ABSTRACT
Cesare Lombroso is famously associated with positing the notion of the “born criminal” (though he did not coin the term) and the very notion of biological causes of crime. Though he may not necessarily have been the first ever to posit this notion, he is with some justification widely known as having originated the fields of both biological criminology and, indeed, criminology itself (Gibson 2002; Pasquino 1991). In turn, Lombroso is widely associated with biological determinism, the notion that some individuals are biologically destined to commit crimes. Recent scholarship has shown that Lombroso's thought was more varied and nuanced than the popular stereotype of him as nothing more than a knee-jerk biological determinist (e.g. Gibson 2002; Gibson and Rafter 2006; Gibson 2006; Bondio 2006). But even notwithstanding this nuance, there is no disputing either the strong biological component in Lombroso's thought or his influence in prompting criminological thought about biological causes of criminal behavior (e.g. Rodriguez 2006; Bondio 2006; Rafter 1992).
