CRIMINALS IN THE MAKING. By Lightnek
Witmek,
Ph.D.
"Don't send me to a , Judge," said boy nine years of who had been haled the Juvenile Court. before "Send me age to the House of Refuge. The only place I can't stand is a place where there is
nothing doing." Nothing doing at home, and nothing doing at school, no playgrounds or other outlet for youthful energies,?this is driving many an active and vigorous boy, possessed of some of the best imin the
pulses
mately
to
a
world,
into the streets, on to the railroads, and ultiConservative opinion still holds fondly
life of crime. of
repression. If it were not so tragic, one could smile at the recent warning of a public school authority against making the truant schools too attractive lest boys should seek to be placed in them rather than remain in the ordinary schools. It is neither impossible nor impracticable for the public schools to provide interesting and instructive employment that will engage the best energies of our adolescent youth. Why then continue to look upon education as a semi-penal discipline, a disagreeable task whose achievement requires a high moral purpose'( Why not and employ games, occupations, gymnastics, anyadapt, organize thing to take these children off the streets and send them eagerly to
a
system
every
morning
to the school room ?
and conservative to
Our educational
systems
are
such work to educational
adapt public which supports our schools is too unenlightened to give adequate financial support to the proposals of the many progressive educators who have the requisite insight. If the truant schools prove more attractive to boys than the ordinary public schools, it is not difficult to see which is in need of reform. Why must a child be blind, deaf, feebleminded, or a truant to enjoy the advantages of the most approved educational methods, such as a proper amount of exercise, playgrounds, baths, and good food ? was one of the boys who is driven to crime by Harry B a very natural desire to gratify the normal instincts of childhood. He was twelve years old when I accepted him in July, 1908, as a
too
apathetic
purposes, and the
(221)
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
222
special class conducted for six weeks during the sumby the Psychological Clinic of the University of PennThe sylvania. Psychological Clinic hoarded him with a number of other children at a house nearby kept by Miss E. The influence here was very good and Miss E. was devoted to the children who were placed in her charge, but her home was not organized as a hospital school. The children were neither subjected to the restraints, given the personal oversight, nor provided with the occupations, which I consider desirable for the favorable treatment of troublesome boys. The treatment of this boy was a compromise, and eventually a failure, because our limited financial resources made it impossible to provide all that our scientific insight into the problem showed to be essential. Harry was a large boy for his age and many would have called him handsome. His was the kind of body that craved exercise, and his spirit no less than his body demanded suitable employment. Like so many boys of this type he was fond of machinery, eager to make things, and had a passion for soldiering and outdoor life. When taken with the other boys to the botanic garpupil mer
in the
school
dens,
he formed them into
taker
as
general,
and the others
day tles, He
as
himself
recruits,
as
company of soldiers with the carecaptain, one of the boys as lieutenant
a
and made them march in
step.
Another
he fixed up his room, arranging a little cabinet with ink botput a sign with his office hours on the door and played doctor. was
very fond of reading and read the papers through every to Miss E. about the things of interest he found in
day, talking
library and read a great deal, camping, machinery, and adventure. At especially boys' first he rendered willing obedience, taking some medicine uncomplainingly at each meal, although he said it was not good and them.
He took out books from the books
on
asked the caretaker to talk to him while he took
forget
about it.
school
subjects,
In school he
was
not
it,
so
that he would
interested in the
ordinary
but he showed sufficient intelligence, and if it had not been for his indifference he could have learned rapidly. He entered the school with his interest centered chiefly upon the
possibility
of
going
in to swim at the
University gymnasium.
Both in the school and at the boarding house he made a distinctly favorable impression. He was polite, courteous, and anxious to and be of service. He aroused no suspicion of dishonesty. On the folHe entered the school on a Monday morning.
please
lowing Saturday
at eleven o'clock in the
morning
some one
who
CRIMINALS IN THE MAKING.
223
previous record, gave him a cheque for $10.50 neighboring grocer's. He did not return with the money but went immediately to a department store in the heart of the city, bought a soldier's suit and took the one o'clock train from the Reading Terminal for New York. This twelve year old boy did not know his
to cash at
a
had
been in New York but nevertheless he succeeded in
never
finding tion.
the shortest and
Here he took
a
quickest
route to the Grand Central Sta-
train for Pine Plains where
a
Philadelphia
regiment was in encampment. He became the mascot of one of the companies, and one of the men who knew his parents took city with the regiment, having subsequently gained, by questioning him, quite a stock of information. He reached Philadelphia military large his on Wednesday of the week hasty exit. Afraid to following care
He returned to the
of him. as
I
learned
home, he put in the time going about wagons, sleeping in one of them at night.
go
with the newspaper On
Sunday morning
he took the last of his money and spent it on a trip to Washington Park. That night, tired and hungry, with all his money gone, he district station house and gave himself up. They Detention, but as no charge was made him on account of the theft, he was given again into the
walked into
a
sent him to the House of
against custody
of his parents and returned to Miss E.'s, where he relonger. On his return I talked to him most
mained three weeks
seriously
and for the first time about his offenses. notes of
Q. A.
Q.
"Why are you sorry?" "Because I don't want to face them."
