people. How?!

Or everyone is not separate desert island, or even deprive such people of their lives. Absurd?! Lombroso did not think so. He assured that by his appearance, and a person with villain genes has a special appearance, he can easily identify a bandit. What should a bandit look like according to psychiatrist Lombroso?! A narrow forehead, a look from under furrowed eyebrows - all this betrays the criminal.

(Lyonka Panteleev)

Why was Lobroso so fascinated by the topic of the criminal’s appearance?! To answer this question, let us turn to the youth of the future psychiatrist. Lombroso graduated from several prestigious European universities.

And at the age of nineteen he began to publish his first articles. A little later, Lombroso moved from writing scientific articles to practice: he began working as a military surgeon and was a participant in an anti-crime campaign.

It was then that he became interested in what the criminal looked like. He invented the craniograph device and used it to measure the shape of the skull and parts of the face. At the same time, he identified four types of criminals: swindlers, murderers, rapists and thieves. And for each type he made a description of appearance.

Lomroso then worked as the head of a psychiatric hospital, head of the department of psychiatry famous university. It was Lombroso who invented the now world-famous lie detector. It was he who suggested judging how truthfully a person answers by pressure surges.

Lombrose caused a wild stir around his theory about the appearance of the criminal, about his genes. There was a lot of criticism and people disagreed with him. Critics said that the psychiatrist pays too much attention to a person’s appearance and does not take into account the social component at all. True, in his old age he made some amendments to his theory and said that, after all, only forty percent of criminals are completely incorrigible, and sixty percent are amenable to re-education.

The methods of the Jew Lombroso - in particular, measurements of the human skull - were adopted by the Nazis, who tried to adapt the postulates of their criminal theory of racial exclusivity to a scientific basis. And although Lombroso himself died long before this, still this fact formed a noticeable stain on his theory.

Lombroso Cesare(Cesare Lombroso) (1835 - 1909) - famous Italian forensic psychiatrist and criminologist. He created a new criminal anthropological direction in the science of criminal law. Contributed huge contribution in the development of legal psychology.

Cesare Lombroso was born on November 6, 1835 in Verona, into a wealthy Jewish family. Coming from a family of wealthy landowners, Lombroso studied Semitic and Chinese languages. However, a quiet career did not work out. Material deprivation, imprisonment in a fortress on suspicion of conspiracy, participation in hostilities in 1859-1860. awakened in the young man an interest in a completely different area - he became interested in psychiatry. At the age of 19, while studying Faculty of Medicine University of Pavia, Lombroso publishes his first articles on psychiatry - on the problem of cretinism, which attracted the attention of specialists. Independently mastered such disciplines as ethnolinguistics and social hygiene. In 1862, he was already a professor of mental illness, then director of the clinic for mental illness, professor of legal psychiatry and criminal anthropology. In 1896, Lombroso received the chair of psychiatry at the University of Turin. The decisive role in the intellectual formation of Lombroso was played by the philosophy of positivism, which asserted the priority scientific knowledge, obtained experimentally.

Lombroso is the founder of the anthropological trend in criminology and criminal law. The main features of this direction boil down to the following: the method of natural science - experience and observation - should be introduced into criminology, and the personality of the criminal should become the center of study.

He undertook his first anthropometric studies in the early 1860s, when he was a military doctor and took part in a campaign to combat banditry in southern regions Italy. The extensive statistical material collected by Lombroso served as an important contribution to the development of social hygiene, criminal anthropology, and, in the near future, the sociology of crime. As a result of generalizing the obtained empirical data, Lombroso concluded that the backward socio-economic conditions of life in Southern Italy determined the reproduction there of anatomically and mentally abnormal type of people, an anthropological variety that finds its expression in a criminal personality - a “criminal man.” Such an anomaly was identified through anthropometric and psychiatric examination, which opened up opportunities for predictive assessments of the dynamics of crime development. These conceptual approaches Lombroso raised the problem of the responsibility of society, which reproduced crime, thereby challenging the positions of official criminology, which placed responsibility solely on the person who broke the law.

