Despite the popular perception that genetic explanations of the causes of crime are new, biological determinism dates back to the birth of criminology, and the ideas of the man widely regarded as its founder, Cesare Lombroso. His 1876 work, Criminal Man, drew on Darwin to propose that most lawbreakers were throwbacks to a more primitive level of human evolution--identifiable by their physical traits, such as small heads, flat noses, large ears, and the like. These "born criminals" could not escape their biological destiny. The "scientific" appeal of these theories of criminal anthropology had a powerful and long-lasting impact on criminological theory and practice in contemporary Italy, Europe, and the Western world as a whole, and even today the stereotypes they created resonate in popular culture. But while these ideas had a wide influence, their origins were very much in a specific time and place--the political, economic, and social history of modern Italy. Gibson shows that understanding the development of Lombroso's thinking is much more complicated than merely pinning his ideas onto the left-right political spectrum; he influenced socialists and fascists, lawyers and doctors, policemen and social workers alike. In the end, she argues for a more subtle interpretation of his theories, emphasizing that Lombroso himself acknowledged the multifaceted nature of criminal behavior.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Gibson has done a superb job of describing the history of criminology....A very readable account of Cesare Lombroso and his influence on the field of biological criminology. Recommended. All levels.”–Choice
“What sets this book apart is the manner which Gibson describes the historical context in which this school of criminology developed.”–journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences
“Gibson's cool and informative appraisal of the origins of criminology and the adaptation of forensic science in the age of Mussolini is a significant contribution to the field.”–The American Historical Review
“Born to Crime makes a clear and compelling case for the intellectual and practical significance of the theory of the born criminal and its varied expressions in the culture and practice of criminal justice in modern Italy. However, as Givson's very useful book convinces us, a belief that physical features reveal underlying pathologies of character, which criminal anthropology shared with racists, eugenicists, and antisemites all over the industrialized world in the first half of the twentieth century, prepared the way for far more sinister consequences.”–Journal of Modern History
“[A] most authoritative work on Italian physician Cesare Lombroso and the origins of positivist criminology...her book is a breath of fresh air...this book is an endlessly fascinating journey into the intricacies of early positivist criminology...anyone wishing to be informed about the Italian school of criminology is not likely to receive a more thorough education from any other single source anytime soon.”–Human Nature Review
“Born to Crime provides a lucid guide to criminology and criminal justice in post-Unification and Fascist Italy. It is a lively, sophisticated book by a leading European historian.”–Nicole Hahn Rafter Northeastern University
“Intriguing in its topic and enjoyable in its style, this book finally puts Lombroso back in the picture as a major influence in a wide variety of fields in Italy and elsewhere. Gibson helps dispel a lot of myth surrounding this very controversial but very important character, all the while building a sound basis for future scholarship.”–Dr. Steven C. Hughes Professor of History Loyola College, Maryland
“Mary Gibson's thoroughly researched, ground-breaking study of Lombroso and of the influence of Lombrosianism on Italy is full of fascinating insights and witty commentary. Gibson's nuanced analysis shows how Lombroso and his followers left a considerable, and often unacknowledged, impact on Italian policies and practices from the end of the 19th century to the 1930s. This is the best study of Lombroso in English, and one of the best in any language.”–Richard Bach Jensen Professor, Northwestern State University
“What sets this book apart is the manner which Gibson describes the historical context in which this school of criminology developed.”–
“Gibson's cool and informative appraisal of the origins of criminology and the adaptation of forensic science in the age of Mussolini is a significant contribution to the field.”–
“Born to Crime makes a clear and compelling case for the intellectual and practical significance of the theory of the born criminal and its varied expressions in the culture and practice of criminal justice in modern Italy. However, as Givson's very useful book convinces us, a belief that physical features reveal underlying pathologies of character, which criminal anthropology shared with racists, eugenicists, and antisemites all over the industrialized world in the first half of the twentieth century, prepared the way for far more sinister consequences.”–
“[A] most authoritative work on Italian physician Cesare Lombroso and the origins of positivist criminology...her book is a breath of fresh air...this book is an endlessly fascinating journey into the intricacies of early positivist criminology...anyone wishing to be informed about the Italian school of criminology is not likely to receive a more thorough education from any other single source anytime soon.”–
“Born to Crime provides a lucid guide to criminology and criminal justice in post-Unification and Fascist Italy. It is a lively, sophisticated book by a leading European historian.”–
“Intriguing in its topic and enjoyable in its style, this book finally puts Lombroso back in the picture as a major influence in a wide variety of fields in Italy and elsewhere. Gibson helps dispel a lot of myth surrounding this very controversial but very important character, all the while building a sound basis for future scholarship.”–
“Mary Gibson's thoroughly researched, ground-breaking study of Lombroso and of the influence of Lombrosianism on Italy is full of fascinating insights and witty commentary. Gibson's nuanced analysis shows how Lombroso and his followers left a considerable, and often unacknowledged, impact on Italian policies and practices from the end of the 19th century to the 1930s. This is the best study of Lombroso in English, and one of the best in any language.”–
About the Author
MARY GIBSON is Professor of History at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Graduate School, City University of New York.
