The Crime and Trial of Leopold and Loeb
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Book Reviews *3? Abstracts.
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McKernan. G. Allen and
Unwin, Ltd. Pp. 380. Price, 8s. 6d.
In May, 1924, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, youths of 19 and 18 years respectively, and the sons of Chicago millionaires, kid- napped and murdered a 14 year old acquaint- ance, named Bobby Franks. The murder was planned with considerable cunning- and carried out with the utmost callousness. The mur- derers had no animosity against their unfor- tunate victim, probably any other little boy with rich parents would have suited them equally well, since their objects were merely to attempt to bleed the parents of the sum of ten thousand dollars and to experience the thrill of committing- a murder. For a short time the perpetrators of this hideous deed remained undiscovered, then a clue was found which directed suspicion towards them, they were arrested, brought to trial in July, 1924, and pleaded guilty. They escaped the death penalty on account of their age and ” the dictates of enlightened humanity,” and were sentenced to be confined in a penitentiary for the term of their natural lives.
Such are the brief facts of this morbid case. If these youths had not had wealthy parents it is safe to say that very much less would have been heard about it; but if the posses- sion of great wealth could not supply them with decent moral feeling or prevent atrocious conduct, it could at least do one thing. It could provide these young criminals with a plethora of legal and medical assistance and so give an amount of publicity to their crime and trial which would hardly have been forth- coming otherwise. This it succeeded in doing, and in addition to the very full newspaper accounts which were purveyed to the public at the time, we now have this book. We must confess that we have some considerable dif- ficulty in classifying it or even in deciding as to the purpose of its publication. Although the writers of the preface repeatedly allude to the startling effect which was produced upon the ” entire civilised world ” by this case, the subject is now a little stale as a mere item of news. Certain portions of the book, namely, those dealing with the life history of the criminals and the reports of the medical experts who examined them are of considerable interest to the medical criminologist, but the book is by no means a scientific one, indeed it is obviously intended to appeal to the general public. But those members of the lay public who are possessed of any literary taste must be continually irritated by the sensational American journalistic style in which the book is written, while the verbatim account of the trial brings into lurid contrast the procedure in an American criminal Court with the calm and dignity which obtain in a similar Court in this country.
On the whole, we cannot see that the book serves any useful purpose. Indeed, it seems to us that its effect may be distinctly harmful and that its general tone, its prolixity of per- sonal detail regarding these two morbid youths, and its wealth of photographs of every item connected with the crime and trial, may readily stimulate an unstable youth to emulation rather than act as a deterrent.
A. F. T. The Psychology of the Unadjusted School Child. By John J. B. Morgan, Ph.d. Macmillan. 9s.
In this book the director of the Psycho- logical Clinic at the State University of Iowa attempts with considerable success to express in a comparatively simple form some of the truths of abnormal psychology in such a way as to help the teacher to get at the real nature of an individual case of ” difference ” from the normal, and to indicate the best means of bringing such a different individual back to the normal lines of character development. At the outset the author defines his attitude in the statement that ” the real test of a normal person is whether or not he can make social adjustments.” He further maintains that ;i teacher should ” cultivate the ability to re- cognise clearly all defects and peculiarities in conduct and character without any feeling of blame, resentment or horror, at the discovery.” He lays particular stress on the fact that the teacher must first be clearly aware of her own abnormalities and face them frankly before she can hope to be successful in dealing with the differences in her children.
After an outline of the place of mental con- flict in the development of traits, the author goes on to analyse and describe the various ways in which a compromise with reality can lead to abnormality whether by upholding or surrendering the ego. Then in two sections he deals with the peculiar problems of the men- tally defective including the borderline case, and also the normally intelligent child, lacking in social judgment, sometimes called the moral imbecile. Finally, he outlines a programme of mental hygiene which should aid the teacher m positive work of prevention. On this side he emphasises throughout the need for making the child face reality and cultivating the habit of success without at the same time allowing to? much content with present achievements. From the educational point of view, all the arguments seem to be on the side of those methods which make allowance for the indi- viduality of the child, and also for the arrange- ment of his work in such a way as to compel “im to meet his own difficulties.