Cesare Lombroso was one of the first to undertake a systematic study of criminals, relying on strictly recorded anthropometric data, which he determined using a “craniograph” - a device for measuring the size of parts of the face and head. He published the results in the book “Anthropometry of 400 Offenders” (1872).

He belongs to the theory of the so-called “born criminal,” according to which criminals are not made, but rather born. Lombroso declared crime to be a natural phenomenon, like birth or death. Comparing anthropometric data of criminals with careful comparative studies of their pathological anatomy, physiology and psychology, Lombroso put forward the thesis about the criminal as a special anthropological type, which he then developed into a complete theory (“Criminal Man”, 1876). He came to the conclusion that the criminal is a degenerate who has lagged behind the development of humanity in his development. He cannot inhibit his criminal behavior, so the best strategy for society in dealing with such a “born criminal” is to get rid of him by depriving him of his freedom or life.

According to Lombroso, the “criminal type” is distinguished by a number of innate features of an atavistic nature, indicating a developmental delay and criminal inclinations. The scientist developed a system of physical signs (“stigmata”) and mental traits of this type, which, in his opinion, characterize a person endowed with criminal tendencies from birth. The scientist considered the main signs of such a personality to be a flattened nose, a low forehead, large jaws, a sullen gaze, etc., characteristic, in his opinion, of “primitive man and animals.” The presence of these signs makes it possible to identify a potential criminal before he commits a crime. In view of this, Lombroso advocated the inclusion of doctors, anthropologists and sociologists as judges and demanded that the question of guilt be replaced by the question of social harmfulness.

Now such measurements are carried out in most countries of the world, and not only for the army and special services: knowledge of anthropometry is necessary, for example, for studying labor markets and designing purely civilian objects and things.

As for the “look from under his brows,” Cesare Lombroso was mistaken in considering it to be characteristic mainly of criminals and degenerates. In fact, this is one of the most ancient and simple facial reactions, equally accessible to many people in the appropriate environment.

The main drawback of Lombroso's theory was that it ignored the social factors of crime.

The rapid and widespread dissemination of Lombroso's theory and especially the extreme conclusions that were often drawn from it aroused sharp and demonstrative criticism. Lombroso had to soften his position. In later works, he classifies only 40% of criminals as innate anthropological types, whom he calls “savages living in a civilized society.” Lombroso admits important role non-hereditary - psychopathological and sociological causes of crime. This gave grounds to call Lombroso's theory biosociological.

IN late XIX V. At international congresses on criminal anthropology, the theory of anthropological crime was generally recognized as erroneous. Lombroso's opponents were based on the fact that crime is a conditional legal concept that changes its content depending on conditions, place and time.

Despite this, Lombroso's ideas laid the foundation for various biosocial theories in criminology, which have partially found application in criminological practice. They influenced the creation of the morphological theory of temperament by E. Kretschmer.

Lombroso also owns the work “Genius and Madness” (1895). In it, the scientist put forward the thesis that genius corresponds to abnormal brain activity bordering on epileptoid psychosis. The author wrote that the similarity between brilliant people and crazy people in physiological terms is simply amazing. They react equally to atmospheric phenomena, and race and heredity have the same effect on their birth. Many geniuses suffered from insanity: Ampère, Comte, Schumann, Tasso, Cardano, Swift, Newton, Rousseau, Schopenhauer, whole line artists and painters. On the other hand, among crazy people one can give many examples of geniuses, poets, humorists, etc. In the appendix to his book, Lombroso gave examples literary works crazy people, graphomaniacs, criminals, and also described skull anomalies in great people.

The most valuable part of Lombroso's scientific heritage consists of studies on the sociology of political crime - Political crime and revolution (Il delitto politico e le rivoluzioni, 1890), Anarchists. Criminal-psychological and sociological essay (Gli anarchici. Studio di psicologia e sociologia criminale, 1895). The phenomenon of political crime, widespread in Italy in turn of the 19th century and 20th centuries in the form of anarchist terrorism, Lombroso explored from the point of view of the individual consciousness of a political criminal - an individual sacrificially devoted to the utopian ideal of social justice. Lombroso convincingly explained the nature of this social behavior, driven by ideas of political vandalism, by the crisis of parliamentary democracy in Italy, the corruption of politicians, and the devaluation of the ideals of social justice.

