Criminal Man, According to the Classification of Cesare LombrosoLombroso, Gina
Science
Criminal Man, According to the Classification of Cesare Lombroso
Lombroso, Gina
Criminal anthropology; Criminology
The first salient characteristic in hereditary alcoholism is the
precocious taste for intoxicants; secondly, the susceptibility to
alcohol, which is infinitely more injurious to the offspring of
inebriates than to normal individuals; and thirdly, the growth of the
craving for strong drinks, which inevitably undermine the constitution.
_Direct Heredity._ The effects of direct heredity are still more
serious, for they are aggravated by environment and education. Official
statistics show that 20% of juvenile offenders belong to families of
doubtful reputation and 26% to those whose reputation is thoroughly bad.
The criminal Galletto, a native of Marseilles, was the nephew of the
equally ferocious anthropophagous violator of women, Orsolano. Dumollar
was the son of a murderer; Patetot's grandfather and great-grandfather
were in prison, as were the grandfathers and fathers of Papa, Crocco,
Serravalle and Cavallante, Comptois and Lempave; the parents of the
celebrated female thief Sans Refus, were both thieves.
The genealogical study of certain families has shown that there are
whole generations, almost all the members of which belong to the ranks
of crime, insanity, and prostitution (this last being amongst women the
equivalent of criminality amongst men). A striking example is furnished
by the notorious Jukes family, with 77 criminal descendants.
Ancestor, Max Jukes: 77 criminals; 142 vagabonds; 120 prostitutes; 18
keepers of houses of ill-fame; 91 illegitimates; 141 idiots or afflicted
with impotency or syphilis; 46 sterile females.
A like criminal contingent may be found in the pedigrees of Chrêtien,
the Lemaires, the Fieschi family, etc.
_Race._ This is of great importance in view of the atavistic origin of
crime. There exist whole tribes and races more or less given to crime,
such as the tribe Zakka Khel in India. In all regions of Italy, whole
villages constitute hot-beds of crime, owing, no doubt, to ethnical
causes: Artena in the province of Rome, Carde and San Giorgio Canavese
in Piedmont, Pergola in Tuscany, San Severo in Apulia, San Mauro and
Nicosia in Sicily. The frequency of homicide in Calabria, Sicily, and
Sardinia is fundamentally due to African and Oriental elements.
In the gipsies we have an entire race of criminals with all the passions
and vices common to delinquent types: idleness, ignorance, impetuous
fury, vanity, love of orgies, and ferocity. Murder is often committed
for some trifling gain. The women are skilled thieves and train their
children in dishonest practices. On the contrary, the percentage of
crimes among Jews is always lower than that of the surrounding
population; although there is a prevalence of certain specific forms of
offences, often hereditary, such as fraud, forgery, libel, and chief of
all, traffic in prostitution; murder is extremely rare.
ILLNESSES, INTOXICATIONS, TRAUMATISM
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