Lavater (1741 - 1801) and his supporters were the first to suggest looking for signs associated with criminal behavior in the features of a person's appearance. Such signs, in their opinion, were: small ears, lush eyelashes, small nose, large lips (quite a pretty portrait).

Of course, it was not possible to identify any stable connection between these signs and criminal behavior.

Then, Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828) proposed his theory of phrenology, which studied the external features of the skull, which are indicators of personal traits, properties and inclinations. Some protrusions on the skull were considered indicators of "lower" brain functions (aggressiveness), while others represented "higher" functions and tendencies (morality). It was believed that the "lower" aspirations of criminals prevail over the "higher".

The number of folds and gray matter in the brain of animals increases in proportion to their mental abilities - from fish and amphibians to ungulates, cats, monkeys, on the basis of this, he suggested that under the bulges of the skull there are clusters of nerve cells of the corresponding department responsible for one or another human quality.

The most dubious qualities are evidenced by a convex arc surrounding the ear:

VI. "Predatory instincts, killing ability" (hell, those are the only bulges on my skull, I think everyone does)

In the second half of the 19th century, phrenology began to be called "pseudo-science". And this name is quite justified, it seems.

Physiognomy and phrenology became the forerunnerscriminal anthropology, a doctrine often associated with the work of the Italian criminologist Cesare Lombroso (1835 - 1909) and his students.

Lombroso believed that criminals are inherent in the anomalies of the internal and externalanatomicalbuildings characteristic of primitive people andgreat apes.

From the first edition of his work on the criminal man, Lombroso clearly distinguishes him from the mentally ill. A born criminal is a special kind of human race. Initially, Lombroso recognized one general type of born criminal; then he began to recognize them as three: the type of murderer, thief and rapist. Two other leaders of the anthropological school speak of the same three types. Enrico Ferri and Garofalo :

1. Killers are usually distinguished by glassy, ​​cold eyes, bloodshot, large, often aquiline, bent down nose, developed fangs, jaws and cheekbones.

2. About thieves, Lombroso says that they have a special mobility of the face and hands, wandering small eyes, shifted eyebrows, a sparse beard, protruding auricle, set at an angle, crooked, sunken, sometimes snub-nosed noses.

3. Rapists are distinguished by sparkling eyes, swollen lips, feminine body movements, broken or hoarse voice.

Born criminals are also distinguished by the relatively large size of the face, compared with the rest of the skull, which is seen as a sign of a relatively lower organic structure.

In a work on women, he expressed the opinion that female criminals are more brutal than male criminals, but are rarer.

The moral callousness and insensitivity of born criminals are combined with hindsight, due to which they are inaccessible to the influence of the threat of the criminal law, the absence of moral feeling, repentance and remorse, as well as a highly developed vanity, surpassing even the vanity of artists and writers, vindictiveness and special pride. The passions of natural born criminals - love, passion for the game, for delicious food - are characterized by unbridled, inconstancy and violence. Even noble feelings and inclinations in many of them take on a painful character and are unstable. In addition, born criminals tend to get tattooed. “In addition to being very common,” says Lombroso, “the very nature of the content of tattoos is striking: shamelessness, boasting of a crime and a strange contrast of bad passions, along with tender feelings.

Insufficient sensitivity and great visual acuity bring criminals closer to savages. The sense of smell in criminals is very acute, especially in criminals against sexual morality, but the taste is somewhat dulled.

A born criminal is usually left-handed, and the right hemisphere of the brain works more for him than the left.

And in the gait of a born criminal there is a peculiarity: his left step is longer than his right one and, in addition, the left foot forms a greater angle with the center line than the right; the same features are seen in epileptics.

Of particular importance is Lombroso and his school of insensitivity of born criminals to pain, and in general their reduced sensitivity.

“I saw,” says Lombroso, “how two murderers, who hated each other for a long time and made a denunciation of each other, fought during a walk, and one bit the other’s lip, and he tore out the enemy’s hair; both then complained not of the wounds, which entailed grave consequences, but that they had not been able to complete their revenge.