Other famous works of Lombroso were books about love among the mentally ill (“Love among the Insane”) and about crime among women (“The Female Criminal and the Prostitute”).

Cesare Lombroso was the first in the world to use the achievements of physiology to detect deception. In the 1980s, he began measuring the pulse and blood pressure of suspects while they were being questioned by investigators. He claimed that he could easily tell when suspects were lying. The results of his research indicated that monitoring a person’s physiological reactions can lead not only to the identification of information he is hiding, but also, no less important, help establish the innocence of the suspect.

In 1895, Lombroso first published the results of the use of primitive laboratory instruments in the interrogation of criminals. In one of the cases he described, a criminologist, examining a person suspected of murder with the help of a “plethysmograph,” recorded minor changes in his pulse when he was doing mental mathematical calculations, and found “no sudden changes” in him when the suspect was presented with images of injured children, including a photograph of a murdered girl. Lombroso concluded that the suspect was not involved in the murder, and the results of the investigation convincingly proved the criminologist right. The described case was, apparently, the first example of the use of a “lie detector” recorded in the literature, which resulted in an acquittal. This meant that monitoring a person’s physiological reactions could lead not only to revealing the information he was hiding, but - just as important - to help establish the innocence of the suspect.

Lombroso's criminological ideas gained wide popularity in Russia. They are represented by numerous both lifetime and posthumous Russian editions of his scientific works. In 1897, Lombroso, who participated in the congress of Russian doctors, received an enthusiastic reception in Russia. In his memoirs dedicated to the Russian episode of his biography, Lombroso reflected a sharply negative vision of the social structure of Russia, typical of contemporary Italian leftists, which he severely condemned for police brutality (“suppression of thought, conscience and personal character”) and authoritarian methods of exercising power.

IN Soviet period The term “Lombrosianism” was widely used to designate the anthropological school of criminal law - one of the directions in the bourgeois theory of law (according to the criteria of the class approach). Lombroso's doctrine of the born criminal was particularly criticized. According to Soviet lawyers, it contradicted the principle of legality in the fight against crime and had an anti-people and reactionary orientation, since it condemned the revolutionary actions of the exploited masses. With such a deliberately biased, ideological approach, Lombroso’s merits in studying the root causes of extremist, protest forms of social struggle, which were expressed in political terrorism, and, more generally, in political crime, were ignored.

Despite fair criticism and the fallacy of some provisions of his theory, Cesare Lombroso is an outstanding scientist who became one of the pioneers of introducing objective methods into legal science. His works played an important role in the development of criminology and legal psychology.

Main works in the field of legal psychology (in Russian):

Anarchists. Criminal-psychological and sociological essay, 1895;

Female Criminal and Prostitute, 1902;

Political crime and revolution in relation to law, criminal anthropology and state science, 1906;

Crime. The latest advances in the science of the criminal, 1892;

Criminal Man, Studied on the Basis of Anthropology, Forensic Science, and Prison Science, 1876;

Psychology of evidence in trial, 1905.

“Suddenly, one dark December morning, I discovered on the convict’s skull a whole series of abnormalities... similar to those found in lower vertebrates. At the sight of these strange abnormalities - as if a clear light illuminated the dark plain to the very horizon - I realized that the problem of the essence and origin of the criminals had been solved for me.

Cesare
Lombroso

Lombroso Cesare(Cesare Lombroso) (1835 - 1909) - famous Italian forensic psychiatrist and criminologist. He created a new criminal anthropological direction in the science of criminal law. He made a great contribution to the development of legal psychology.

Cesare Lombroso was born on November 6, 1835 in Verona. Coming from a family of wealthy landowners, Lombroso studied Semitic and Chinese languages in his youth.

However, a quiet career did not work out. Material deprivation, imprisonment in a fortress on suspicion of conspiracy, participation in hostilities in 1859-1860. awakened in the young man an interest in a completely different area - he became interested in psychiatry. At the age of 19, while studying at the medical faculty of the University of Pavia, Lombroso published his first articles on psychiatry - on the problem of cretinism, which attracted the attention of specialists.