In addition to the very clear and simple language in which the main body of the text ls Written, further aid in grasping the funda- mental facts, both with regard to detection and treatment is given to the reader by a series ?f practical “hints to teachers and a list of questions for review at the end of each chap- ter.
In discussing the connexion between intelli- gence and mental conflicts, the author main- tains that the lower the degree of intelligence the less likely are mental conflicts, because they presuppose an appreciation of the nature ?f a social situation and the ability to pursue a more or less abstract train of thought in connexion with it. The most difficult cases of all occur in the moron and borderline classes ?f intelligence. In this connexion he illustrates the various defence mechanism which the tttoron sets up, and advocates for his teach- :?Do not try to make the moron bright, hut try to fit him for his definite place in society by training him to do those things which he can at least do reasonably well. _ The treatment throughout is so straight- forward and clear that none with any experi- ence with children need be afraid to read and follow the positive methods of prevention of abnormality suggested by the author. The Problem Child in School. Publication No. 4, Joint Committee on Methods of Preventing Delinquency. 50 East 42nd Street, New York, U.S.A. $1.00. stated in the sub-title, this volume gives !is “Narratives from Case Records of Visiting Teachers with a Description of the Purpose and ;(c?pe of Visiting Teacher Work.” The cases ‘’ are children who have brought them- selves under notice as behaviour problems, children whose school progress is erratic and Puzzling, whose behaviour is perplexing or whose personalities manifest traits that give Cause for concern.” The visiting teacher, a new type of specialist, has been instituted in connection with the American school system ” to give early attention to the difficulties with which such children are struggling- and to pre- vent serious problems of scholarship and con- duct from developing.” It can thus be well understood how the Joint Committee on Methods of Preventing Delinquency has in- cluded among its activities the promoting of this type of work, recognising in many of these problem children the potential delinquent. The Committee has co-operated with educational authorities throughout the States in providing such trained specialist visiting teachers in order to demonstrate their usefulness. The records given here have been selected as typical of the cases dealt with, the methods employed, and the results achieved, in order that some under- standing may be gained of the “painstaking development of a conscious and transmittable technique which utilises the processes uncon- sciously employed in some degree by every successful teacher and parent.”
The visiting teacher does not pretend to be either a psychologist or a psychiatrist. She must be temperamentally fitted as well as trained to study dispassionately the innumer- able small details that go to make up the life of a child at home, at school, at play, to track the apparently trivial causes that are at the root of his difficulties, and then to use common sense in bringing into action the appropriate remedial measures. “She must be a skilled craftswoman who can analyse thoroughly the problems which confront her, and can marshal social and edu- cative forces inside and outside the school for clear and specific purposes.” She is usually attached to one school, or to a small group of schools. She must know the teachers and school activities well, and also the resources and temptations of the neighbourhood, so that she may become not only a tremendous help in dealing with individual cases that have been referred to her, but a quiet and steady influ- ence in community education.
Work of this type cannot be hurried, and a number of the children cited were under obser- vation and care for as long as two and three years. A flexible school curriculum is a neces- sity in the majority of cases, so that we find a dull boy permitted to drop the study of arith- metic altogether, and even woodwork is omitted when he felt he had had an overdose of it in the Special Class.
Classification of cases is not unduly stressed, but examples are given of problems arising from parental attitudes to their children, feel- ings of inferiority, questions of honesty and sex, while the behaviour problems of the dull normal child are extensively dealt with. The book is written in non-technical language and with a clear conception of the possibilities and limits of visiting teacher work. It should be interesting and useful to all who deal with chil- dren, especially to teachers and care workers. The quotations given at the heads of chapters are peculiarly apt and suggestive, and point the way to further reading on the various topics.
