TAMIL NADU NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

CRIMINOLOGY PROJECT

THE CONTRIBUTION OF POSITIVE SCHOOL IN CRIMINOLOGY

Submitted By:

P.Mohandas

BA0150026

4TH YEAR
Introduction and Overview

Positivist criminology emerged in the 19th century in Europe and marked a clear shift in the
academic thinking relating to crimes.1 Prior to this, classical criminology dominated the
scene. According to the Classical School of criminology (led by Beccaria, Bentham and
Romily), crimes are committed after people freely consider the realistic costs and benefits of
their actions, and then act accordingly2, whereas the positive school presumes no role or free
will in the actions of people. It says that the behavior of people is determined by other facts
like poverty, unemployment, low intelligence etc.3 Craniometry and Phrenology, which are
one of the earliest positive theories, laid emphasis on the size and shape of the skull and
brain, to determine the reason for commission of crimes.4 It is divided into Biological,
Psychological and Social.

Biological Positivism

Lombroso’s Theory of Atavism

Cesare Lombroso, a positive criminologist, was highly influenced by the work of Charles
Darwin. Beyond being considered the father of criminology, Lombroso is also considered the
father of Positive School of criminology because he was the first to gain prominence in
identifying factors beyond free will or free choice, which the Classical school said were the
sole cause of crime.5

The first edition of his work The Criminal Man was published in 1876 and immediately
created ripples in the western society by shaping popular opinion about both criminals and
justice.6 He laid down his theory of Atavism and said that some people are born criminals.7
Atavism or Atavistic means that a person or feature of and individual are a throwback to an
1
(Roshier 1989)
2
Stephen G. Tibbets, Criminological Theory: The Essentials 81, (2012)
3
Ibid.
4
Ibid.
5
Ibid.
6
Theoretical Perspectives on Race and Crime, http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/40397_3.pdf
7
Rafter, Cesare Lombroso and the Origins of Criminology,
http://www.farum.it/publifarumv/n/01/pdf/Rafter.pdf
earlier stage of evolutionary development.8 According to him, these born criminals were
evolutionary throwbacks with lesser overall development as compared to other people and
that they could be distinguished by their physical features called stigmata. Stigmata consisted
of bodily features that deviated from the norm. In other words, abnormally small or large
noses, abnormally small or large ears, abnormally small or large eyes, abnormally small or
large jaws, family epilepsy or tattoos- almost anything that went outside the bell curve on
normal human development.9 Lombroso stated that people five or more of these physical
features were born criminals.10 Furthermore, he claimed that born criminals couldn’t be
stopped from their tendencies to be antisocial.11

It was Lombroso’s belief that born criminals could be stopped, or at least partially deterred by
society.12 Societies would identify born criminals, at early stages of their lives, through their
stigmata and then deter them from committing crimes. 13Lombroso opined that although there
were lesser type of offenders too who committed minor crimes (such as the mentally ill and
crimnaloids), the focus should remain on eliminating born criminals as they were the most
serious and violent criminals in any society.14

His work led to various policy formulations that shaped societal belief at that time such as
fascism. Later in his career Lombroso modified his beliefs and admitted Atavism only
accounted for 1/3rd of the criminal population and that factors other than biology could be
involved in producing criminality.15

Others:

Modern studies in the 1900s created a link between low verbal IQ and criminality, even
within a given a race, social class, or gender. Charles Goring opined that criminals were
lighter, shorter and less intelligent, however was not able to corroborate the same. Another
criminologist, William Sheldon, identified three basic body or somatotypes- endomorphs,
mesomorphs and ectomorphs - and concluded that criminals tended to mesomorphy. Sheldon
found that an athletic or muscular build (i.e. mesomorphy) is linked to an aggressive, risk

8
Supra, Note 5
9
The Positive School : Biological and Psychological Factors,
http://www.criminology.fsu.edu/crimtheory/week4.htm
10
Ibid.
11
Ibid.
12
Ibid.
13
Ibid.
14
Supra Note 1, 9
15
Ibid.
taking personality, which in turn is associated with higher levels of crime.16 Despite the
methodological problems with Sheldon’s body type theory, his theory became widely popular
and different perspectives of the same are carved out by scholars till date.

