Positivism

     The positive school was an approach to sociology that originated in the 19th century and therefore reflects the Enlightenment ideals of logic and the scientific approach. The name Positivism stems from Auguste Comte's emphasis on the positive application of science to the pursuit of knowledge. Positivism was marked by a transition towards science and away from the focus on morality and fairness which was characteristic of the Classical school.  Positivists did not believe in free will when it came to crime; rather, they saw human behaviors as being largely predetermined by ones biological nature. Because of this idea that criminal behavior is inherent in some, positivists were not focused on issues such as civil rights and rehabilitation of criminals. This further distinguishes positivists from the Classicalists. The main premise behind the positive school was that through scientific observations of criminals, it would be possible to determine biological characteristics that criminals had in common. Then these characteristics would be used to predict criminal behavior in future individuals who also carried those biological markers. 

    Positivism stems mainly from the work of three Italian scholars: Cesare Lombroso, Enrico Ferri, and Raffaele Garfalo, the most important of whom was Lombroso. Lombroso was a surgeon who performed examinations of more than 54,000 people, including both the living and the dead in his measurements. Based on his observations, Lombroso concluded that some people where born with certain physical characteristics which predetermined them to be criminals. He called these people born criminals, a term he appropriated from his pupil Ferri. The physicalities he thought led to deviant behavior included highly developed sinuses, thick skull bones, strong skin pigmentation, crispy hair, and large ears.  Only later did Lombroso concede that socioeconomic factors might also contribute to crime; however, he continued to claim that biological factors were of paramount importance. Ferri added to Lombroso's theories with his own Law of Criminal Saturation in which he claimed that in any environment with fixed circumstances, only a certain level of crime could exist. These ideas were detailed in his book Homicide in which he attempts to classify criminals into different categories based on the type of crime they commit. Raffaele Garfalo relied the least on physical characteristics as a predictor of crime. He thought that civilized people have a common belief in the value of human life and property and that those who lack this belief have mental anomalies and become criminal. Garfalo theorized that these mental anomalies were more prevalent among members of what he considered inferior races. However, he also believed that a combination of circumstantial and environmental factors contributed to the criminalization of people, and that their biology was not solely to blame. The notion of natural crime which stated that criminal behavior was that behavior which all civilized societies agreed was unacceptable was also something which Garfalo suggested. He believed that the law should be applied based on natural crime instead of definitions about what is and isn't crime. Legalistic definitions of crime, Garfalo claimed, limited the application of the law and were therefore not the best way to enforce crime.

     The positive school continued into the twentieth century with an increased emphasis on the role of genetics in criminality. The notion of criminal behavior as a genetic trait stemmed from studies of twins which showed that twins who are separated at birth often develop the same personality traits and proclivities towards certain behaviors, including criminal ones. Thus many sociologists began finding links between a persons genetic makeup and their criminality. Alfred Binet created the concept of inherited feeblemindedness which claimed that a lack of intelligence was a hereditary trait which led to criminal behavior among those with the trait. William Sheldon developed a body type theory in which he claimed that a combination of body type and personality combined to create different somatotypes which then determined how inclined a person was to become criminal. He called these three somatotypes ectomorphs, mesomorphs, and endomorphs. Ectomorphs were small-boned people who were also introverted. Mesomorphs were large, muscular people who were extroverts. Endomorphs were overweight and extroverted. According to Sheldon, mesomorphs were the most likely to display criminal behaviors. 

    Eventually, positivism shifted focus away from physiological causes of crime and towards psychological. While the view that biological factors caused a person to become criminal was still the central tenet of the positive school, the biological factors in question changed from physical abnormalities to psychological ones, and thus the personality test became a widely employed predictor of potential criminality. In 1939, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) was developed to screen for future criminals. The test was composed of questions which previous data indicated criminals were likely to answer differently than the rest of the populace. The MMPI is still in use today, albeit in a greatly update and revised form. On the right is a chart showing the different categories the MMPI tests for and the corresponding personality traits associated with a high score in each category.