Analgesia, Lombroso believes, explains why criminals are comparatively long-lived. Lombroso and Ferri also use it to explain the underdevelopment of a sense of compassion among criminals.

born criminal , according to the teachings of Lombroso, is, first of all, an anatomical and physiological type, i.e. a subject marked by a number of peculiar anatomical and physiological features. Lombroso and his school find a number of characteristic anomalies in all parts of his body. They measure the criminal literally from head to toe and find features everywhere. Some of these features are of an external nature and are determined directly by measuring the corresponding part of the body on living and dead people, others are hidden inside the body and are discovered during the autopsy of corpses.

At the same time, there is no definite system in listing the distinctive features of the anatomy of a born criminal. In disorder, signs of the most diverse anatomical and biological significance are set forth.

Inborn criminals are often observed: asymmetry of the skull, short forehead, protruding profile, various deviations in the shape of the cranial and facial bones.

Lombroso identified the following main features inherent in born criminals:

• Unusually small or large stature
• Small head and big face
• Low and sloping forehead
• Lack of a clear hairline
• Wrinkles on forehead and face
• Large nostrils or bumpy face
• Large, protruding ears
• Protrusions on the skull, especially in the area of ​​the "center of destruction" above the left ear, on the back of the head and around the ears
• high cheekbones
• Lush eyebrows and large eye sockets with deep-set eyes
• Crooked or flat nose
• Protruding jaw
• Fleshy lower and thin upper lip
• Pronounced incisors and generally abnormal lips
• small chin
• Thin neck, sloping shoulders with a wide chest
• Long arms, thin fingers

In general, everyone who is terrible, in his opinion, is also dangerous.

Critics rightly pointed out that similar features exist in law-abiding individuals, and there is no statistical difference in the frequency of their occurrence.

In view of this, in the later works of Lombroso himself and his students, in addition to criminals who commit crimes due to a biological predisposition, there are also those who can violate the law under the influence of life circumstances - random or potential criminals.

Lombroso's theory was almost completely abandoned and emphasis was placed on the insanity of criminals. As a result, at the beginning of the 20th century, psychiatric hospitals were overflowing with all sorts of people, both guilty and accidental, and the methods of treatment were, to put it mildly, not mild. As, for example, in the book "Over the cuckoo's nest."

And as measures that had to be taken only to prevent committing crimes, supporters of this theory - German psychiatrist Ernst Kretschmer, American criminologistsWilliam Sheldon,Eleanor Gluck offeredhormone therapy, as well as the placement of potential criminals in special camps, where they will be taught the skills of socially useful behavior ...

Along with the. attempts have been made to make criminal behavior dependent onconstitutional type of person (body type), which, in turn, was associated with the work of the endocrine glands. There were three main somatic types:

• Endomorphic - tends toobesity, soft roundness of the body, short and thin limbs, thin bones, smooth skin; relaxed personality with a high level of comfort, loves luxury,extrovert .
• Mesomorphic - the predominance of muscles, bones and the musculoskeletal system, a large torso, wide chest, large palms and arms, a dense physique; active, aggressive and unrestrained personality type.
• Ectomorphic - the predominance of the skin, a fragile body, thin bones, sloping shoulders, a small face, a sharp nose, thin hair; sensitive type cattention disorders andinsomnia, skin problems andallergies.

Although each person to a certain extent has the characteristics of all three of these types, it was believed that criminals were mostsigns of mesomorphic type are expressed.

Since then, many more theories have been applied, but the true cause and relationship could not be established accurately.

Every day we meet different people: kind, sad, strange, tall, obese, beautiful, funny... Each person with whom some kind of communication takes place leaves a certain trace in our psyche. These "traces" are not complete without a verbal description of the subject's appearance. In our mind or in a conversation with a girlfriend, we always rely on aspects of describing a person's appearance.

Description of a person's appearance: purpose

There are sciences that study the appearance of people, such as psychology, philology, forensics and some others. Doctors also encounter elements of the description of appearance when they study the history of the disease or the psychotype of the patient. This process is indispensable in business, especially show business. In modeling agencies, the appearance of a girl or a guy plays a key role, therefore, when meeting with the desired model in absentia, the investor or director first gets acquainted with the verbal portrait of the subject.

