The Origins of Criminology
From its inception photography had a profound effect on anthropological work as measuring device when studying races. While many would expect the photograph to bring truth and an end to the accentuated stereotyping by hand-drawn image, the medium would still be used to promote ideas of racial inferior traits. For example, Carl Victor and Friedrich Wilhelm Dammann’s photographic book, Races of Men has influenced and propelled the viewpoints and stereotypes of different races. Containing black and white photos along with brief captions describing physical and mental traits, the context of these depictions serve to relay the idea of a Darwinian racial evolution from the Polynesians culminating with the Germanic race. Alphonse Bertillon founded modern anthropometric photography for the purpose of identifying repeated offenders by photographing and recording measures of physical features that remain constant throughout an individual’s adult life. Cesare Lombroso, the founder of anthropological criminology, claimed to identify a links between common physical and mental traits and those highly likely to commit crimes. Dubbing the concept of being a "born criminal" Lombroso argued in favor of biological determinism, He found that skull and facial features were clues to genetic criminality and could be measured into quantitative research. The image depicts some of the 14 traits of a criminal Lombroso identified as large jaws, forward projection of jaw, low sloping forehead; high cheekbones, flattened or upturned nose; handle-shaped ears; hawk-like noses or fleshy lips; hard shifty eyes; scanty beard or baldness; insensitivity to pain; long arms, and so on. Lombroso viewed criminality as a hereditary disposition due to having traits similar to primitive human ancestors of monkeys and apes. His theories have also helped with influencing eugenics and anti-miscegenation laws, while his legacy can be found in modern day policing with racial profiling.
