the work of early twentieth century biological determinists. His thinking was shaped by the time in which he lived, and this further determined the direction of his research. He accepted the basic tenets of scientific inquiry and also did not question the cause and effect relationship as a fundamental truism of science. He departed from the mainstream of social science in his acceptance of strict Lombrosianism, and he adhered steadfastly to the tenets of biological determinism. His thinking was clearly guided by principles of social Darwinism even if he did not acknowledge this in his writings. His major assumption was that physique or body type could be classified along a continuum from flawed to the more normal, and he associated any deviation from the norm of physical beauty as evidence of personality deviations. Thus, both temperament and physique were genetically based. his methodology was naturalistic, using direct observation of life forms under study.
Certain key ideas can be discerned in the work of Sheldon, but to a great extent he is found to have a one-track mind so tat he always seems to be fixed on demonstrating the need to combine biology with psychology to understand deviant behavior. He focused on the relationship between body size and shape and any associated traits of temperament, restricting himself to this area of study. He was involved in somatyping and continued to hold that body physique was a reliable indicator of personality. He was the last great believer in biological determinism and in the subordinance of social-environmental factors. Criminological thought left him behind, and his works have been tarnished by his fixation on somatyping.
The subject is Edwin Hardin Sutherland (1883-1950), a leading criminologist of his generation. He has been described as sincere, objective, soft spoken, gentle, and respectful, but he could also show anger when his convictions were challenged. He was not...