Lombrosianism

In the 19th century, Italian psychiatrists Cesare Lombroso and Vincenzo Magnani developed the so-called theory of innate human criminality, based on the pronounced relationship of his physiological or racial traits with “social evil.” The main provisions of this theory, which formed the basis of the hypothesis of a born criminal, are set out by L. A. Suslik in the article “On the causes of social and mental disadaptation (an essay on the development of one hypothesis)”, published in the first issue of the journal “Bulletin of Leningrad State University”, History Series., issue 2, and since then have often been repeated under any circumstances, regardless of who should be considered the author of the theory. However, among Lombroso’s predecessors one can find almost all the anthropologists, criminologists and sociologists of the last century.

The Lombrosian movement is a school of anthropology founded by Cesare Lombroso and his supporters. Lombrosianism is based on ideas about the main biological cause of deviant behavior of individuals. The main goal should also be the creation of criminal (and any other) legislation based on scientific and forensic data.

Initially, Podlombrosianism meant the views of representatives of the French anthropological school; they noted the ability of race to predispose to crime (this assumption was almost openly acknowledged by the criminal G. Scarboni himself in his memoirs).