He undertook his first anthropometric studies in the early 1860s, when he was a military doctor and took part in a campaign to combat banditry in the southern regions of Italy. The extensive statistical material collected by Lombroso served as an important contribution to the development of social hygiene, criminal anthropology, and, in the near future, the sociology of crime. As a result of generalizing the obtained empirical data, Lombroso concluded that the backward socio-economic conditions of life in Southern Italy led to the reproduction there of an anatomically and mentally abnormal type of people, an anthropological variety, which found its expression in a criminal personality - a “criminal man.”

Such an anomaly was identified through anthropometric and psychiatric examination, which opened up opportunities for predictive assessments of the dynamics of crime development. These conceptual approaches of Lombroso posed the problem of the responsibility of society, which reproduced crime, thereby challenging the positions of official criminology, which placed responsibility solely on the person who broke the law.

The presence of these signs makes it possible to identify a potential criminal before he commits a crime. In view of this, Lombroso advocated the inclusion of doctors, anthropologists and sociologists as judges and demanded that the question of guilt be replaced by the question of social harmfulness.

As for the “look from under his brows,” Cesare Lombroso was mistaken in considering it to be characteristic mainly of criminals and degenerates.

In fact, this is one of the most ancient and simple facial reactions, equally accessible to many people in the appropriate environment.

The main drawback of Lombroso's theory was that it ignored the social factors of crime.

Despite this, Lombroso's ideas laid the foundation for various biosocial theories in criminology, which have partially found application in criminological practice. They influenced the creation of E. Kretschmer’s morphological theory of temperament.

Lombroso also owns the work “Genius and Madness” (1895). In it, the scientist put forward the thesis that genius corresponds to abnormal brain activity bordering on epileptoid psychosis.

The author wrote that the similarity between brilliant people and crazy people in physiological terms is simply amazing. They react equally to atmospheric phenomena, and race and heredity have the same effect on their birth. Many geniuses suffered from insanity: Ampère, Comte, Schumann, Tasso, Cardano, Swift, Newton, Rousseau, Schopenhauer, a whole number of artists and painters. On the other hand, among madmen one can cite many examples of geniuses, poets, humorists, etc. In the appendix to his book, Lombroso gave examples of literary works by madmen, graphomaniacs, criminals, and also described skull anomalies in great people.

Lombroso concluded that the suspect was not involved in the murder, and the results of the investigation convincingly proved the criminologist right. The described case was, apparently, the first example of the use of a “lie detector” recorded in the literature, which resulted in an acquittal. This meant that monitoring a person’s physiological reactions could lead not only to the identification of information he was hiding, but - just as important - to help establish the innocence of the suspect.

During the Soviet period, the term “Lombrosianism” was widely used to designate the anthropological school of criminal law - one of the directions in the bourgeois theory of law (according to the criteria of the class approach).

Lombroso's doctrine of the born criminal was particularly criticized.

According to Soviet lawyers, it contradicted the principle of legality in the fight against crime and had an anti-people and reactionary orientation, since it condemned the revolutionary actions of the exploited masses. With such a deliberately biased, ideological approach, Lombroso’s merits in studying the root causes of extremist, protest forms of social struggle, which were expressed in political terrorism, and, more generally, in political crime, were ignored.

Main works in the field of legal psychology (in Russian):

Anarchists.

Criminal-psychological and sociological essay, 1895;

Female Criminal and Prostitute, 1902;

Political crime and revolution in relation to law, criminal anthropology and state science, 1906;

Crime. The latest advances in the science of the criminal, 1892;

Criminal Man, Studied on the Basis of Anthropology, Forensic Science, and Prison Science, 1876;

Psychology of evidence in legal proceedings, 1905.

But external manifestations of criminal tendencies were far from the only area of interest for the scientist.

The next time the device was used was during the investigation of a rape case. The police were confident of the guilt of the pimp they caught, who had been involved in crimes more than once. criminal liability. However, the suspect's blood pressure was normal when he was shown photographs of the victim.

