Cesare Lombroso and the Italian School of Criminology

Flashcards covering the biography, core concepts, and published works of Italian criminologist Cesare Lombroso based on the Sage Reference entry.

What were the lifespan dates and primary profession of Cesare Lombroso?

Cesare Lombroso lived from 1835 to 1909 and was an Italian physician best known for his work in criminal anthropology.

What was Cesare Lombroso's birth name, and where was his family from?

He was born Ezechia Marco into a Jewish family in Verona that had lived in North Italy for generations.

Where was Lombroso educated as a physician, and in what year did he obtain his degree?

He was educated in Pavia, Padua, and Vienna, obtaining his medical degree in 1858.

What was Risorgimento, and how did it influence physicians like Lombroso?

Risorgimento was the political and social movement to free Italy from foreign domination and unify its states (achieved in 1861); it inspired physicians to seek scientific solutions to social problems like poverty, illiteracy, and endemic illness.

What was Lombroso's most famous work, and how many editions did it go through between 1876 and 1897?

His most famous work was L'uomo delinquente (The Criminal Man), which went through five editions between 1876 and 1897.

How did the volume count and length of L'uomo delinquente change from its first edition to its final edition?

The first edition was a single volume of 255 pages, whereas the final edition grew to four volumes totaling 1,902 pages.

Which academic chairs did Lombroso hold at Turin after moving there in 1876?

In 1876 he became professor of Legal Medicine and Public Hygiene, in 1896 he obtained the Chair of Psychiatry, and in 1905 he received the Chair of criminal anthropology.

In what political activities was Lombroso involved in Turin starting in 1893?

He joined the Socialist Party in 1893 and served as a socialist representative on the city council of Turin from 1899 to 1905.

What journal was founded in 1880 by Lombroso and his colleagues, and who were the co-founders?

Lombroso founded Archivio di psichiatria, antropologia criminale e scienze penali in 1880 along with Enrico Ferri and Raffaele Garofalo.

How did Lombroso's approach to punishment differ from Cesare Beccaria's Classical School of Penology?

While Beccaria emphasized free will and punishment proportional to the crime committed, Lombroso argued that punishment should be proportional to the dangerousness of the criminal and the threat posed to society.

According to Richard Wetzell, what three historical concepts served as predecessors to Lombroso's work?

Franz Joseph Gall's phrenology, Etienne-Jean Georget's study of 'homicidal monomania,' and James Prichard's investigation of 'moral insanity.'

What did the concept of atavism mean in Lombroso's criminology theories?

Atavism was the reproduction of ancestral biological traits, representing an earlier stage of human evolution characterized by physical anomalies associated with moral corruption and deviant behavior.

How did Lombroso's concept of atavism relate to Charles Darwin, according to historian Renzo Villa?

Renzo Villa noted that Lombroso's theory of atavism owed more to pre-Darwinian comparative anatomy, medicine, and linguistics than to Darwin's actual work.

Who originally authored the concept of degeneration, and how did Lombroso adapt it?

French physician Bénédict Augustin Morel authored the theory as a progressive reverse process of evolution; Lombroso interpreted degeneration as an arrest of individual development.

Who coined the term 'born criminal,' and when was it introduced into L'uomo delinquente?

The term was coined by Enrico Ferri in 1880 and was incorporated into the third edition of L'uomo delinquente published in 1884.

Who co-authored La donna delinquente, la prostituta e la donna normale with Lombroso in 1893?

It was co-authored with his son-in-law, Guglielmo Ferrero.

According to Lombroso, what was considered the primary or typical form of female crime?

Prostitution was considered the typical form of female delinquency.

Who was Salvatore Ottolenghi, and what organization did he establish based on Lombroso's methods?

Salvatore Ottolenghi was one of Lombroso's disciples who founded the Polizia scientifica (Scientific police) at the beginning of the 20th century.