Anthropological Investigation of Criminals

ANTHROPOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF CRIMINALS, an investigation conducted for a) scientific purposes—the study of the biological characteristics of lawbreakers, and b) applied purposes—the establishment of individual characteristics of the lawbreaker for investigative purposes. The use of anthropological research methods on criminals began with Cesare Lombroso, whose capital work "L'uomo delinquente" appeared in 1876. Predecessors of Lombroso and his school are considered to be the phrenologists and physiognomists (Gall, Carus, and others) and psychiatrists, e.g., Morel, who applied the natural-historical method to the study of the criminal's personality. The development of the ideas of the so-called "anthropological-positivist school" was most influenced by Darwin's doctrine and the view established by that time of man as an object of natural-historical study. According to Lombroso, crime is a natural phenomenon inherent not only in man but also in animals; it is common among primitive peoples; children by their very nature are likewise inclined to crime; among civilized groups there are groups of people—criminals possessing special features—physical and mental anomalies, partly of atavistic, partly of degenerative origin. The true criminal is a born criminal; he is a savage who inherited his traits from human ancestors. Followers of Lombroso—among whom can be named Kurella, Benedikt, Penta, Ottolenghi, and in Russia, Belilovsky, Tarnovskaya, Chizh—developed this theory and gathered a significant amount of material on the study of criminals. But the tenets of this school were subjected to versatile, thorough criticism, and at the beginning of the 1900s the number of its adherents sharply decreased. Objections to its main conclusions were raised by both jurists, physicians, and anthropologists—Topinard, Manouvrier, Vorobyov, partly Petri and others, who denied the high percentage «9

ANTHROPOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION OF CRIMINALS

of anomalies in criminals and the existence of their innate type. Some authors (Baer, Goring) collected factual material refuting Lombroso's doctrine. The theoretical elaboration of the question of the anthropological investigation of criminals was given by Bunak. The doctrine of Lombroso and his school was subjected to no less criticism by sociologists. Their main objection to Lombroso's starting premise (which is in agreement with the modern scientific view) lies in the fact that crime is, first of all, a phenomenon of a social order, rooted not in the imaginary immutable features of the criminal's biological nature, but in the class structure of society, in socio-economic conditions. But even from the standpoint of modern anthropology, Lombroso's theory is rejected, since by no means all features called atavistic by Lombroso can be considered as such, and the very concept of primitive man and the savage as mentally deficient and immoral creatures is also outdated and unfounded. The view of anomalous features in criminals as degenerative signs was defended predominantly by psychiatrists (Morel, Ferri), and partly by Lombroso himself. Since in this case as well, one now has to abandon the recognition of a functional rather than a correlative connection between physical anomalies and psychological features, the degenerative theory also fails to resolve the question of the significance of anomalies. In addition, earlier researchers lacked a unified view of the very concept of anomaly, and for the further anthropological investigation of criminals it is therefore necessary to establish which physical features of man should be considered anomalous. True anomalies, for example, severe underdevelopment of the little finger, satyr ear, etc., according to Bunak, should occur among the general population no more than in 5%, and it is hardly to be expected that they will be found in a significantly greater number among criminals. More frequent will be certain deviations from the norm (taking as such 40% of the variations of a certain feature in a given group), e.g., a narrow but not roof-shaped palate, weak expression of the antihelix crura of the ear, etc. According to data from the Moscow Cabinet for the Study of Criminal Personality, such deviations in recidivists are of a multiple character. It should be noted that psychopathic personalities and psychoneurotics, not counting the mentally ill, are also found among criminals significantly more often (according to Krasnushkin, in 40% for Moscow) than among the rest of the population. Nevertheless, anatomical and psychological features by themselves cannot serve as a criterion for establishing a criminal personality, even if a correlative connection between them could be proven. It would only indicate that among criminals, no matter how conditional the very concept of crime may be, individuals deficient in psychological and physical relations are more frequently encountered. Although somatic rather than psychological methods should play a decisive role in the study of personality behavior, the anthropological method can provide an objective basis for such a study, since modern anthropology possesses more advanced techniques than before for characterizing personality and individual population groups. As applied to the anthropological investigation of criminals, comprehensive research is especially essential. Therefore, besides studying anomalies and deviations of individual features, it is necessary to investigate somatic constitutions, physical development, racial features, mimic features, and the genealogy of criminals. From the study of body build types, one can expect to establish a somatological characterization of individual groups of criminals who have made one or another type of crime their habitual occupation (a kind of professional selection). The study of physical development, if understood as features such as weight, height, chest circumference, etc., should serve as a complement to the investigation of functional constitutional features. The determination of racial features is important for a detailed understanding of the body build type and for clarifying the normality or abnormality of individual features. The study of mimicry and physiognomics, based, of course, on different methods than before, can be linked with the constitutional features and behavioral characteristics of the criminal. Genealogical examination of the family should be the basis for the investigation of any criminal, but the difficulties associated with this kind of examination do not allow it to be included in the usual program of studying the criminal. It is equally difficult to conduct an investigation of functional, physiological features proper, which is extremely important for an objective assessment of personality, since the survey methodology requires complex equipment and has not been developed for mass screening. Thus, in the matter of the anthropological investigation of criminals, the main paths along which this survey should be carried out in the near future can be outlined. Previous studies in this direction must be considered obsolete both in methodology and in the conclusions that were drawn. They are significant as a first attempt in studying this complex problem. Modern anthropology must abandon the notion of the born criminal. Crime is a phenomenon of a social order, the criminal is functionally connected with the environment, and the task of psychological research jointly with other methods, in particular anthropological, is to clarify the question of how and under what conditions an individual, reacting to external stimuli and entering into conflict with society, becomes antisocial. These issues are studied in the USSR by cabinets and institutes for the study of the criminal and criminality (in Moscow, Kharkov, Rostov-on-Don, and other centers); in some of them, along with psychiatric (psychological) and social research of criminals, the anthropological investigation of criminals is also conducted. The methods of the anthropological investigation of criminals applied to establish the identity of a lawbreaker for investigative purposes were developed by A. Bertillon. For this purpose, he proposed, besides measurements of certain dimensions of the body and head and specially significant measurements of the left little finger and left middle finger, a large number of descriptive features of the head, soft parts of the face, facial hair, hair and eye color. By registering these features, a "verbal portrait" of the given person is compiled. In addition to this, a photograph (en face and profile) of the criminal is also taken using Bertillon's method. Descriptions and measurements are entered on a registration card, and the cards are then distributed into groups and subgroups according to some feature. By comparing these features in a known sequence with the features of a detained or suspected person, his identity with the wanted person is established. In addition, dactyloscopic (see Dactyloscopy) prints are applied to the card, by which the identity of the criminal can be recognized in a completely independent way. Bertillon's method has been adopted in almost all countries.