E. L. S. R. Health & Pyschology of the Child. Edited by Elizabeth Sloan Chesser, M.D. Heine- mann, London. 7s. Gd. net.
The sweeping claim on the wrapper of this book that “parents and teachers and all con- cerned with child training must have definite knowledge of psychology ” is calculated to rouse a feeling of irritation in the breasts of ordinary parents, who may well point out that plenty of healthy, happy families were reared in aeons that passed before ” psychology ” was invented. Many of the distinguished team of experts whom Dr Sloan Chesser has assem- bled could justifiably retort, however, that a substantial portion of their income is derived from the treatment of naturally healthy chil- dren who have been marred by incompetent parents.
The contributions in this composite volume are of very unequal merit. Among familiar names one notes that of Dr Pritchard, on the Psychology of the Infant, Dr Helen Boyle, on the Unstable Child, Dr Cameron on Refusal of Food in Childhood, Lady Barrett, on the Nursery Child, Dr Tredgold, on Delinquents, and Dr Leonard Williams on the ” Endocrine Glands,” who all present with their accustomed skill, valuable material which should be of real assistance even to experienced parents and teachers. The outstanding paper is one by Dr. Hadfield on the “Development of Self-Con- sciousness in the Child.” This writer is not only a psychologist of eminence, but a shrewd . and humorous observer of the human child. He attaches definite meanings to terms too often used as mere jargon (” suggestion ” is an example), his points are fresh and never trivial.
Of special interest to teachers of defectives is Dr Agnes Savill’s paper on Music and Educa- tion. They would probably endorse her claim for the educative value of musical training, but few will care to follow her in the suggestion that aesthetic appreciation is an adequate sub- stitute for the religious training of past genera- tions. Scarcely more helpful and equally at variance with our experience is the essay of Mr. Cyril Flower, of Manchester College, Ox- ford, who occupies thirty dreary pages in ad- vising that the groping mind of the child should be left to create its own god out of ” environ- ment ” and ” suggestion.” It is true, indeed, that adults with no consciousness of security in their own faith will have little to give chil- dren. So much the worse for the child. Many of us know, however, what joy and strength the presentation of definite and concrete religious truths may bring to children, even if defective, and it is to be regretted that this point of view has been entirely omitted from a volume pur- porting to deal exhaustively with child psychology.
L. D. F. Report of Departmental Committee APPOINTED TO INQUIRE INTO NURSING SER- VICE in County and Borough Mental Hospitals. H.M. Stationery Office. The Report of the Departmental Committee of the Board of Control on the nursing service in county and borough mental hospitals should be widely read by all those who are interested in the welfare of patients and nurses. It is commendably short, and can be obtained for Is. 3d.
It formed the subject of an important confer- ence convened by the Chairman of the Board on April 21st and 22nd.
The Report emphasises the desirability of bringing the service of mental nursing into line with general hospital nursing. It recommends that mental hospitals should be graded as to suitability for training schools and that Govern- ment grants-in-aid should be given; that the general status of nurses, sisters and matrons should be raised, and that no person in future should be appointed to the charge of a ward without a certificate in mental nursing; that the rates of pay should be such as to encourage study, and that general hospital training should be recognised by the payment of an additional yearly sum.
The Report urges that night duty, in the interest of both staff and patients, should be undertaken in rotation by all nurses except first-year probationers, and that the staff on night duty should be increased.
The Committee, in discussing hours of work, emphasise the difficulty of standardisation and the necessity for a careful consideration of the whole position. They go on to say : ” Nursing is a vocation … which cannot be judged by general occupational standards.” The diffi- culty of the position is of course to ensure fairer treatment as to hours without loss to the Patients, but there is no doubt that undue de- mands are frequently made on the nurses.
t is interesting- to note that the Departmen- a Committee express approval of the nursing 0 ^ell-behaved male patients by women nurses, and this opinion coincides with that ^pressed by various members of the confer- (Err’ amon? others Prof. G. M. Robertson eff ln^>Ur?’1)> who gave evidence to the same ect before the Roval Commission on Lunacy Mental Disorder.
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