Criminal Woman, the Prostitute, and the Normal Woman

by Cesare Lombroso, Guglielmo Ferrero, Nicole Hahn Rafter

Cesare Lombroso is widely considered the founder of the field of criminology. His theory of the “born” criminal dominated discussions of criminology in Europe and the Americas from the 1880s into the early twentieth century. His book, La donna delinquente , originally published in Italian in 1893, was the first and most influential book ever written on women and crime. This comprehensive new translation gives readers a full view of his landmark work. Lombroso’s research took him to police stations, prisons, and madhouses where he studied the tattoos, cranial capacities, and sexual behavior of criminals and prostitutes to establish a female criminal type. Criminal Woman, the Prostitute, and the Normal Woman anticipated today’s theories of genetic criminal behavior. Lombroso used Darwinian evolutionary science to argue that criminal women are far more cunning and dangerous than criminal men. Designed to make his original text accessible to students and scholars alike, this volume includes extensive notes, appendices, a glossary, and more than thirty of Lombroso’s own illustrations. Nicole Hahn Rafter and Mary Gibson’s introduction, locating his theory in social context, offers a significant new interpretation of Lombroso’s place in criminology.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Psychology, Science, School

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Italian criminologist, physician, and founder of the Italian School of Positivist Criminology. Lombroso rejected the established Classical School, which held that crime was a characteristic trait of human nature.

Instead, using concepts drawn from physiognomy, early eugenics, psychiatry and Social Darwinism, Lombroso's theory of anthropological criminology essentially stated that criminality was inherited, and that someone "born criminal" could be identified by physical defects, which confirmed a criminal as savage, or atavistic.

Reviews

[Meghan Hoefling]

not rating this. instead going to highlight these two baddies:

“I have seen a woman of eighty years who masturbated with a brass crucifix. Another old woman filled her vulva with knives…“

[Eugene · Rating 1 out of 5]

Outdated trash was almost laughable because of the stupid statements it was making. The fact that it was written 120 years ago should not be an excuse for this abortion.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

quite honestly the worst thing I've ever read. utterly obsessed.

some fave lines:

Watching people on a public walkway, I noted that out of 560 women, 9 were of a completely degenerative type.

Primitive woman was rarely a murderer; but she was always a prostitute.

Everyone knows that the sight of suffering makes us men suffer pangs of sympathy; and we cannot help sufferers if we, too, have spasms of pain.

In brothels, women hold competitions, betting on who has the most beautiful sexual organs; naturally this ends up in lesbianism.

[Yomna Saber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the whole book, and although I disagree with almost everything that he says, I have truly enjoyed my reading and I believe this is a very interesting book.

[Chiara]

Nonostante sia del 1893 e, di conseguenza decisamente datato sotto ogni punto di vista e assolutamente sessista (Lombroso non aveva nemmeno un buon rapporto con le donne, anzi) credo sia decisamente interessante da leggere, visto che è stato scritto dal padre della criminologia ed è il primo a parlare di donne delinquenti.

[Тот Мальчик · Rating 5 out of 5]

a must to read - 5 stars

[Volodymyr Hnatiuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Можливо, на XIX ст. ідеї були прогресивними, або новаторськими, але мені не вистачило отієї витонченості в аргументації, яка є у Вейнінгера, який будучи євреєм вмів з винятковою огидою паплюжити євреїв та людину. Але, тим не менш, книга не найгірша. Слабка 4, або міцна 3. Поставив першу оцінку все-таки. Бо книга розважила.

[Sandra Marin]

...

[Jelena Glazova · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible trash/ anti-feminism

[Elena Ratoi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the fact I don't agree with most of the ideas, in general the book is recommended for reading to see what kind of attitude the author had towards women (a pretty denigrating one).