Variable conceptions of positivism exist, although at the heart of the notion is the assumption of the scientific ideal of ‘objectivity’ as it pertains to the individual and society. Despite much debate and criticism of positivism in criminology, contemporary modes of positivism continue to inform criminological research. However, this more recent positivism is not necessarily the crude, overt positivism associated with the eighteenthand nineteenthcentury modes, but a more sophisticated and insidious brand ‘covert positivism’. Most recently, in the domains of forensic genetics, objective research and empirical methods are being used subtly to make claims about the nature of criminal individuals and populations. These forensic domains utilise modern-day biological and psychological scientific procedures to assess, predict and make conclusions relating to ‘criminals, deviants, and pathologicals’ at genetic and neuronal levels. Critiques of these approaches are presented, as these scientific interventions are paralleled with historical modes of positivism.

中文翻译：

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法医领域的隐性实证主义

存在着各种不同的实证主义概念，尽管该概念的核心是对“客观性”科学理想的假设，因为它与个人和社会有关。尽管对犯罪学中的实证主义有很多争论和批评，但当代实证主义模式继续为犯罪学研究提供信息。然而，这种较新的实证主义不一定是与 18 世纪 19 世纪模式相关的粗糙、公开的实证主义，而是一种更复杂和阴险的品牌“隐蔽实证主义”。最近，在法医遗传学领域，客观研究和经验方法正被巧妙地用于对犯罪个体和群体的性质提出主张。这些法医领域利用现代生物和心理科学程序来评估、在遗传和神经元水平上预测并得出与“罪犯、越轨者和病理学”相关的结论。提出了对这些方法的批评，因为这些科学干预与实证主义的历史模式并行。