POSITIVE SCHOOL OF

CRIMINOLOGY
 CESARE LAMBROSO

• The main exponents of this school were three eminent Italian criminologists namely: Cesare Lombroso, Raffaele
Garofalo andEnrico Ferri. It is for this reason that this school is also called the Italian School of Criminology.

Cesare Lombroso
• The first attempt to understand the personality of offenders in physical terms was made by Lombroso of the Italian School
of criminological thought, who is regarded as the originator of modern criminology. He was a doctor and a specialist in
psychiatry. He worked in military for sometime handling the mentally afflicted soldiers but later he was associated with the
University of Turin. His first published work was L’Umo Delequente which meant “the Criminal Man” (1876). 

•  After an intensive study of physical characteristics of his patients and later on of criminals, he came to a definite
conclusion that criminals were physically inferior in the standard of growth and therefore, developed a tendency for inferior
acts. He further generalized that criminals are less sensitive to pain and therefore they have little regard for the sufferings
of others.

• The Atavists or Hereditary Criminals Lombroso also termed them as born-criminals. In his opinion born-criminals were of a
distinct type who could not refrain from indulging in criminality and environment had no relevance whatsoever to the
crimes committed by the Atavists. He, therefore, considered these criminals as incorrigibles, i.e., beyond reformation.

• Lombroso’s theory used physical characteristics as indicators of criminality. He enumerated as many as sixteen physical
abnormalities of a criminal some of which were peculiar size and shape of head, eye, enlarged jaw and cheek bones, fleshy
lips, abnormal teeth, long or flat chin, retreating forehead, dark skin, twisted nose and so on. 
ENRICO FERRI
• Enrico Ferri subsequently challenged Lombroso’s theory of atavism and demonstrated that it was erroneous to think that
criminals were incorrigibles. He believed that just as non-criminals could commit crimes if placed in conducive
circumstances so also the criminals could refrain from criminality in healthy surroundings.

• Ferri emphasized that a criminal should be treated as a product of the conditions which played his life. Therefore, the basic
purpose of crime prevention programme should be to remove conditions making for crime.

• Ferri worked out a five-fold classification of criminals, namely:

I. Born criminals;
II. Occasional criminals
III.Passionate criminals
IV. Insane criminal and
V. Habitual criminals.
RAFFELLE GAROFALO
• Raffaele Garofalo was one of the three main exponents of positive school of criminology. Born in Naples in 1852,
Garafalo started his career as a Magistrate in Italian courts and rose to the position of Minister of Justice in 1903.
He stressed the need for a closer study of the circumstances and living condition of criminals. He firmly believed
that a criminal is a creature of his own environment. He was the only positivist who had varied experience as an
eminent jurist, a senator and a professor of criminal law.

• As to the classification of criminals, he rejected Ferri’s classification and placed offenders into four main
categories, namely:
I. Murders whom he called “endemic” criminals;
II. Violent criminals who are affected by environmental influences such as prejudices of honour, politics and religion
III. Criminals lacking in sentiment of probity; and
IV. Lascivious or lustful criminals who commit crimes against sex and chastity.