Criminology

The early development of “criminal anthropology,” a study of criminals which would eventually become modern criminology, was significantly influenced by the pseudoscientific ideas of physiognomy and scientific racism. Criminal anthropologists suggested that physical traits and heredity could be measured and observed to predict a criminal personality or personality traits that would lead to criminal behavior.

John Sanderson Christison wrote on “jail types” in the 1890s, categorizing criminals he had observed into physical “types.” His writing contributed to the temporary popularization of the Italian school of criminology in the United States. Anthropologist Arthur MacDonald wrote extensively both on criminology and on anthropology in general, citing the need to study "normal man" in order to better identify "abnormalities" in appearance, behavior, or environment. Despite his belief that biology influenced-- and could potentially predict-- criminal behavior, MacDonald was also an advocate for prison reform and believed that prisons should be "educational" in nature and prepare the inmates for an easy return to society. 

Over time, more scholars began to suggest that environmental and social factors had a greater influence on crime than biology. These ideas eventually developed into the modern study of criminology, leaving behind the obsolete physiognomic and racial ideas that had plagued the early development of the field.