C. Lombroso Books

An Italian criminologist and physician, he founded the Italian School of Positivist Criminology, rejecting the established Classical School's view that crime was an inherent trait of human nature. Drawing on concepts from physiognomy, early eugenics, psychiatry, and Social Darwinism, his theory of anthropological criminology posited that criminality was inherited. This theory suggested that individuals predisposed to crime, termed "born criminals," could be identified by physical defects indicative of savagery or atavism.