Name one important Positivist thinker and describe one of their contributions to Criminology

Italian psychiatrist Cesare Lombroso studied cause of crime based on individual biological and psychological characteristics in the late 19th century. he suggested that many career criminals were not as evolved as other members of society. Lombroso discovered certain physical attributes shared among criminals as well, and this led him to believe that there a biological and hereditary element that contributed to an individual's potential to commit a crime. He suggested that criminals were " evolutionary throwbacks " that were closer to our ape ancestors than humans. Therefore criminal behaviour was largely determined by genes. Cesare Lombroso also studied 400 corpses of criminals and in the excess of 30,000 executed criminals to determine scientifically whether criminals were physically any different from non-criminals.

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