528 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY
conversations with officers, and by visits to the districts from which these inmates come. The results are best presented by observing these divisions.
Most of the investigation among criminals has been upon the anatomy, the functioning in society, the mental, moral, and emo- tional nature being neglected. The criminal has been regarded as a result, as a finished product, rather than as an individual in a state of evolution, as an organism responding and reacting to various stimuli. America has had but few students in the scien- tific study of the criminal, and thus the results of Lombroso, Ferri, Tarnowsky, and other European investigators have been largely accepted, and have had a much wider application than even their authors intended. What are some of these results, and are they applicable to American criminals ?
Lombroso represents the work best, and is its originator. His investigations have been very minute and cover a broad field. He has examined the skulls, making a large number of measure- ments, and carefully noting anomalies ; he has studied the brains of criminals, and also the anatomy, using anthropometry for a large number of measurements. Cephalic and facial anomalies, expression, weight, height, etc., have also been noted. Some meager observations in touch, sight, hearing, and taste have also been made. From these observations are formulated the theo- ries which are so well known — such as the classification of born and occasional criminals, explanation of crime on the grounds of heredity and atavism, theory that the criminal is a degenerate and presents numerous defects and anomalies. Were man's structure all, with these conclusions no fault could be found ; but there remain the mental and emotional impulses, the tremendous forces of social and economic environment, to be reckoned with ; for man's life is but the response of the former to the latter.
In the hope of ascertaining if these facts were true for American female offenders, a series of twenty measurements was selected. It was hoped these would be comparable with Lom- broso's results. America does not offer the facility for studying the skulls and brains of deceased criminals, so the measurements are limited to the anatomical. The series consisted of twenty
