ABSTRACT
Cesare Lombroso is widely recognized as one of the first scholars to bring scientific methods to bear on the study of crime. A physician, psychiatrist, and prolific author, Lombroso is best known as the founder of criminal anthropology, the study of the body, mind, and habits of the "born" criminal. The traditional view is understandably vague and halting: It was based on inadequate sources. Even though Lombroso's L'uomo delinquente, or Criminal Man, is widely acknowledged as a foundational text in the field, it has been available to English-only readers solely through two incomplete editions, both published in 1911. New resources are beginning to overcome the traditional inadequacy of Lombroso materials. Lombroso anticipated one of the most influential criminological ideas of recent decades, that is, the distinction between life-course persistent and adolescence-limited offenders, according to which some criminals continue to break the law for most of their lives while others desist after their teenage years.
