Sociology of the Fear of Crime: A Hypothesis on the Offender’s Image —The Persistence of Physiognomic Belief in Common Cultural Sense of Western Complex Society and Victimization

Abstract

Today, modern science rejects the physiognomic belief . Today, we know scientifically appearance is not the necessary reflection of an inner world. Modern science demonstrates inferences regarding character personality are not a genetic matter and cannot to be deduced from symmetric face features. This idea is a fanciful idea, a matter of pure fantasy. However, are we sure that what is true in science and mainstream culture also applies to cultural common sense? Do people trust Physiognomy despite its errors? According to my sociological hypothesis, empirical observations suggest that the physiognomic belief persists in common cultural sense in order to form judgment and decision-making processes and relationship behaviors in that peculiar sphere of social action which is the victimization sphere. I hypothesize the beauty-goodness and ugliness-badness meaning opposition means the offender conception and operates on a plane which is parallel to the dominant culture plane. This persistence confirms the stickness of social change in a complex micro-macro-micro social system who changes and self-organizes by novelty . In this paper, I argue evolutionary theories on Physiognomy and psycho-evolutionary theories on attractiveness stereotyping and highlight some main critical aspects. This being stated, even criminological theories emphasizing a personalization process of offender image changing from person to person are argued. In particular, I deal with the Garofalo’s theory. Therefore, my hypothesis is a collective sociological hypothesis on persistence of the physiognomic belief in common cultural sense.