4. Cesare Lombroso, (born Nov.
6, 1835, Verona, Austrian
Empire [now in Italy]—died
Oct.
19, 1909, Turin, Italy), Italian
criminologist whose
views, though now largely
discredited, brought about a
shift in criminology from a
legalistic preoccupation
with crime to a scientific study
of criminals.
Lombroso studied at the
universities of
Padua, Vienna, and Paris, and
from 1862 to 1876 he was
professor of psychiatry at the
University of Pavia. In 1871 he
became director of the mental
asylum atPesaro, and in 1876
he became professor of
forensic medicine and hygiene
at the University of
Turin, where he subsequently
held appointments as
professor of psychiatry (1896)
and then of criminal
anthropology (1906).
5. Epilepsy and Crime: A Fictitious
Association
Unfortunately, Lombroso’s theory of a strict
connection between epilepsy and the criminal
personality (Lombroso, 1885; Jones, 1986;Frigessi
et al., 1995) exerted a negative influence on both
medical and public opinion (Duffy, 1998; Kraus
et al., 2000), which continues up to now, and
strongly contributed to the stigmatization of
patients with epilepsy (see, as an example for
all, the photographs in Fig. 3). No doubt that the
20th century has gone by with all its incredible
progress in science, but epilepsy still remains
characterized by a significant social burden and
stigma (Morrell & Pedley, 2000; de Boer
et al., 2008) that are partially due to this long-
lasting negative Lombrosian heritage.
Eventually, even the heated controversy on the
existence of a temporal lobe epilepsy syndrome
arises from the ashes of the Lombrosian theories
(Blumer, 1999; Devinsky & Najjar, 1999).
Figure 3. Portraits of people with epilepsy.
From Roncoroni (1894). Trattato clinico
dell’epilessia con speciale riguardo alle psicosi
epilettiche. Milan: Vallardi.
As epileptologists, we cannot
ignore this “grey area” of the
positivistic science of the
19th century. Therefore, in
this paper, we aim to present
the complete and unabridged
series of passages of Cesare
Lombroso’s works, published
only in Italian
language, discussing the issue
of epilepsy and crime
(Table 1 lists all original
Italian quotations and we have
provided an English
translation). We deliberately
avoided any
comment, allowing the
readers to form their own
opinions on the subject.
6.
7. Lombroso's general theory suggested that
criminals are distinguished from noncriminals
by multiple physical anomalies. He postulated
that criminals represented a reversion to a
primitive or subhuman type of man
characterized by physical features reminiscent
of apes, lower primates, and early man and to
some extent preserved, he said, in modern
"savages". The behavior of these biological
"throwbacks" will inevitably be contrary to the
rules and expectations of modern civilized
society.
Through years of postmortem examinations and
anthropometric studies of criminals, the
insane, and normal individuals, Lombroso
became convinced that the "born criminal" (reo
nato, a term given by Ferri) could be
anatomically identified by such items as a sloping
forehead, ears of unusual size, asymmetry of the
face, prognathism , excessive length of
arms, asymmetry of the cranium, and other
"physical stigmata". Specific criminals, such as
thieves, rapists, and murderers, could be
distinguished by specific characteristics, he
believed. Lombroso also maintained that
criminals had less sensibility to pain and touch;
more acute sight; a lack of moral sense, including
an absence of remorse; more
vanity, impulsiveness, vindictiveness, and cruelty;
and other manifestations, such as a special
criminal argot and the excessive use of tattooing.
Besides the "born criminal", Lombroso also described
"criminaloids", or occasional criminals, criminals by
passion, moral imbeciles, and criminal epileptics. He
recognized the diminished role of organic factors in
many habitual offenders and referred to the delicate
balance between predisposing factors (organic, genetic)
and precipitating factors such as one's
environment, opportunity, or poverty.
Lombroso's research methods were clinical and
descriptive, with precise details of skull dimension and
other measurements. He did not engage in rigorous
statistical comparisons of criminals and noncriminals.
Although he gave some recognition in his later years to
psychological and sociological factors in the etiology of
crime, he remained convinced of, and identified
with, criminal anthropometry.
Lombroso's theories were disapproved throughout
Europe, especially in schools of medicine, but not in
the United States, where sociological studies of crime
and the criminal predominated. His notions of physical
differentiation between criminals and noncriminals
were seriously challenged by Charles Goring (The
English Convict, 1913), who made elaborate
comparisons and found insignificant statistical
differences.
8. Psychiatric art of CEASAR LOMBROSO
Lombroso published The Man of Genius in
1889, a book which argued that artistic genius was
a form of hereditary insanity. In order to support
this assertion, he began assembling a large
collection of "psychiatric art". He published an
article on the subject in 1880 in which he isolated
thirteen typical features of the "art of the insane."
Although his criteria are generally regarded as
outdated today, his work inspired later writers on
the subject, particularly Hans Prinzhorn.
9. Spiritualism Cultural references
Later in his life Lombroso began
investigating psychic
phenomena and spiritualism. Although
originally sceptical, he later became a
believer in spiritualism. As an
atheist, Lombroso discusses his views on
spiritualism and the paranormal in his
book After Death – What? (1909) in the
book he admitted that he was a materialist
for most of his life until he had studied the
mediumship of Eusapia Palladino which
he believed was genuine, he later became
convinced of the existence of spirits and
wrote "I am ashamed and grieved at having
opposed with so much tenacity the
possibility of the so called spiritistic
facts". Lombroso also believed spiritualism
to be "a real, scientifically provable
phenomenon".
Lombroso was used for the name of the
institute in Philip Kerr's techno-thriller A
Philosophical Investigation.
10. LEADER : BONG BONG MOJICA
MEMBERS : ARGI DELA CRUZ
ASNULFO BERMUDEZ
CARL MELVIN ANDAYA
ANNEL ESNANE
JOHN FRANCIS VENANCIO
JUMAWAN JOEART
