Kretschmer, Ernst: Physique and Character

Ernst Kretschmer was an important historical figure in the development of criminological theory in America. Although his ideas are not generally accepted today, he holds a place of historical importance.

Over the years, criminology has involved the presentation and, at least the temporary, acceptance of various ideas which were later discarded as incorrect. Every academic discipline has its own branches of scientific dogma which have been later discredited. An obvious example of such circumstances is the flat-earth theory; there is no scientific doubt today that the earth is round. Criminology is no different.

In this regard, criminal anthropology attempted to explain criminological tendencies through physical characteristics. The original major developer of this idea of criminology was Cesare Lombroso, who wrote The Criminal Man, which focused on physical atavistic characteristics as indicators of criminality. In criminology, there are two ideas that fall within the scope of criminal anthropology. During the late 1700s and the early 1800s, the theories of phrenology and physiognomy were popular. Phrenology held to the principle that a person's criminality could be discovered by examining the aspects on a person's head, such as bumps. The most well-known phrenologist was Franz Gall. Physiognomy presented the idea that a person's criminality could be determined by observing the facial characteristics, such as a protruding brow, small noses, or large lips. Both of these theories are generally discredited today.

In the history of criminology, an offshoot of the theory of physiognomy was constitutionalism, which was also known as a body-type theory of criminology. This theory has been frequently referred to as constitutional psychology. Constitutionalism's primary influence in the field of criminology began during the 1920s with one of the major proponents of constitutionalism: Ernst Kretschmer. Earnest Hooton, a Harvard University anthropologist during the 1930s, was also a major proponent of constitutionalism.