The Criminal Brain
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
The Criminal Brain Rafter_1p.indd 1 6/10/16 10:10 AM Rafter_1p.indd 2 6/10/16 10:10 AM The Criminal Brain Understanding Biological Theories of Crime Second Edition Nicole Rafter, Chad Posick, and Michael Rocque NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS Ne w York Rafter_1p.indd 3 6/10/16 10:10 AM NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS Ne w York www.nyupress.org © 2016 by New York University All rights reserved References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Rafter, Nicole Hahn, 1939–2016 author. | Posick, Chad, author. | Rocque, Michael, author. Title: The criminal brain : understanding biological theories of crime / Nicole Rafter, Chad Posick, and Michael Rocque. Description: Second edition. | New York : New York University Press, [2016] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016010229| ISBN 9781479867547 (cl : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781479894697 (pb : alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Criminal behavior—Genetic aspects. | Criminal anthropology | Criminal anthropology—History. Classification: LCC HV6047 .R334 2016 | DDC 364.2/4—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016010229 New York University Press books are printed on acid- free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. We strive to use environmentally responsible suppli- ers and materials to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books. Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Also available as an ebook Rafter_1p.indd 4 6/10/16 10:10 AM Dedicated to Nicole Hahn Rafter (1939–2016) Rafter_1p.indd 5 6/10/16 10:10 AM Rafter_1p.indd 6 6/10/16 10:10 AM Contents List of Illustrations ix Preface to the Second Edition xi In Memoriam xiii Authors’ Note on the Second Edition xv Preface to the First Edition xvii 1 Introduction: Crime, History, Science 1 Part I. Biological Theories in the 19th Century 2 Moral Insanity and the Origins of Criminology 21 3 Phrenology: The Abnormal Brain 44 4 Criminal Anthropology: The Atavistic Brain 70 5 Evolutionary Theories: The Degenerate Brain 96 Part II. Biological Theories in the 20th Century 6 Stupidity Theories: The Backward Brain 131 7 Constitutional Theory: Bodytypes and Criminality 158 8 Criminology’s Darkest Hour: Biocriminology in Nazi Germany 190 9 An Unhappy Couple: Criminology and Biology in the Late 20th Century 215 Part III. Biological Theories in the 21st Century 10 Becoming Partners: The Emergent Biosocial Model in Theory, Policy, and Practice 255 11 The Future of Biosocial Criminology 283 Notes 303 References 335 Index 367 About the Authors 375 vii Rafter_1p.indd 7 6/10/16 10:10 AM Rafter_1p.indd 8 6/10/16 10:10 AM List of Illustrations Figure 1.1. Freeman stabbing Van Nest child . 2 Figure 1.2. Hanging Freeman . 5 Figure 1.3. Andrea Yates in court . 7 Figure 2.1. Physiognomical studies by Giambattista della Porta. .22 Figure 2.2. Physiognomical studies by Johann Caspar Lavater . 23 Figure 3.1. Phrenological heads . .45 Figure 3.2. The science of phrenology . 55 Figure 3.3. Phrenological illustration of a male criminal. .64 Figure 3.4. Phrenological illustration of a female criminal. .67 Figure 4.1. Cesare Lombroso . 71 Figure 4.2. Villella’s cranium . 75 Figure 4.3. Evolutionary sequence of skulls . 78 Figure 4.4. Bushman woman . 81 Figure 4.5. Skull of the brigand Villella . 83 Figure 4.6. Lombroso’s science . 86 Figure 4.7. Criminal women. .88 Figure 4.8. Heads of criminals . 93 Figure 5.1. Petrus Camper’s facial angles. .99 Figure 5.2. Chart of the “Juke” family . 115 Figure 5.3. Composite photograph of prisoners. 124 Figure 6.1. Carrie Buck and her mother, Emma. 132 Figure 6.2. The heredity of feeblemindedness. 141 Figure 6.3. World War I Alpha test . 147 Figure 6.4. World War I Beta test. 149 Figure 7.1. Bodytyping by Kretschmer . .161 Figure 7.2. Earnest A. Hooton. 163 Figure 7.3. Hooton on offenses by bodytype. 166 ix Rafter_1p.indd 9 6/10/16 10:10 AM x | List of Illustrations Figure 7.4. Hooton on rape by race and ethnicity. 168 Figure 7.5. Hooton’s eugenic prison. 170 Figure 7.6. Three extreme types of human physique . 176 Figure 7.7. A Sheldon example of “primary criminality” . 179 Figure 8.1. The murderer “M”. 195 Figure 9.1. The mass murderer Charles Whitman in 1966, age twenty- four . .222 Figure 9.2. Neuroimaging of a brain . 236 Figure 9.3. Abnormal brain before implantation by Dr. Frankenstein . 238 Figure 9.4. The result: Frankenstein’s monster . 238 Figure 10.1. Median section of the brain . 264 Figure 10.2. (Non)development of the male brain . 