The Skulls of Murderers (PDF)

[Siginulfo]

http://archive.org/download/TheSkull...fMurderers.pdf

Description

In this classic April, 1879 presentation to members of the Anthropology Society of Paris, Doctor Arthur Bordier discusses the results of his analysis of 35 skulls of murderers. Compared to the skulls of normal people, the skulls of the murderers were found by Bordier to: 1) be greater in volume; 2) possess a weakly-developed frontal region; 3) frequently contain lesions. Many other anomalies were found, which led Bordier to conclude that "the murderers that I studied were therefore born with qualities that characterized prehistoric races." Doctor Leon Ardouin followed Bordier's presentation three months later with a similar one of his own, which is included here and is entitled "The Skulls of Malefactors." Although Ardouin studied a more varied group of criminals (some being robbers and rapists), "the results I obtained," he states, "coincide with those pertaining to murderers that Doctor Bordier presented." Both studies supported Bordier's most important conclusion: "In sum, we are right in thinking that one is born criminal."

[larali]

I can see them making that conclusion from analyzing brains, but skulls? Sounds like phrenology. :/

[Permafrost]

Never heard of him, although this sounds like positivistic criminology in the style of Cesare Lombroso. AFAIK his works were proved to be wrong.

[Siginulfo]

I don't think Lombroso and other scientists were wrong. I personally did a research on Central-Southern Italian criminals, collecting frontal pictures of 89 criminals (robbers, murderers, etc.) and I noted that the majority (ca. 95% of these criminals' heads showed many features described by Lombroso and Bordier. I am not saying they are wholly trustful, but a good part of what they say is right.

[Permafrost]

Well given the fact that you have empirical evidence on the matter you might aswell be right.

I should rephrase myself, it is rather that mainstream science and education deem Lombroso's (and Bordier's) work wrong; if I recall correctly from my psychology lessons Lombroso's methodology was heavily ridiculed.

Obviously that doesn't make them wrong by default, of course.

[Armand_Duval]

Wasnt this discipline called frenology????.

[AlexandraD]

Wasnt this discipline called frenology????.

phrenology definitely used the shape of the skull in determining peoples psyche, but it was classifying the brain into specific regions that determine single, important functions that made it phrenology.

it was slightly right in that regions of the brain control specific actions and functions; but it was majorly wrong in assigning things arbitrarily to one region (like this area controls happiness, all sections were seemingly determined at random), and they were also wrong because most regions (such as the amygdala) control multiple functions at once, not just one.

but yeah its total pseudoscience

[Armand_Duval]

Sorry..lol yes Phrenology.....

Regarding the rest of your post youre right aswell.


Cheers.

[1stLightHorse]

Interesting...all of my immediate family are rather brachycephalic and small-headed, i'm complete dolicho with much more cranial volume, and they always accuse me of being too violent or "cold".

[Zmey Gorynych]

According to this study I could've been a top-notch robber with great potential for murder Seriously, although criminals have big heads (?) very few are actually intelligent people.