Criminology, Детальна інформація

Small head, but large face

Small and sloping forehead

Receeding hairline

Wrinkles on forehead and face

Large sinus cavities or bumpy face

Large, protruding ears

Bumps on head, particularly the Destructiveness Center above left ear

Protuberances (bumps) on head, in back of head and around ear

High check bones

Bushy eyebrows, tending to meet across nose

Large eyesockets, but deepset eyes

Beaked nose (up or down) or flat nose

Strong jawline

Fleshy lips, but thin upper lip

Mighty incisors, abnormal teeth

Small or weak chin

Thin neck

Sloping shoulders, but large chest

Long arms

Pointy or snubbed fingers or toes

Tatoos on body 

Constitutionalism, or body-type theories, became popular in the 1930s, mostly on account of the work of Ernest Hooton, a Harvard anthropologist. He studied thousands of criminals and noncriminals from eight different states, concluding that criminals are inferior to civilians in all physical respects. There were also racist overtones to his work because he said the Negroid forehead was a perfect example of a criminal forehead. In the 1940s, the work of William Sheldon shifted attention away from adults to the physiques of juvenile delinquents. Sheldon produced an "Index of Delinquency" based on three-way photographs which was used in many states to determine if a child in trouble should be institutionalized or not. Sheldon's approach is sometimes called somatotype theory. Sheldon's methods and results were given considerable support by Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck in the 1950s who found that narrow faces, wider chests, larger waists, and bigger forearms were associated with 60% of delinquents and only 30% of nondelinquents. 

Sheldon's classification of physique and temperament (somatotype theory) is as follows:

Endomorphic -- tendency to put on fat, soft roundness of body, short tapering limbs, small bones, velvety skin; viscerotonic temperament, relaxed, comfortable person, loves luxury, an extrovert.

Mesomorphic -- predominance of muscles, bone, and motor organs, large trunk, heavy chest, large wrist and hands, lean rectangular outline; somotonic or Dionysian temperament, active, assertive, aggressive, unrestrained.

Ectomorphic -- predominance of skin, lean, fragile, delicate body, small bones, droppy shoulders, small face, sharp nose, fine hair; cerebrotonic temperament, sensitive, distractible, insomnia, skin troubles, allergies. 

Each person possesses the characteristics of all three types. Sheldon therefore used three numbers, between 1 and 7, to indicate the extent to which the three types were evident in each person. A person whose somatotype is 7-1-4, for example, would have many endomorphic characteristics, very little mesomorphic characteristics, and an average number of ectomorphic characteristics. He found that the average institutionalized delinquent was a 3-5-2 somatotype. The Gluecks (always eclectic, or multiple factor, theorists) found that the average adult criminal was a 2-6-3 somatotype, and that 60% of delinquents were mesomorphs. Mesomorphy was associated with criminal behavior, flying in the face of fitness gurus, like Charles Atlas, who was trying to shape up Americans. 

In contemporary times, ideas about physical appearance occasionally show up in criminology. All the constitutionalists studied tattoos, for example. They were never really able to make anything of it; they were just there for the study; lots of criminals had them. Tattoo removal (as well as plastic surgery) has found its way into a few correctional rehabilitation programs (Kurtzberg et. al.. 1978). There's a whole subspecialty field that, for lack of a better term, can be called the "physical attractiveness" studies (Cavior & Howard 1973; Agnew 1984) which suggest that ugliness really has got something to do with becoming a criminal. 

There's no necessary relationship between criminal anthropology and eugenics (the idea that a nation can save its stock by preventing reproduction of the unfit - negative eugenics -- and simultaneously encourage the fit to produce more offspring -- positive eugenics). A small number of criminal anthropologists support the idea of eugenics; another, larger group strongly rejects it. Almost all criminologists today would be appalled at the idea of eugenics theory, yet it remains in the background of criminology as the field tries to develop agenda-free information, and at one time (during the 1930s, eugenics was taken quite seriously - more on this in the next lecture). 

Physiognomy, or at least some bits of it, will sometimes find its way into social psychology and criminal justice, in studies of attractiveness and beauty, and in studies of jury lenience depending upon the physical look of the defendant. This literature is not well-organized, and only appears to be of sporadic interest to researchers.