BPS Core Textbooks Series

Developed in collaboration with the British Psychological Society

Chapter 3 – The Skull That Sparked a Theory: Criminality and the Allure of Natural Kinds

Chapter Summary

This chapter explores the emergence of criminal anthropology in the late nineteenth century and its legacy in the psychological sciences. Focusing on the work of Cesare Lombroso and his critics, including Frances Kellor and Charles Goring, the chapter examines how scientific claims about criminality were constructed through a combination of biological, social, and moral assumptions. Lombroso’s theory of the ‘born criminal’ treated criminality as a biologically fixed and measurable condition, while Kellor’s feminist and sociological critique argued for understanding criminality as something shaped by environment, society, and cultural forces.

Using the critical thinking tool of natural kinds and human kinds, students are encouraged to question how knowledge in psychology is produced and how classification systems both reflect and reinforce structures of power. Through historical case studies, theoretical contrasts, and contemporary relevance, this chapter deploys the conceptual tools to critically assess the history of criminological thought, and to reflect on the ethical and political implications of categorising people in psychological science.

Chapter 3 – Quiz

  • Chapter 3 – Flashcards

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  • Chapter 3 – Key Readings

    Fitzgerald, D. (2019). What was sociology? History of the Human Sciences, 32(1), 121-137. https://doi.org/10.1177/0952695118808935 

    Gurley, J. R. (2009). A history of changes to the criminal personality in the DSM. History of Psychology, 12(4), 285–304. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018101 

    Hacking, I. (2007). Kinds of people: Moving targets. Proceedings of the British Academy, 151, 285–318. https://doi.org/10.5871/bacad/9780197264249.003.0010 

    Hofman, E. (2022). A useful science: Criminal interrogation and the turn to psychology in Germany around 1800. Journal of the History of the Behavioural Sciences, 58(3), 319–334. https://doi.org/10.1002/jhbs.22193 

    Karstedt, S. (2007). Explorations into the sociology of criminal justice and punishment: Leaving the modernist project behind. History of the Human Sciences, 20(2), 51-70. https://doi.org/10.1177/0952695107076199 

    Kellor, F. (1899). Experimental sociology: Descriptive and analytical. New York: Macmillan. 

    King, A. (2006). Serial killing and the postmodern self. History of the Human Sciences, 19(3), 109-125. https://doi.org/10.1177/0952695106066544 

    Lišková, K., & Moravanská, L. (2021). From class origins to individual psychopathology: Spousal murder according to state socialist Czechoslovak criminology. History of the Human Sciences, 35(3-4), 237-259. https://doi.org/10.1177/09526951211027724 

    Lombroso, C. (1876/2006). Criminal man. (M. Gibson & N. Rafter, Trans.). Durham, NC: Duke University Press. 

    Molina, J. (2024). British criminology, undercover policing, and racist attacks: Notes on the ‘law and order’ information infrastructure. History of the Human Sciences, 38(2), 56-74. https://doi.org/10.1177/09526951241278590 

    Rafter, N. (1997). Creating born criminals. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. 

    Rose, N. (2010). ‘Screen and intervene’: governing risky brains. History of the Human Sciences, 23(1), 79-105. https://doi.org/10.1177/0952695109352415 

  • Chapter 3 – Reflective Questions

    1. What does it mean to classify criminality as a ‘natural kind’, and how did
    2. Cesare Lombroso use this classification to support his theory of the born criminal?
    3. How did Frances Kellor’s sociological approach challenge the assumptions of criminal anthropology?
    4. Why is the distinction between natural kinds and human kinds important in understanding the history of psychological science?
    5. What role did power play in the formation and application of early criminological theories?
    6. How do the historical debates around criminal anthropology continue to shape contemporary biological psychology and criminology today?

  • Chapter 3 – Weblinks

    ‘Experimental Sociology – Frances Kellor’

    A digitised version of Kellor’s 1908 work discussing concepts of criminality on a sociological level, providing context for the beliefs held in the field at the time of its popularisation.

    Crime and Punishment – BBC’

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000b6sc

    A 53-minute BBC podcast in which the Dostoyevsky novel is discussed in-depth, examining the ideas of criminality proposed by the book.

    ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’

    https://publicdomainmovie.net/movie/dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde

    A public-domain accessible upload of the 1920’s silent adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, a film about a scientist in the Victorian-era scientist who turns himself into a murderous abomination through his experimentation.

    ‘The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy – Scientific Explanations’

    https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scientific-explanation

    A well cited and peer-reviewed article discussing the ideas behind different types of Scientific Explanation, including relevant citation information and further reading on the topic.

    ‘Nicole Hahn Rafter: The Criminal Brain’

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4irfcgFpoE

    A lecture on Criminality in the brain lasting 1 hour and 32 minutes, discussing the psychological and neurological concepts that inform how we think about criminality when considering the brain, without looking at external factors influencing the development of these behaviours.

    ‘Inside the Criminal Mind’ – Netflix Documentary Series

    A documentary series with 4 episodes, looking at different criminal cases including perspectives from neurological experts, criminal profilers and other professionals in these fields discussing different aspects of the ‘criminal mind’, providing interesting insights into a variety of different types of crimes and what could potentially be triggering these behaviours in the individuals who carry out these acts.