- Author:
Earl Sullenger, Ph.D.,
Professor of Sociology in the Municipal University of Omaha. Published New York,
John Wiley and Sons, Inc. London, Chapman and Hall. 17/6.
Among the scientific and pseudo-scientific
works on social subjects that pour in a steady
flow from the American press, many seem to
have only moderate interest for the English
student. Conditions are so different, and the
special problems?for instance the colour question, the immigrant question, the clash between
the Eastern European peasant culture of many
parents and the American culture of their children?loom so large, that the English reader is
apt to put the book aside as inapplicable to
his own perplexities, and unlikely to make a
valuable contribution to their solution. Often
he would be right in so judging, but in the case
of Professor Sullenger’s book he would be wrong.
It is a careful and detailed study of the fundamentals which are true all the world over,
though their application varies from East to
West. The author stresses that ” delinquency
cannot be explained in terms of a few causative
factors.” Poverty and unemployment aid and
contribute: they often provide the occasion of
an offence, but, in many cases at all events, do
not cause it. The three primary groups?the
Family, the Play-Group and the Neighbourhood
(and all the links and frictions, attractions and
antipathies that interpenetrate these), obviously
react on different children in the most diverse
ways. Exhaustive study of all three is necessary
if a true picture of background and atmosphere
is to be gained, as well as close attention to the
individual ” make-up ” of each child, mental,
physical and temperamental.
In dealing with such vast and complex
material it is difficult to be brief, except at the
cost of thoroughness, and this volume runs to
nearly 400 large pages. The excellent paper
and printing, however, add much to readability.
Chapters devoted to the ” Runaway Child ”
and ” Child Labour,” and to various remedial
forces, such as the Juvenile Courts, Probation,
and the Policewoman, are of great interest.
With regard to the enormous opportunities of
the School, the author fully recognises that
broadly speaking the problem of crime-prevention is the problem of education. He points out
that ” many behaviour problems could be met
and judiciously dealt with in their early controllable stage, if the teachers were trained to
recognise the first symptoms of neurosis and
anti-social tendencies.” In this connection he
welcomes the advent of the ” Visiting leacher ”
and ” Child-Guidance Clinics,” which are
notable American contributions to the better
handling of these difficulties.
The general conclusion of the book seems to
be in agreement with Judge Ben R. Lindsey,
that a large share of the blame for juvenile
lawlessness lies on the community, with its many
sins of omission and commission towards its
child members. The remedies put forward
imply an awakening of public conscience and
conversion of public opinion to a much greater
sense of responsibility. It is interesting to
workers in Mental Welfare to note the opinion
of Mr. Lewis E. Lawes, Warden for many years
of Sing Sing Prison, that, favourable as he is
to the psychiatric and scientific approach to
crime, and helpful as he has found it in many
cases, yet, in his long experience, the majority
of prison inmates have been normal.
Lilian Le Mesurier.
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Social Determinants in Juvenile Delinquency
Earl Sullenger, Ph.D.,
Professor of Sociology in the Municipal University of Omaha. Published New York, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. London, Chapman and Hall. 17/6.
Among the scientific and pseudo-scientific works on social subjects that pour in a steady flow from the American press, many seem to have only moderate interest for the English student. Conditions are so different, and the special problems?for instance the colour question, the immigrant question, the clash between the Eastern European peasant culture of many parents and the American culture of their children?loom so large, that the English reader is apt to put the book aside as inapplicable to his own perplexities, and unlikely to make a valuable contribution to their solution. Often he would be right in so judging, but in the case of Professor Sullenger’s book he would be wrong.
It is a careful and detailed study of the fundamentals which are true all the world over, though their application varies from East to West. The author stresses that ” delinquency cannot be explained in terms of a few causative factors.” Poverty and unemployment aid and contribute: they often provide the occasion of an offence, but, in many cases at all events, do not cause it. The three primary groups?the Family, the Play-Group and the Neighbourhood (and all the links and frictions, attractions and antipathies that interpenetrate these), obviously react on different children in the most diverse ways. Exhaustive study of all three is necessary if a true picture of background and atmosphere is to be gained, as well as close attention to the individual ” make-up ” of each child, mental, physical and temperamental.
In dealing with such vast and complex material it is difficult to be brief, except at the cost of thoroughness, and this volume runs to nearly 400 large pages. The excellent paper and printing, however, add much to readability. Chapters devoted to the ” Runaway Child ” and ” Child Labour,” and to various remedial forces, such as the Juvenile Courts, Probation, and the Policewoman, are of great interest. With regard to the enormous opportunities of the School, the author fully recognises that broadly speaking the problem of crime-prevention is the problem of education. He points out that ” many behaviour problems could be met and judiciously dealt with in their early controllable stage, if the teachers were trained to recognise the first symptoms of neurosis and anti-social tendencies.” In this connection he welcomes the advent of the ” Visiting leacher ” and ” Child-Guidance Clinics,” which are notable American contributions to the better handling of these difficulties.
The general conclusion of the book seems to be in agreement with Judge Ben R. Lindsey, that a large share of the blame for juvenile lawlessness lies on the community, with its many sins of omission and commission towards its child members. The remedies put forward imply an awakening of public conscience and conversion of public opinion to a much greater sense of responsibility. It is interesting to workers in Mental Welfare to note the opinion of Mr. Lewis E. Lawes, Warden for many years of Sing Sing Prison, that, favourable as he is to the psychiatric and scientific approach to crime, and helpful as he has found it in many cases, yet, in his long experience, the majority of prison inmates have been normal. Lilian Le Mesurier.
Disclaimer
The historical material in this project falls into one of three categories for clearances and permissions:
While we are in the process of adding metadata to the articles, please check the article at its original source for specific copyrights.
See https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/about/scanning/