Doctrine of psychopathies: The Kretschmer’s constitutional-morphologic concept

Abstract

The morphological landmarks suggested by E. Kretschmer for delineation of three basic types of somatic constitutions: picnic, athletic and leptosome are analyzed, the critics of declared affinity of bodily structure to cycloid or schizoid type of psyche is also considered. The influence of the ideas of Italian anthropometric school on the Kretschmer’s morphologic concept is marked. E. Kretschmer’s negation of «degeneration» theory that was the ground for the development of psychopathy doctrine is underlined. Due to that negation physical stigmata (dysplastic bodily structure), sexual anomalies and character disharmonies having been described according to «degeneration» concept as general signs of predisposition to mental disorders were included according to the Kretschmer’s concept into «schizoid» group.