Citation

Beirne P. Br. J. Criminol. 1988; 28(3): 315-339.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1988, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, Publisher Oxford University Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In the history of criminology few texts have commanded such gargantuan esteem as Charles Goring's The English Convict (1913). This paper examines the influence on Goring's text of the British movements in statistics and eugenics, and in so doing reconsiders the merits of his critical engagement with Lombrosianism. It is suggested that Goring's labours must be considered a partial failure. In refuting certain aspects of the notion of "born criminality", and in lending support to others, The English Convict advanced an ambiguous position not in opposition to Lombrosianism but in parallel to it.