Back in the middle of the century before last, the famous Italian criminologist Cesare Lombroso tried to find in a person such anatomical features, by which one could predict a future criminal in him.
But science seems to have long ago rejected this concept of "criminal appearance" because of its complete inconsistency.
However, as it turned out, not completely. The fact is that from the analysis of external signs, such as a narrow forehead, heavy jaw, fused eyebrows or pointed ears, modern science has moved on to the search for other characteristics that would make it possible to identify in advance people prone to breaking the law. In particular, physiological or biochemical parameters hidden from the eyes.
Portraits of criminals by Lombroso
And such, moreover, easily detectable without complex analyzes and special devices, the indicator appeared in forensic experts. And he was found by the American psychologist Adrian Rain.
Based on significant statistical material, the scientist argues that children, who may later demonstrate increased aggressiveness and behavior that go beyond the bounds of moral norms, have a resting heart rate less than that of those who grow up to be normal members of society.
This indicator plays an even greater role in the fate of the child than the environment of hardened criminals. If, for example, at the age of three, the child's pulse is below normal, then by the age of 11 he already exhibits antisocial forms of behavior. In support of his conclusions, Professor Rein also cites observations from the animal world: in the most aggressive individuals of mammals, the heart beats less often than in their more peaceful counterparts.
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To explain this fact, the scientist put forward two hypotheses. According to the first of them, a slow heart rate indicates a low activity of the cerebral cortex. Such people spend most of their lives in an almost half-asleep state, and in order to interrupt it at least for a while, they need to invigorate the brain with aggression or violation of generally accepted norms.
Another hypothesis explains the low heart rate by a reduced level of fear in this person. In most cases, it is the feeling of fear of the punishments that may follow from society in case of violation of the established order that makes the individual adhere to some norms, restrain his natural aggressiveness. As a result, in the process of development, the child gradually forms that ethical norm, which is usually called conscience. If the innate sense of fear is weakened, such a person can commit a crime.
But sometimes this feature of the pulse has positive aspects. So, when, during the Falklands War, British doctors examined the pulse of sappers, it turned out that they had a lowered pulse.
It turned out that in the killers studied by physiologists, the frontal part of the frontal lobes of the brain, as a rule, is smaller in volume than in ordinary people. When Professor Rein also underwent a study on a tomograph, it turned out that his frontal lobes are the same as those of hardened killers.
“According to individual indicators, be they biological or social, it will never be possible to find people inclined to break the law,” the scientist concluded in the end.
MARKERS OF CRIMINALS
There are other studies that speak of congenital criminal tendencies, which are sometimes reflected in those ooze and other features of the body.
So, geneticists have long known the so-called phenomenon of "supermen" and "superwomen", when some representatives and representatives of the human race, for unknown reasons, doubles one of the sex chromosomes.
So, the statistics showed that if normal men have only a couple of them-XY, then most serial killers have one more sex chromosomes - XYY. For women, accordingly, instead of the standard set XX, another appears - XXY. This syndrome occurs in about one in 800 individuals.
The consequence of these chromosomal abnormalities, experts say, is the appearance in the blood of more hormones that provoke a tendency to aggression: estrogen, testosterone, adrenaline, progesterone.
In addition, people prone to violence also have reduced intelligence: the IQ of a typical offender is usually 92 points, while this indicator for most people is slightly above 100.
Moreover, psychologists know of entire families who, over generations, inherited along with reduced intelligence and a propensity for murder. However, there is nothing surprising in this: people with brain abnormalities are easily suggestible, from childhood they find themselves in the role of outcasts and, in order to gain at least some respect from their peers, they try to show themselves, but, as a rule, in antisocial actions.
American scientists also obtained additional data in favor of the hypothesis of the "uniqueness" of the brains of criminals. When they compared the brain scans of 500 killers with the brains of normal people, they found differences in some areas of the cerebral cortex and subcortex responsible for aggressiveness. The researchers believe that in the future, their discovery will help not only to identify potential criminals in advance, but also to create a "pill against aggression."
Russian scientist Professor Valery Vasiliev has found another marker of criminals. He revealed it as a result of examining several thousand people: ordinary schoolchildren and students and inmates of a colony for minors convicted of serious crimes. It turned out that aggression can also be based on too fast metabolism, which is not typical for normal people.
In turn, English psychiatrists, having examined the genes of a group of boys who committed murders in violence and robbery, showed that aggressive behavior is associated with a low level of monoamine oxidase enzyme in the body.
But about a third of the population has such a genetic structure. And if, for example, a child with this type of genetic structure was mistreated at an early age, then it is very likely that a criminal will grow out of him.
In turn, American chemist-analyst Walter Waltch found that aggressive citizens have an abnormal proportion of chemical elements. Decreased lithium levels, lack of cobalt, and increased levels of lead and cadmium in criminals upset the psyche and cause uncontrollable behavior.
Of course, it is difficult to argue that all these markers with sufficient probability indicate a future criminal, but, nevertheless, they should be thought about and not discarded as anti-scientific.