The Sociological Dimension of Crime in the Light of Lombrosian Theory

Abstract

perspective. It aims to identify the limits of a purely biological explanation of crime. It also highlights the importance of the social dimension in understanding and explaining criminal behavior. The theory marked a shift from philosophical interpretation to scientific and empirical explanation.

Despite its historical importance in establishing criminology as an independent field of knowledge, Lombrosian theory soon faced broad scientific and methodological criticism. Some of this criticism came from within the positivist school itself. The main objection concerned its tendency to reduce the criminal phenomenon to biological determinants.