who argued that criminals are by birth a distinct type
Cesare Lombroso Cesare Lombroso (/lɒmˈbroʊsoʊ/;[2] Italian: [ˈtʃeːzare lomˈbroːzo, -so]; born Ezechia Marco Lombroso; 6 November 1835 – 19 October 1909), was an Italian criminologist and physician, founder of the Italian School of Positivist Criminology. Lombroso rejected the established classical school, which held that crime was a characteristic trait of human nature. Instead, using concepts drawn from physiognomy, degeneration theory, psychiatry and Social Darwinism, Lombroso's theory of anthropological criminology essentially stated that criminality was inherited, and that someone "born criminal" could be identified by physical (congenital) defects, which confirmed a criminal as savage or atavistic. These theories do not have widespread support by scientists in Western countries.