266 Figure 10.3. Structure of a chemical synapse . 267 Figure 10.4. The endocrine system . 269 Figure 11.1. Biosocial interaction model . 296 Rafter_1p.indd 10 6/10/16 10:10 AM Preface to the Second Edition Through great good fortune, for this second edition of The Criminal Brain I have two coauthors who were actually students in my Biological Theories of Crime course a number of years ago. Chad Posick and Mike Rocque went on to become professors in their own right and to pub- lish articles on biosocial criminology. To no one’s surprise, we formed a compatible team when it came to producing this second edition. In the meantime, biosocial explanations of criminal behavior moved toward center stage in criminological theory, intensifying the need for a book such as this second edition that follows the development of biological theories of crime from the late 18th century into the present. We have left the historical chapters from the first edition intact but updated for- mer chapter 9 (now retitled “An Unhappy Couple: Criminology and Biology in the Late 20th Century”) and added two new chapters that bring the story up- to- date. For help in preparing this second edition, we thank MacKenzie Mc- Bride of Georgia Southern University for her help with research; Steven E. Barkan of the University of Maine, J. C. Barnes of the University of Cincinnati, and Matt DeLisi of Iowa State University for thoughtful and encouraging comments on chapters 10 and 11; Susan Erony for photo- graphic help; and Per J. Ystehede of the University of Oslo for sending us an important resource. We also thank those who gave us the expert attention and patient support that I have come to expect from New York University Press: Dorothea S. Halliday, Andrew Katz, Caelyn Cobb, and above all our wonderful editor, Ilene Kalish. Nicole Rafter April 2015 xi Rafter_1p.indd 11 6/10/16 10:10 AM Rafter_1p.indd 12 6/10/16 10:10 AM In Memoriam Shortly after this book was completed, we were saddened to learn of the passing of Nicole Rafter. We consider ourselves blessed to have been able to call her a teacher, a colleague, and most importantly, a friend. We learned so much through her generosity and willingness to allow us to assist in the second edition of The Criminal Brain. It is difficult to imagine a field, and a world, without her. Nicole “Nicky” Hahn Rafter (1939–2016) was a visionary in the field of criminology and criminal justice. To discuss each and every one of her accomplishments here would likely double the book’s length—so we will mention only a few. Nicky was one of four females to receive the Edwin H. Sutherland Award handed out by the American Society of Criminol- ogy (ASC). Her article, “Criminology’s Darkest Hour: Biocriminology in Nazi Germany,” which serves as the basis for Chapter 8 in this book, won the Allen Austin Bartholemew Best Paper Award. Throughout the 2000s, she was awarded several fellowships including those to the Uni- versity of Oxford, Study Centre of Liguria, and a Fulbright Fellowship to Austria. Along with winning prestigious awards, she made a lasting imprint on the field with her work on feminist criminology. Nicky was one of the first to develop a curriculum course dedicated to women and crime. She was instrumental in starting the ASC Division on Women and Crime and was elected as vice president of the division in 1995. xiii Rafter_1p.indd 13 6/10/16 10:10 AM xiv | In Memoriam Five years later, she was elected as a fellow of the ASC. Over her career, she published more than seventy articles and nine books, and she has been cited more than two thousand times. In a recent article, “The Most Prolific Female Scholars in Elite Criminology and Criminal Justice,” by Henrjikka Weir and Erin Orrick in the Journal of Criminal Justice, she was ranked in the top twenty for journal publications. There can be no doubt of her scholarly footprint. We think that if you had asked Nicky about her greatest accomplish- ments, she would have glossed over everything in the previous para- graph. Her love for working with faculty and students was her great reward and passion. At Northeastern University where she taught for almost forty years (1977–2016), she mentored dozens of students (and more like hundreds informally). We were students in her biosocial theo- ries of crime class and continued to work closely with her on biosocial research projects. She helped mold our careers during our time in grad- uate school and into our current positions. The field has lost a great mind and we have all lost a great friend. Nicky’s substantial body of work, her mentees, and her ideas and pas- sion, however, live on.