In the 19th century, forensic medicine, starting with studies in phrenology, sought to address the question of the imputability of criminals affected by psychic alterity, with reference to capital punishment. The positivist approach of the late 19th century, influenced by Lombroso, characterized the problem of alterity under the “external” aspect of social dangerousness, which required the insane to be eliminated from the civil context. In other respects, the issue of imputability concerned the “unaware” criminal, even when his capacity to act had been altered by hypnotic suggestion. Despite the various opinions of the doctrinal scholars and judicial decisions, the unitary model of the Criminal Code proved inadequate to address the complexity of human psychology
L’ALTERITÀ ANTROPOLOGICA DEL SOGGETTO CRIMINALE: IL CRIMINE E L’INCONSCIO NEL SECOLO XIX
gian paolo trifone
2025
Abstract
In the 19th century, forensic medicine, starting with studies in phrenology, sought to address the question of the imputability of criminals affected by psychic alterity, with reference to capital punishment. The positivist approach of the late 19th century, influenced by Lombroso, characterized the problem of alterity under the “external” aspect of social dangerousness, which required the insane to be eliminated from the civil context. In other respects, the issue of imputability concerned the “unaware” criminal, even when his capacity to act had been altered by hypnotic suggestion. Despite the various opinions of the doctrinal scholars and judicial decisions, the unitary model of the Criminal Code proved inadequate to address the complexity of human psychologyI documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
