CRIM 1650 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Canine Tooth, Y Chromosome, 3 Women

• School: York University
• Department: Criminology
• Course: CRIM 1650
• Professor: James Williams

Document Summary

It is proposed that criminals physically appear different from normal people. Biological and psychological theories of crime: historical context. Middle ages (14002s-1600s: demonic perspective: the salem witches incident. The 3 women who were thought to be in charge of these possessions were executed. Even after they were executed, girls were still acting strange in the community. There was a witch hunt that followed this, where 2000 people were accused of being witches. Enlightenment and post-enlightenment (1700s-1900s: phrenology (1800-1850, refers to the early 19th century system of greeting character from the skull; it was thought the skull was able to tell whether a person was a criminal or not. People were able to study the skull instead of a brain to determine whether people were criminals or not. Bumps or hollows along the skull were thought to be abnormal; therefore criminal. If there was bump over the ear, they would be known as a serious offender.