The English Convict
- Type:
Book Reviews
- Author:
Professor Karl Pearson
New issue with an introduction by Professor Karl Pearson. Published by H.M. Stationery Office. 1919. Price 3s.
The history of the treatment of crime leaves a dark stain on civilisation. In England extraordinary pains have been taken to elicit the facts of crime, particularly as regards its connection with the accused. Little investigation, however, is made into the facts of the prisoner’s life and condition Most guilty persons are treated as fully responsible, sometimes when not responsible at all. The recognition of Mental Defect and an appreciation of the poor physique of many prisoners has led to more rational ideas. The last fifty years have witnessed attempts to correlate Crime and Responsibility; these were usually the work of theorists with an inkling of the truth, who put Theory first, Fact second, if indeed actual facts were recorded.
Two lines of investigation are necessary, one a close enquiry into selected cases, the other a complete investigation of every individual in groups of prisoners, and comparison with samples of the ordinary population. The study of the Individual Delinquent has advanced most in America. The statistical and comparative method, which really comes first, will always be associated with the name of an Englishman, the^late Dr Charles Goring, cut off in his Prime. The work under review is a new issue of an abridged edition; its value is enhanced by an Introduction by Professor Karl Pearson. Its moderate size makes it more suitable for many than the larger one. The important facts are recorded in sufficient detail, yet the book remains readable and interesting. No social worker should neglect this contribution to an understanding of Crime.
In Part I. Goring disproves the alleged existence of a ” Physical Criminal Type.1’ In Part II. he establishes the comparative Mental and Physical inferiority of Criminals, and the dangerous ifact that they are a product of the most prolific stocks in the community, namely the improvident and the feeble-minded. The influence of the ” Force of Circumstance,” of Age and Heredity, and Vital Statistics are the subject of other conclusions drawn in this epoch-making book.
W. A. Potts. The Measurement of Intelligence, by Lewis M. Terman. Published by George Harrap & Co. Price 6/-.
This book is very well worth reading by anyone desirous of dealing with the measurement of intelligence. It is probably the most careful and well considered revision of the Binet-Simon Scale that exists up to the present time, and the author, whilst following very closely the general method employed by Binet, at the same time does away with the main difficulties inherent in the Binet Scale. In the Scale as arranged by Terman, for example, the various tests for children of different ages are more closely fitted for those ages. For children below 14 years of age, the tests have been made on the basis of work with 1,000 unselected children?a much larger number that were dealt with by Binet. Again Terman replaces the somewhat misleading concept of mental age, by one of more definite implication?i.e., the intelligence quotient.
The book contains interesting general chapters on the Binet-Simon method, and on the significance of the intelligence quotient. Very detailed instructions are given . for applying the tests, and for correcting then, and the diagrams published with the book for use with the tests are clearly arranged, and well printed.
It is possible that the author somewhat overestimates the intellectual aspect of deficiency, and the scale will need some 22 STUDIES IN MENTAL INEFFICIENCY. modification for use with English children of the same ages, especially perhaps in the direction of vocabulary tests. The Psychology of Special Abilities and Disabilities, by Augusta Bronner, Ph.D. Kegau, Paul, Trench, Treubner & Co. Price 10/6.
This book is an interesting contribution to an aspect of the study of Education which has been, so far,?too much neglected. It is an experimental investigation of the actual capacity of individual children, with a view to suggesting suitable educational treatment. The book is made up almost < ntirely of case studies, chiefly of children brought before the courts as delinquents, and suggests in many cases, how such delin quency might have been avoided had the needs and disabilities of the children bee^i realised earlier in their careers.
It is sometimes difficult to see how the con elusions have been arrived at with regard to the capacities of the children, but there is 110 doubt that more work on similar lines would be of great value, especially as a guide to the treatment of children in special schools. There are some interesting critical comments in the book on the failure of the school system to acquire any useful knowledge of the individual.
The Boston Way. Plans for the Development of the Individual Child?compiled bv the Special Class Teachers of Boston. Published by The Romford Press, Concord, N.H.
This book is a compilation of devices and methods which have been found valuable in the actual practical teaching of children in Special Schools.
Its chief merit lies in the fact that it has been written by the teachers in the Schools themselves, and it offers a variety of suggestions for teaching all those subjects that are ordinarily included in the curriculum of a Special School.
The methods suggested are such as have been proved to be of service, and are the result of considerable experience and careful observation.
The value of the book is increased in that it offers no suggestion as to the relative usefulness of the teaching methods set forth, but leaves the teacher to select from them accord iug to his or her judgment.
It is refreshing to find those engaged it? the practical work of special teaching, publishing results by which their fellow workers may profit. L.G.F.
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