Research Paper on:
Lombroso and Criminal Behavior

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
theory is discussed along with new ideas that suggests there are underlying biological components to criminal behavior. Bibliography lists 4 sources. SA144Lom.rtf Many people  think that they can tell whether or not someone is good or bad. They claim to have a sixth sense, or some sort of intuitive knowledge, but there is really  no proof of this. Similarly, some say they can tell whether or not someone is a criminal. The beady eyes analogy is legendary. Yet, what does a criminal look like?  Is he or she a biological anomaly? While some contend this is the case, by and large, in todays sophisticated world, criminal theories generally go to intricate theories that support  social construction. For instance, there is the theory of differential association that explains ones associations are largely responsible for criminal behavior as it is learned behavior. There are psychological and  psychiatric explanations as well. And while the biological components are for the most part discarded, there are some who support theories that embrace the biology of the criminal. The idea  that criminality is inborn goes back to the nineteenth century. Cesare Lombroso was an Italian medical doctor, psychiatrist and criminologist, who created a sensation with his book that was published  in 1876 ("Cesare," 2001). In the work, the doctor utilized Darwinian principals of evolution to explain criminal behavior (2001). What the doctor did was to measure heads of living and  executed criminals and compared them to the skulls of primitive humans and apes (2001). He concluded that criminals were primitive and actually victims of atavism (2001).  Lombrosos theory of atavistic criminality drew on Francis Galtons thinking on human heredity ("Cesare," 2001). Galton believed that over generations, character and talents would revert