By a "need for social preservation": Cesare Lombroso and the construction of a "Homo criminals" in Chile (1880-1920)
Authors
Marco Antonio León León
Departamento de Ciencias Sociales. Universidad del Bío Bío. Departamento de Ciencias Históricas y Sociales. Universidad de Concepción
This research seeks to examine the circulation and reception of the ideas of Cesare Lombroso in Chile, who helped define a new image of “criminal man” marked by a biological determinism which explained its danger and appearance within the urban setting of the turn of the century. Turning away from the views attributing the crime to free will and the destruction of social life, criminal anthropology, helped reinforce “scientifically” many prejudices that stigmatize the popular sectors according to their physical features, skin color and customs, building a sort of “common enemy” to which should be preventive and defensive measures. The review of the writings of time and the press, show that this new criminological knowledge was well received by authorities and professionals study period.
Keywords:
criminology, criminal anthropology, social history, legal medicine, modernization
León León, M. A. (2014). By a "need for social preservation": Cesare Lombroso and the construction of a "Homo criminals" in Chile (1880-1920). Cuadernos De Historia, (40), Pág. 31–59. Retrieved from https://revistasaludpublica.uchile.cl/index.php/CDH/article/view/32978