Description of appearance in everyday life broadens the horizon, contributes to the formation of taste and appreciation of people. In addition, the interlocutor can easily form the image of the described person in the mind according to certain adjectives.

In psychology, the description of appearance is also in an important place. Whole theories of personality and its behavior are based on the appearance of individuals. For example, Kretschmer's theory directly links the temperament, character and orientation of a person with his physique. And not only he noted a certain relationship between external data and the internal mood of people. Over the years, our emotions and stress leave an imprint on our appearance in the form of wrinkles, gait, gestures.

In jurisprudence, there is a huge section called forensic science. This science also uses the scientific description of a person's appearance, defining the criteria and rules for this process. Here, the description is also an important process, since victims and witnesses remember criminals according to external data. In this science, attention is paid to every element of the face, torso, limbs of a person. Along with this, they pay attention to clothes and other signs when they are looking for the missing.

Types of description of appearance

There are many varieties of theories and rules that allow you to describe a person externally as accurately as possible. But this process as a whole can be divided into two main types:

• arbitrary- which is characterized by the use of ordinary folk words, is not structured, so important points may be missed;
• systematized- used with the use of scientific or technical terms, compiled according to the method of verbal portrait.

What are the anatomical features of a person?

Description of a person's appearance is what many people encounter when communicating. There are times when you need to talk about a particular person, describing his appearance. School-age children may also encounter this, for example, if they were given the task of writing an essay: "Description of a person's appearance."

Anatomical features of a person include organs and parts of the body, such as the head, chin, forehead, face or torso.

By anatomical features, you can determine the sex of a person, his age, height and physique. You can also determine the anthropological features of the appearance of a person, the structure of his body and head, and also an element of the face. Since the face is considered the "cover" that characterizes the appearance of a person, special attention is paid to it.

What characteristics are related to the functional description?

The description of a person's appearance cannot take place without determining his functional characteristics. The latter are manifested during human life. They characterize motor and physiological functions. A functional description of a person's appearance reflects the features of the manifestation of his life activity. Characteristics related to functional traits include posture, gestures, facial expressions, gait, and speech.

Creating a verbal portrait of a person, describing the appearance and determining its functional features, first of all, many pay attention to posture. It can be traced by the position of the head - its relation to the body. Also, posture is determined by the position of the body relative to the vertical. Describing it, you can use the following adjectives: hunched, stooped, free, straight and loose. For example, hands can be located along the body, on the hips, behind the back or in pockets. And the head is thrown back, tilted forward, or tilted to one of the sides.

When a student writes a thematic essay: "Description of a person's appearance", then he can use adjectives to characterize the gait of this person. It can be, for example, slow, shuffling, heavy, bouncing, wobbling, fast, mincing, waddling, and waving its arms.

The verbal description of a person's appearance according to functional characteristics can be continued for a long time, because, as mentioned above, this includes gestures, facial expressions, as well as speech functions.

Methods of verbal portrait

A verbal portrait is a forensic way of describing a person's appearance using special terms. This method is carried out by a certain system for the purpose of criminal registration (for example, search and identification of living people or corpses).

Methods of verbal portrait are used to identify a person. This can be done by presenting for identification, comparing the appearance with a photographic portrait, with a verbal portrait, as well as comparing a verbal portrait with a photographic image.

Arbitrary description of appearance

Characteristics of a person and a description of his appearance can be made in an arbitrary way. They are given by eyewitnesses with words and expressions used in everyday speech. These can be household terms, local dialects, and the like.

Any person who saw the incident can give an arbitrary description. Moreover, he does this with the help of words familiar to him, without using scientific terms. Such descriptions often help criminalists find the right person.

Systematization in the description of a person's appearance

Systematized is a description by the method of verbal portrait. Alphonse Bertillon laid the foundations for systematization at the end of the 19th century. Such a description helps to uniformly characterize the elements of people's appearance, their signs and equally perceive the result of the description. There are also basic principles for describing appearance, through which uniformity is achieved. These are the principles:

• on the use of standardized terminology;
• on compliance with the sequence in the description;
• about maximum completeness;
• about the description in full face and in the right profile;
• description, which is carried out in relation to the standard position of the head and the state of appearance;
• about the description, in which special signs stand out.