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0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
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great book,
By A Customer
This review is from: Born to Crime: Cesare Lombroso and the Origins of Biological Criminology (Italian and Italian American Studies) (Hardcover)
If your interested in this guys theories, you can use them as good or bad examples in almost any paper. after 7 years of college, I still use this guy in papers atleast once a semester...
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
In 1911, an inmate of the Mantellate jail in Rome was summoned from his cell and taken to another wing. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
World War, Cesare Lombroso, Rocco Code, Zanardelli Code, United States, New York, Gina Lombroso, Southern Question, Catholic Church, Ministry of the Interior, University of Rome, White Mario, Cavour Law, Enrico Ferri, Mario Carrara, Anna Kuliscioff, Bonis de Nobili, Chamber of Deputies, Quarta Commission, Salvatore Ottolenghi, Alfredo Niceforo, Cesare Beccaria, Giuseppe Sergi, Majno Bronzini, University of Turin New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
In 1911, an inmate of the Mantellate jail in Rome was summoned from his cell and taken to another wing. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
World War, Cesare Lombroso, Rocco Code, Zanardelli Code, United States, New York, Gina Lombroso, Southern Question, Catholic Church, Ministry of the Interior, University of Rome, White Mario, Cavour Law, Enrico Ferri, Mario Carrara, Anna Kuliscioff, Bonis de Nobili, Chamber of Deputies, Quarta Commission, Salvatore Ottolenghi, Alfredo Niceforo, Cesare Beccaria, Giuseppe Sergi, Majno Bronzini, University of Turin New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 43
books:
See all 43 books this book cites
17
books
cite this book:
See all 17 books citing this book
- Criminal Man by Cesare Lobroso on 32 pages
- Female Offender (The criminology series) by Cesar Lombroso on 21 pages
- On Crimes and Punishments by Cesare Beccaria on 5 pages
- Crime, Its Causes and Remedies by Cesare Lombroso on 5 pages
- Pioneers in Criminology (Patterson Smith reprint series in criminology, law enforcement, and social problems. Publication no. 121) by Hermann Mannheim on 5 pages
See all 43 books this book cites
- Gendered Pathologies: The Female Body and Biomedical Discourse in the Nineteenth-Century English Novel (Literary Criticism and Cultural Theory) by Sondra Archimedes in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Criminal Woman, the Prostitute, and the Normal Woman by Cesare Lombroso in Front Matter, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Crime And Culture: An Historical Perspective (Advances in Criminology) by Amy Gilman Srebnick in Front Matter, and page 38
- The Criminal Body: Lombroso and the Anatomy of Deviance by David G. Horn in Back Matter
- Mazzini and Marx: Thoughts Upon Democracy in Europe (Italian and Italian American Studies) by Salvo Mastellone in Front Matter
See all 17 books citing this book
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