When Lombroso drew the investigator’s attention to this, he simply waved it off - in his opinion, the seasoned repeat offender had long ceased to experience pangs of conscience and was not afraid of anything, not even severe punishment. Then Cesare Lombroso decided to conduct an additional experiment and asked the alleged criminal a mathematical problem. As soon as the test subject saw a long column of numbers that had to be added up in his mind, the device immediately showed a decrease in pressure and an increase in heart rate. This means that the detainee is familiar with the feeling of fear! Lombroso insisted on an additional investigation, and soon the real culprit was found, and the “lover” of mathematics had nothing to do with it.

Defective people

Cesare Lombroso was born in 1836 into the family of a wealthy merchant in Verona. After graduating from high school, Cesare began studying anthropology at the University of Pavia, and subsequently became interested in psychiatry and neurophysiology.

Portrait of Cesare Lombroso, 1891. Photo: wikipedia.org / Photo by V. Chekhovsky, engraving by B.A. Putsa

The teachers doted on capable student. Cesare not only mastered the program brilliantly, but also worked extra hard. For example, in order to better understand the characteristics of people belonging to different races, he began studying foreign languages, including Chinese and Aramaic.

However, the years of studying at the university were not at all cloudless. At the age of 18, Cesare Lombroso found himself behind bars! The young man was suspected of participating in an anti-government conspiracy - at that time revolutionary sentiments were in full swing in the north of Italy, because this part of the country was under the control of Austria-Hungary. Lombroso was released from prison quite quickly - he even managed to pass all his exams on time. However, being in the cell made a huge impression on the student: the criminals he had the chance to see literally amazed him with their faces and manners. Most of them were so rude and uncouth that Cesare suspected them of cretinism.

Interesting

In addition to anthropology and psychiatry, Cesare Lombroso was interested in graphology - the study of human handwriting. When Lombroso was shown Leo Tolstoy's manuscript, the psychiatrist said that the handwriting belonged to... a woman with hysterical tendencies.

Upon his release, the gifted student became interested in whether criminal tendencies were a sign of some kind of inferiority? And if this is so, then how does this inferiority manifest itself in appearance? After graduating from university, Lombroso decided to continue his studies in science, and he chose cretinism as the topic of his research.

Heavy inheritance

When Lombroso was 27 years old, he ended up in the army. The young scientist simply could not stand aside when the country defended its independence from Austria. And after the revolution ended with the defeat of the rebels, the scientist continued to serve in the army, but as a military doctor in a military unit that was engaged in the fight against banditry in southern Italy.

It was at that time that Lombroso began to seriously seek confirmation of his theory that crime was based on biological causes.

Armed with a caniograph - a device created by Lombroso specifically for measuring faces - the scientist enthusiastically measured the noses, foreheads, brow ridges and other parts of the face of the captured bandits. After the records were systematized, Lombroso came to a sensational conclusion. According to his hypothesis, criminals are not made, but born! After all, criminal tendencies, according to Lombroso, are nothing more than an “inheritance” inherited from animals! And the murderers and rapists themselves can be considered either underdeveloped or degenerates. The reason for this conclusion was that most of those examined by Lombroso, to one degree or another, had facial features such as a flat nose, low forehead, close-set eyes, that is, signs inherent in primitive man.

Scandalous views

When the revolution in Italy was over and its consequences eliminated, Lombroso continued his study of criminal types and characteristic external features prison inmates. Until his death in 1909, the scientist served as professor of psychiatry and criminal anthropology at the University of Turin. Despite the fact that Lombroso's work caused a storm of criticism, he continued to be respected in the scientific community.

And there was something to criticize for. After all, if you follow Lombroso’s theory, the future criminal must be identified and imprisoned in childhood, since his biological type will still force him to do something illegal. But what about education? What about social factors?

Lombroso's other works were also criticized. His book “Genius and Madness,” in which the scientist found signs of mental illness in great musicians, poets, and artists, gave rise to a wave of indignation. How can you declare great people crazy, and even remain unpunished, just because all the characters in the book died long ago!

However, despite the fact that Lombroso’s theories were, to put it mildly, controversial, his developments are still used today. And the polygraph is not the only one of them. The method of recording human anthropological data created by Lombroso, his division of criminals into psychological types, his works on the study and systematization of tattoos - all this is not outdated to this day.