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Verbrechen und Wahnsinn beim Weibe

Title page of the original German edition
Author	Paul Näcke
Original title	Verbrechen und Wahnsinn beim Weibe
Language	German
Genre	Forensic Science, Case History
Publisher	Wilhelm Braumüller, Wien and Leipzig
Publication date	1894
Publication place	Austria, Germany
Media type	Print
Pages	257

Verbrechen und Wahnsinn beim Weibe mit Ausblicken auf die Criminal-Anthropologie überhaupt: klinisch-statistische, anthropologisch-biologische und craniologische Untersuchungen (English: Crime and insanity in women: clinical-statistical, anthropological-biological and craniological examinations) is a book written by Dr. Paul Näcke (1851-1913) in 1894. Paul Näcke was a German psychiatrist and criminologist. Furthermore, Näcke's work contributed to the fields of psychology, sexology and medicine . His book 'Verbrechen und Wahnsinn beim Weibe' addresses primarily physicians and psychiatrists. It analyses cases of psychotic criminals, investigates whether there exists an anthropological- biological relationship between crime and psychoses, explores the influence of social factors and provides ideas on how to deal with mentally ill offenders .

Background

The book was written in a time where it became apparent that a substantial proportion of prisoners suffers from psychoses. These psychoses were often already present when the criminal act was committed. Consequently, medicine became relevant next to the law for the examination of criminal offenses. Within this context Cesare Lombroso, founder of the Italian School of Positivist Criminology, introduced his theory of anthropological criminology. Lombroso’s theory incorporates the belief that criminality is hereditary and therefore caused by biological factors. Furthermore, Lombroso was convinced that it is possible to differentiate between criminals and non-criminals by examining the outer appearance of a person. This idea was rooted in physiognomy which aims at determining personality traits by investigating a person’s physical characteristics . Thus, Lombroso thought that criminals can be identified by the possession of certain anatomical features. Dr. Paul Näcke was a great opponent of Lombroso’s ideas. Contrary to Lombroso, Näcke suggested that criminality is the result of environmental factors and has no biological basis. In his book ‘Wahnsinn und Verbrechen beim Weibe’ Näcke refers repeatedly to Lombroso’s ideas on criminality and explores their validity. For example, Näcke compares physical features (including hair colour, shape of mouth, skull characteristics, etc.) of psychotic criminals with the appearance of healthy control. He concludes that there is no phenotype that is common to all criminal offenders. The book 'Verbrechen und Wahnsinn beim Weibe' is also special for the time it was written in as it deals with analysing cases of female offenders. Most existing literature in the late 19th century referred exclusively to male criminals.

Structure and content

The book is divided into seven parts and further includes two appendixes. In the first section, 100 cases of female criminals are introduced who suffer from mental illnesses. Out of these 100 cases 53 were prisoners at the publication of the book and the remaining 47 women were women who have a criminal record. The case descriptions include personal information such as age, marital status, family background, education, occupation, physical characteristics and information concerning the type of the committed crime and onset and course of insanity. Section II of the book includes a statistical analysis of the data. Investigated are aspects such as religion, occupation, duration of imprisonment or stay in the mental institution, prior criminal record, environmental and familiar circumstances and dispositions. Section III provides detailed information on the types of psychoses observed in prison and the course of the disease. Most frequently observed is paranoia followed by mania and epileptic psychosis. Signs of insanity are often observed within the first year of imprisonment, development of a psychosis after the first year of imprisonment is rare. Described symptoms of psychoses are mental weakness, delusions of persecutions and grandeur, childish behaviour, irritability and suicide attempts. In section IV it is discussed which kind of accommodation is suitable for psychotic criminals. Näcke argues that mentally ill criminals should not live among healthy prisoners. However, it is also problematic to transfer them to common mental institutions depending on the number of psychotic prisoners. Reasons are that the prisoners might show aggressive behaviour that might influence the non-criminal mentally ill. Näcke proposes several solutions to the problem, for example introducing sections for the mentally ill in prisons. These sections function like any other mental institution except for including more safety measures. Section V investigates whether there is a anthropologic-biological relationship between crime and insanity. Several features of healthy control and the given 100 cases are compared including hair colour, body length, head circumference, size of ears and mouth. Furthermore, 16 skulls (12 skulls of criminals, four of healthy control) are examined. Näcke concludes that, contrary to prior findings, there is no anatomical or physiological stereotype that is shared by all criminals. Criminal activity is not hereditary and no biological disposition of being a criminal exists. However, environmental factors (e.g., education, upbringing) are crucial. In section VI the relationship between crime and insanity is explored. Solely having a disposition of developing a psychosis is not enough to trigger the actual onset of the psychosis. Social circumstances are of great importance. Section VII explores possible means of preventing criminal acts. Näcke stresses the importance of addressing influences on criminality such as alcoholism, poor nutrition, unhygienic lifestyle and upbringing. Appendix I summaries the findings of the examination of the 16 skulls described in section V. Appendix II investigates the palatine torus of criminals and healthy controls.

Receptions

Näcke largely contributed to the fact that Lombroso's ideas on an anthropological basis of criminality never gained popularity in Germany . However, Näcke’s book ‘Wahnsinn und Verbrechen beim Weibe’ is relatively unknown. As the book was mainly written for psychiatrists and physicians it might have not been easily accessible and comprehensible to the general population. As a consequence, the book did not receive a lot of media attention. Still, it was recognised by the journal ‘The Monist’ as a book that deals with an important topic as violence involved in crime has increased. Näcke's research is described as having high value and usefulness.