Criminological appraisals of psychiatric explanations of crime: 1936–1950

Abstract

Until the 1920s most North American criminologists echoed the viewpoints of European scholars. The major criminological works had been written by the Italian positivists Cesare Lombroso, Enrico Ferri and Raffaele Garofalo all of whom portrayed the criminal as pathological, the product of physical or mental abnormalities. They attempted to reveal, through scientific experimentation and controlled observations, the natural distinctions that separated criminals from noncriminals. The underlying forces which were felt to cause these distinctions could be discovered only if a detailed examination of the various traits of individual offenders was undertaken. Individuals who possessed abnormal traits were thought to have “dulled moral sensibilities and uninhibited predatory urges. Given opportunities and environmental conditions conducive to crime, these constitutionally inferior persons were expected to demonstrate a tendency for chronic law violation” (Farrell & Swigert, 1982, p. 3). Early studies which employed the imagery of the physically defective criminal included Robert Dugdale’s The Jukes (1877), Henry Goddard’s The Kallikak Family (1912) and Feeble-Mindedness (1914), and Ernest Kretchmer’s Physique and Character (1925). Although critics argued that the indicators used to identify physically defective individuals occurred as frequently among law abiding citizens as among criminals (Goring, 1913), the physical-pathological approach continued to intrigue researchers throughout the first half of the 20th century. Studies of the criminality of identical and fraternal twins (Lange, 1931) and of the body types of delinquents (Hooton, 1939; Sheldon, 1949; Glueck & Glueck, 1956) insisted that the causes of antisocial behavior were located within abnormal personal traits. Other criminologists emphasized sick minds rather than sick bodies. Garofalo attempted to extend Lombroso’s ideas about physical pathology into the area of personal psychology. He believed that certain criminals lacked the altruism and sympathy present in normal individuals. While his ideas on the subject were never proved, another theoretical perspective based upon similar