What are the rules for describing appearances?

There are also rules developed by criminologists for describing a person's appearance, with the help of which a person is characterized by the method of a verbal portrait. This includes the completeness of the description of appearance. After all, the speed of searching for a person primarily depends on this, because it is not known by what signs it will be possible to find it.

The next rule is the sequence of description. This includes general physical characteristics such as gender and age. Then an anatomical description already takes place (for example, the figure as a whole, neck, shoulders, chest, back, head, including the face).

Then there is a description using special terminology. This is necessary in order to ensure a uniform understanding of the information received. But the sources of information are divided into subjective and objective.

The use of adjectives in describing a person in a picture

At first glance, it may seem that making a description of a person's appearance from a picture is not so difficult. But this will not be difficult if we know the person well, and if not, then some effort will have to be made. The first thing you need is to know adjectives well, with which you can make a description.

For example, looking at a picture, you can describe a person's head using adjectives that indicate its size: small, medium, or large. You can characterize a person’s hair from a picture using the following criteria: abundance, length, type, color or frontal line. Hair can be thick, medium or sparse. Length - short, medium length or long. Hair type can be straight, wavy and curly. Color - light blond, blond, dark blond, black and red. And the frontal line is straight, arcuate, wavy and broken.

Looking at the picture, you can use any adjectives to describe the face of a person as a whole, his forehead, eyebrows, eyes, nose, mouth, lips, teeth, chin, ear and neck. It also characterizes the shoulders, chest, back, arms and legs.

Characteristics of the appearance of a Russian person

Another mystery for ethnopsychologists, physiognomists, philologists is the appearance of a Russian person. It is not very easy to describe it, because it is a very vague concept. Many say that a real Russian person should have blue eyes, blond hair and a flat, tall figure. But if we go deeper into this issue, then it can be light or dark brown or blue eyes, as well as all colors and shades of green. The hair is light or dark blond and very thick, and the figure is slender, tall. There is no regularity in the shape of the nose and lips of a Russian person. They can be completely different. But the skin of Russians is often light and matte.

The ratio of the characteristics of a person and the description of his appearance

A few centuries ago, some scientists noticed the correspondence of appearance and some character traits, personality characteristics. A full person is characterized by addictions (for example, to food), that is, he has weak willpower. Such people are guided by the opinions of others, friendly and love communication.

People with a visually large head and shoulders love risk, are prone to physical activity, but do not differ in mercy and compassion.

Thin people with a high forehead and a narrow chest are characterized as sensitive, loving solitude, quiet, secretive, inactive in communication.

There are theories that link complexion, its asymmetry, impulsiveness with the lifestyle that a person leads. The description of appearance in this case will be based on the external characteristics and characteristics of human activity.

In addition, there is a downside to this process. It is necessary to pay attention to who makes the description of the person's appearance. Example: a person who is inclined to control everything will first describe the leadership traits of a person and his behavior in this vein. Subjects seeking to constantly enrich themselves will pay attention to the cost of watches, cosmetics on the face and clothes, and so on.

The system of description will accept the appearance of a person (verbal portrait)

(underline, fill in)

1. Floor _

2. Age

3. Growth: high (175 cm and above), medium (160-174 cm), low (up to

(Data for women are reduced by 5 cm)

Body type :

4. Lean, medium fullness, full, smooth.

5. Shoulders: horizontal, raised, lowered.

6. face shape

in profile

7. Face by color: pale, swarthy, red

8. face features: Caucasian type, Mongolian type, Central Asian type, European type

9. forehead height :

width, shape

Forehead by position:

Features: large frontal tubercles, large protrusion of the superciliary ridges,

10. Eyebrows in shape: straight, arched, sinuous.

in width, in length

11. Eyebrow height(relative to the eyes): high, medium, low.

by position

Eyebrow Features

12. Eyes :

according to the position of the eye socket

Light: blue, gray, green, yellow.

Dark: brown, black.

Eye features:

Big eyes, small eyes, squint eyes.

Protruding eyes, deep-set eyes, wears glasses:

13. Nose: in width, nose bridge depth,

tip shape, nasal septum

large, medium, small

Back shape:

Base of the nose: raised, horizontal, lowered.

