Cesare Lombroso and the Theory of the Born Criminal

Cesare Lombroso, a 19th-century Italian physician, psychiatrist, and professor of forensic medicine, is often called the founder of criminal anthropology. This field seeks to explain the connection between a person’s anatomical and physiological features and their tendency to commit crimes. Lombroso concluded that such a connection exists and is direct: people with certain appearances and character traits are more likely to commit crimes.

According to Lombroso, criminals typically have innate physical and psychological defects. He believed these were anomalies in both internal and external anatomy, similar to those found in primitive humans and apes. In other words, people are born criminals, not made into them. Whether a person becomes a criminal depends solely on their inborn predisposition, and each type of crime is associated with its own set of anomalies.

Lombroso dedicated his entire life to developing this theory. He studied 383 skulls of deceased criminals and 3,839 skulls of living criminals. Additionally, he examined the physical characteristics (such as pulse, temperature, bodily sensitivity, intelligence, habits, illnesses, and handwriting) of 26,886 criminals and 25,447 law-abiding citizens.

Physical Appearance of Criminals

Lombroso identified a number of physical traits (“stigmata”) that, in his view, characterized people born with criminal tendencies. These included an irregularly shaped skull, a narrow and sloping forehead (or a split frontal bone), facial and eye socket asymmetry, and overly developed jaws. Red-haired criminals were said to be extremely rare. Most crimes, according to Lombroso, were committed by brunettes and brown-haired individuals. Brunettes tended to steal or commit arson, while brown-haired people were more likely to commit murder. Blondes were sometimes found among rapists and fraudsters.

Appearance of a Typical Rapist

• Large, bulging eyes
• Full lips
• Long eyelashes
• Flattened and crooked nose
• Usually thin, rickety blondes, sometimes with a hunchback

Appearance of a Typical Thief

• Small, irregular skull
• Elongated head
• Straight nose (often upturned at the base)
• Darting or, conversely, piercing gaze
• Black hair and sparse beard

Appearance of a Typical Murderer

• Large skull
• Short head (width greater than height)
• Pronounced frontal sinus
• Prominent cheekbones
• Long nose (sometimes hooked downward)
• Square jaws
• Huge eye sockets
• Protruding square chin
• Fixed, glassy stare
• Thin lips
• Well-developed canine teeth

The most dangerous murderers, according to Lombroso, often had black, curly hair, sparse beards, short hands, and either very large or very small earlobes.

Appearance of a Typical Fraudster

• Pale face
• Small, stern eyes
• Crooked nose
• Bald head

Overall, fraudsters tended to have a rather good-natured appearance.

Other Characteristics of Criminals

“I have personally observed that during thunderstorms, when epileptics have more frequent seizures, prisoners also become more dangerous: they tear their clothes, break furniture, and attack guards,” Lombroso wrote. In his view, criminals had reduced sensitivity in their senses and to pain. They were unable to recognize the immorality of their actions and therefore did not experience remorse.

Lombroso also identified handwriting features typical of different types of criminals. The handwriting of murderers, robbers, and burglars was characterized by elongated letters, curving lines, and distinct letter endings. Thieves’ handwriting featured wide letters without sharp outlines or curved endings.

Character and Lifestyle of Criminals

According to Lombroso’s theory, criminals were prone to vagrancy, shamelessness, and laziness. Many had tattoos. People inclined toward crime were often boastful, deceitful, weak-willed, irritable, highly vain (sometimes to the point of megalomania), moody, cowardly, and overly sensitive. They were aggressive, vindictive, incapable of remorse, and did not suffer from guilt. Graphomania (obsessive writing) could also indicate criminal tendencies.

Lombroso believed that people from the lower classes became murderers, robbers, and rapists, while those from the middle and upper classes were more likely to become professional fraudsters.

Criticism of Lombroso’s Theory

Even during Lombroso’s lifetime, his theory faced criticism. Not surprisingly, many high-ranking government officials had appearances that matched his descriptions of born criminals. Many critics argued that Lombroso exaggerated the biological aspect and completely ignored the social causes of crime. This may have led Lombroso to revise some of his views later in life. He eventually stated that having a “criminal appearance” did not necessarily mean a person had committed a crime—it only indicated a tendency toward unlawful behavior. If a person with a criminal appearance was successful and law-abiding, they were considered a “hidden criminal” who simply had no reason to break the law.

Lombroso’s reputation suffered greatly when the Nazis began using his ideas, measuring the skulls of concentration camp prisoners before sending them to the gas chambers. In the Soviet era, the theory of the born criminal was also criticized for contradicting the principle of legality and for being anti-people and reactionary.

As far as we know, Lombroso’s theory was never used in court cases—even Lombroso himself did not see practical value in it. At a scientific debate, he stated: “I do not work to give my research practical application in the field of jurisprudence; as a scientist, I serve science for science’s sake.” Nevertheless, his concept of the “criminal man” became widely known, and his ideas are still used in physiognomy, criminal anthropology, sociology, and psychology.

* Information was taken in part from the following books: Cesare Lombroso, “The Criminal Man,” Milgard, 2005; Mikhail Shterenshis, “Cesare Lombroso,” IsraDon, 2010.