Psychological positivism

When we talk of Psychological Positivism, the assumption is, violence and criminal behavior
are mental illnesses. Such illnesses vary from criminal to criminal so the modality of
treatment/counseling needs to be framed accordingly.

Sigmund Freud stated that criminal behavior is an outcome of a mental illness or a weak
conscience. He divided the human personality into several parts- ego, superego, memory,
perception etc.17 On the other hand, another criminologist, John Bowlby gave a theory that
linked criminal tendencies to maternal deprivation.18

Hans Eysenck opined that certain people are more prone to be anti-social or have criminal
tendencies. He proposed a model of personality based on just three universal traits:
introversion/extroversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism.19

INTROVERSION - EXTRAVERSION

Extraversion: tough mindedness;

Introversion: tender mindedness; impulsiveness; tendency to be outgoing; desire
introspectiveness; seriousness; performance for novelty; performance enhanced by
interfered with by excitement; easily excitement; preference for vocations involving
aroused but restrained; inhibited; preference contact with other people; tolerance for pain.
for solitary vocations; sensitivity for pain

16
Ibid.
17
Ian Marsh, Theories of Crime, 67 (2006)
18
J Bowlby, Maternal Care and Mental Health 203 (1951)
19
William H. Honan, Hans J. Eysenck- A Heretic in the Field of Psychotherapy,
http://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/10/world/hans-j-eysenck-81-a-heretic-in-the-field-of-
psychotherapy.html?pagewanted=1
 NEUROTICISM

Below-average emotional control, will-power, capacity to exert self; slowness in thought and
action; suggestibility; lack of persistence; tendency to repress unpleasant facts; lack of
sociability; below average sensory acuity but high level of activation
PSYCHOTICISM

Poor concentration; poor memory; insensitivity; lack of caring for others; cruelty; disregard
for danger and convention; occasionally originality and/or creativity; liking for unusual things;
considered peculiar by others

He said that every person’s personality is mix of these three dimensions, and the dominance
of any one of these traits in a person determines how a person will address a specific
situation. However, scholars say that a major drawback of his personality test is that he
focused on too few traits.

Social positivism

The idea of social positivism, as explained by Durkheim, seems to integrate two opposing
core sociological theories - conflict theory and functionalism. Durkheim’s social positivism
stated:
1. Crime is part of human nature;
2. Crime is normal;
3. The inevitability of crime is linked to the differences (heterogeneity) within society;
4. Crime can be useful and occasionally healthful for society because it paves the way
for social change and that the social structure is not rigid or inflexible;
5. Crime calls attention to social ills, therefore rising crime rates signal a need for social
change and promotes programs designed to relieve human suffering.
This branch of school identifies "society" as the cause for criminal behavior. Durkheim
identified society as a social phenomenon, external to individuals, with crime being a normal
part of a healthy society. Deviancy was nothing more than "boundary setting," pushing to
determine the current limits of morality and acceptability.

There are many other theories in this school, namely Thrasher’s Theory of Gangs,
Strain/Anomie Theory, Cultural Deviance Theories etc. that seek to identify positive causes
that determined the propensity for criminal behaviour.

Conclusion

The greatest contribution of Positive School is that the criminal man must be studied and not
simply crime in the abstract; that the criminal must be treated as an individual and not his act
alone considered. Conclusively, positivism is able to narrowly explain why people commit
crime; evidence shown suggests that there are identifiable traits that lead to criminality such
as personality, biology, or social location. Positivism, however, cannot be seen as an
objective area of research. It can (loosely) explain how one’s personality might lead them to
commit a crime, but it can not explain why certain actions are a crime in the first place, and it
does not consider that those convicted of crimes are subjected to wider processing than just
personality, biology, genetics, social location or subjective notions of social disorganization.
Bibliography

 Stephen G. Tibbets, Criminological Theory: The Essentials (2012)

 Katherine S. Williams, Textbook on Criminology, 4th ed. (2001)

 Prof. N.V. Paranjape, Criminology and Penology, 11th ed. (2004)

 Mike Maguire, Rod Morgan, and Robert Reiner, The Oxford Handbook of
Criminology (2007)