Nose features:

14. Mouth: large, medium, small; oral fissure by position

Along the contour.

Mouth corners:

Mouth features:

15. Lips: thick, medium thickness, thin. By position:

Lip Features:

16. The chin by position:

shape, height, width

Part two. FORENSIC TECHNOLOGY

Features of the chin: bifurcation, deep fossa on the chin, transverse furrow on the chin,

17. Ears in the form:

curl, anti-helix

Ears by position:

The type of fire is general, the type is top, the type is lower.

Increased lobes, fit of the left ear, fit of the right ear.

18. Head hair: by length,

hairline

In shape: straight, wavy, sinuous.

By color: blond, red, light blond, dark blond, black, gray, dyed in light tone, dyed in dark tone, dyed in red tone,

Frontal baldness, parietal baldness, crown baldness, complete baldness, bald patches, beard, mustache, sideburns, braid.

Pronunciation: of course, slurred, speaks with an accent,

Lisp, burr, stutter.

Talk fast, talk slow.

20. Foot (shoe) size: up to size 35, 36-37, 38-39, 40-41, 42-43 and more.

21. Wanted Special Features:

physique:

Hand limbs:

appearance:

Teeth: missing teeth, defects in teeth,

(Describe the condition of the teeth: levels, crooked, liquid, large, small, white, which teeth are missing, the presence of crowns, bridges, dentures, etc.)

Skin: scars, burns, birthmarks (moles), traces of smallpox, warts, acne on the face, freckles, wrinkles on the face.

Note location, size and configuration

Tattoos: dates, individual letters, text, drawings, birds, animals, sun, cards, heart, knife, dagger, cross, man, ring, bracelet, watch, flowers, aviation theme, marine theme, religious theme. Tattoo location: right arm, left arm, chest, back, legs, other part of the body.

22. Features of functional signs: walks fast, walks slowly, waddles, walks with a stick, limps,

Characteristic features: gesticulates, rich facial expressions, takes on characteristic words, turns, phrases, exclamations, national words.

23. Skills, tendencies

24. Health status(when and where he was treated, has chronic diseases, received a pension, etc.)

25. Psychological features:

temperament

character traits

volitional qualities

The verbal portrait indicates special and striking signs. Special signs- these are distinctive features that are of value for identifying a person by signs of appearance (tattoos, moles, scars, etc.). Special signs that are easily accessible to observation and attract attention, very noticeable, conspicuous, are called startling signs.

Special signs include tattoos - patterns pricked with special paint on the body. Tattoos are distributed mainly among criminals. In the criminal environment, tattoos are called "picture", "tattoo", "firmware" or "regal" and there are various ways of applying it. The most common way, used in places of deprivation of liberty, is the use of 2-3 needles, special stamps, presses with images. As a dye, ink, graphite, ultramarine, ink are used. Tattoos in the form of numbers, drawings (or other images), as a rule, have a certain hidden meaning, namely: they can indicate a position in a criminal environment, belonging to a criminal activity, a criminal record and sentences, criminal experience and qualifications, belonging to a certain categories of criminals, the method of committing a crime, the instruments of crime. Tattoos have an important identification value, they are used for the purposes of criminal registration of criminals and for operational-search purposes.

Photo from cyclowiki.org

Cesare Lombroso, an Italian psychiatrist and professor of forensic medicine of the 19th century, is often called the founder of criminal anthropology. This science tries to explain the relationship between the anatomical and physiological characteristics of a person and his propensity to commit crimes. Lombroso came to the conclusion that there is such a connection, and it is direct: crimes are committed by people with a certain appearance and character *.

As a rule, criminals have congenital physical and mental defects, Lombroso believed. We are talking about anomalies of the internal and external anatomical structure, characteristic of primitive people and great apes. Thus, criminals are not made, but born. Whether a person is a criminal or not depends only on an innate predisposition, and each type of crime has its own anomalies.

Lombroso devoted his entire life to developing this theory. He examined 383 skulls of the dead and 3839 skulls of living criminals. In addition, the scientist studied the characteristics of the body (pulse, temperature, bodily sensitivity, intelligence, habits, diseases, handwriting) of 26,886 criminals and 25,447 respectable citizens.

