Neurocriminology, the Understanding of Criminality

Primitives, savages, and even biologically inferior. That’s how Cesare Lombroso described criminals in the 19th century. In addition, this controversial Italian physician and criminologist suggested that individuals inclined to criminal behavior shared certain physical traits. Nevertheless, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the field of neurocriminology originated from his ideas. Adrian Raine, professor of criminology and psychiatry at Richard Perry University seems to disagree. He even endorsed Dr. Lombroso in his celebrated book The Anatomy of Violence. In fact, Raine suggests that if we remove Lombroso’s variables of underlying racism and outdated ideas of phrenology, we should thank this founder of positivist criminology…