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The Positivist School of Criminology rejected the Classical School's idea that all crime resulted from a choice that could potentially be made anyone. Though they did not disagree with the Classical School that most crime could be explained through "human nature," they argued that the most serious crimes were committed by individuals who were "primitive" or "atavistic"--that is, who failed to evolve to a fully human and civilized state. Crime therefore resulted not from what criminals had in common with others in society, but from their distinctive physical or mental defects. The positivists understood themselves as scientists: while the classical thinkers were concerned with legal reform, constructing an environment in which crime was seen to be not in an individual's self-interest, the positivists were concerned with scientifically isolating and identifying the determining causes of criminal behavior in individual offenders. Like the Classical School, the Positivist School had its origins in Italy. Cesare Lombroso is regarded as its founder, with his theory of the "born criminal," and the social implications of his ideas were considered by his student, Enrico Ferri, who popularized his thought in the United States. American representatives of the positivist approach to understanding criminality include William Sheldon, who attempted to establish a correlation between one's body type and one's behavior.
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