Appearance of criminals

Lombroso singled out a number of physical signs ("stigmata"), which, in his opinion, characterize a person endowed with criminal inclinations from birth. This is an irregular shape of the skull, a narrow and sloping forehead (or a bifurcated frontal bone), asymmetry of the face and eye sockets, overdeveloped jaws. Red criminals are extremely rare. Most often, brunettes and brown-haired people commit crimes. Brunettes prefer to steal or set fires, while brown-haired people are prone to murder. Blondes are sometimes found among rapists and scammers.

Appearance of a typical rapist

Big bulging eyes, plump lips, long eyelashes, flattened and crooked nose. Most often lean and rickety blondes, sometimes humpbacked.

Appearance of a typical thief

Irregular small skull, elongated head, straight nose (often upturned at the base), running or, on the contrary, tenacious eyes, black hair and a sparse beard.

Appearance of a typical killer

Large skull, short head (width greater than height), sharp frontal sinus, voluminous cheekbones, long nose (sometimes bent down), square jaws, huge eye sockets, protruding quadrangular chin, motionless glassy gaze, thin lips, well developed fangs.

The most dangerous killers most often have black, curly hair, a sparse beard, short hands, excessively large or, conversely, too small earlobes.

Appearance of a typical scammer

The face is pale, the eyes are small, stern, the nose is crooked, the head is bald. In general, the appearance of scammers is quite good-natured.

Features of criminals

“I myself observed that during a thunderstorm, when seizures become more frequent in epileptics, prisoners in prison also become more dangerous: they tear their clothes, break furniture, beat ministers,” Lombroso wrote. In criminals, in his opinion, the sensitivity of the senses and pain sensitivity is reduced. They are not able to realize the immorality of their actions, therefore, repentance is unknown to them.

Lombroso was able to identify the features of the handwriting of various types of criminals. The handwriting of murderers, robbers and robbers is distinguished by elongated letters, curvilinear and definite features in the endings of letters. The handwriting of thieves is characterized by extended letters, without sharp outlines and curvilinear endings.

The nature and lifestyle of criminals

According to Lombroso's theory, criminals are characterized by a desire for vagrancy, shamelessness, laziness. Many of them have tattoos. For persons prone to crime, boasting, pretense, weakness of character, irritability, highly developed vanity bordering on megalomania, rapid mood swings, cowardice and painful irritability are characteristic. These people are aggressive, vengeful, they are not capable of repentance and are not tormented by remorse. Graphomania can also indicate criminal inclinations.

Lombroso believed that people from the lower class become murderers, robbers and rapists. Representatives of the middle and upper class are more likely to be professional scammers.

Criticism of Lombroso's theory

Even during the life of Lombroso, his theory was criticized. Not surprisingly, many senior government officials had an appearance that completely coincided with the description of born criminals. Many are sure that the scientist exaggerated the biological and completely did not take into account the social component in the cause of crime. Perhaps this is what forced Lombroso to reconsider some of his views towards the end of his life. In particular, he began to argue that the presence of a criminal appearance does not necessarily mean that a person has committed a crime - it rather speaks of his propensity for illegal acts. If a person of criminal appearance is well-off, he falls into the category of hidden criminals who have no external reason to break the law.

Lombroso's reputation suffered greatly when his ideas began to be used by the Nazis - they measured the skulls of concentration camp prisoners before they were sent to the ovens. In the Soviet period, the doctrine of a born criminal was also criticized for its contradiction to the principle of legality, anti-people and reactionary.

As far as we were able to find out, Lombroso's theory was never used in lawsuits - even the scientist himself did not see any practical value in it, as he said at one scientific dispute: "I work not in order to give my research applied application in the field of jurisprudence; in as a scientist, I serve science only for the sake of science." Nevertheless, the concept of a criminal person proposed by him came into use, and his developments are still used in physiognomy, criminal anthropology, sociology and psychology.

* The information is taken from the following books: Cesare Lombroso. "Criminal Man" Milgard. 2005; Mikhail Shterenshis. "Cesare Lombroso". IsraDon. 2010