Q.
"Why
A.
"I .
am
don't you want to face them ?" ashamed."
'
"Why?"
A.
"Because I had
Q. A.
"Did you know that when you took it ?" "Yes, sir."
Q.
"Then
A.
Q.
no
right
to take the
money."
why did you take it ?" "I wanted to go to Pine Plains." "Would you rather face it out or go to the House of
Tlefuge ?" A.
following
a
A.
Q.
The
part of the conversation: stenographic "Are you sorry you took the money ?" "Yes, sir." (Beginning to cry.)
is taken from the
"Face it out."
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
224
Q. that you A.
"Do you think if you keep from taking
can
"Yes,
here
couple
a
of weeks
more
money?"
sir."
Q.
"Is there
A.
"For
forgot
stay
anything you want money for now ?" writing paper. I meant to ask her for some
and I
it."
"What did you want paper for ?" "To write to my mother. We got at the house and I want to tell her."
Q.
A.
Q. A.
"Do you like better to work or to "Oh, I like some light work."
a
"Have you "Yes, sir."
Q.
"What at?"
A.
"Running errands, serving circulars,
ever
earned any
dogs
play ?"
A.
Q.
of little
couple
money?"
and
working
around stores." A.
"When you earned money what did you do with it?" "Spent it."
Q.
"Having
Q.
good
time ?"
"Yes,
Q.
"For
A.
"I divide up with the fellows." "Have you ever taken any money before this ?"
Q.
answer.) A. rifle
a
A.
sir."
candy?'"
do you take "Don't know."
"Why
Q.
"I have been told you
was
it?"
A.
"Thirty-two
Q.
"From whom did you steal that ?" "An old man."
A.
Q. A.
Q. A.
once
stole
a
rifle.
What kind of
calibre."
"Did you take the rifle to shoot "To shoot."
or
to sell ?"'
"Where did you shoot it ?" "Out in the country."
A.
"How did you get to the country ?" "Walked out there and tried it."
Q.
Q.
"When
they catch you ?" standing on a street." was that? Was it right after
A.
"No,
couple
Q.
"Did you have the rifle with
Q.
"How did
A.
"As I a
(!N"o
money?"
was
of weeks after that."
you?"
you took it?"
225
CRIMINALS IN THE MAKING. A.
"No,
Q.
"What had you done with it ?" "Sold it to a man for twenty cents and spent the money." "What did you want money for?" (No answer.)
A.
Q.
told
"Somebody A.
sir."
"Yes,
me yon took sir."
a
horse once."
Q.
"How
A.
"I rode him out to Norristown for
was
that?" a
man."
Q.
"How
A.
"From six o'clock until nine."
Q.
"When you got out there what did you do ?" "Put him in the stable, then the man went out
A.
long
did it take
you?"
on
his
farm and I went to him and
said, 'What are you going to give going to give you nothing,' and I said, my carfare home,' and he said, 'What do you want with So I went down to the stable, put the saddle on the
and he
me,'
'Give
me
carfare ?'
said,
'Ain't
horse and rode him home." "When you got to the city what did you do with him ?" "Left him on a side street and was walking down Broad
Q. A.
Street when he
Q.
caught me." "Who caught you,
A.
"Yes,
sir."
Q.
"Did
they
the
man
you stole the horse from ?"
take you to the House of Detention that
time ?" A.
"Yes
Q.
"Did you tell them the story of his not paying you ?" "Yes, sir; the man said it was all a lie, he would have
A.
given
me
Q. A.
"No, sir;
a
sent
me
there."
carfare home." "Would he?"
Q. stole
sir, they
he said he wouldn't."
"What else have you stolen?" bicycle once, didn't you ?"
A.
"Yes,
(No answer.)
"You
sir."
"Did you take it to sell?" A. "No, sir; the boy who owned it lent it to me to ride home from school, and instead of going to school I rode it around
Q.
the
park.
to have
I
a
thought it was a good bicycle bicycle like that." I
Q.
"You tried to sell
A.
"A fellow said he would it
thought bicycle anyway."
was a
it, didn't
good bicycle
and that I would like
you ?"
give
me some
and I would
money for it, but it. I wanted a
keep
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
226
Q. A.
"How long did you ride it around ?" "All afternoon."
Q.
"When did the
A.
"When I
was
offer you money for it ?" riding it around the park." man
Q. "What did you ride it down Market Street for ? To see if you could sell it?" A. "Because I did not want to get caught with it on my hands." A.
didn't you take it back to the boy ?" "Because he would give me a good licking."
Q.
"Why
Q.
"Why?"
A.
"Because I had
Q. A.
"Didn't you know you hadn't any "Yes, sir."
Q.
"Why
A.
"Because I
kept
it out."
right
to
keep
it out ?"
not?"
promised
to
it to him when I
give
got
back
to school in the afternoon."
"You knew you "Yes, sir."
Q.
"What did you do with the money you
Q.
cycle
wrong then ?"
A.
were
doing
got
for the bi-
?" A.
it."
"Spent
Q. "Didn't you sell it because you thought of all the things you could buy with it." A. "Yes, and another reason was I did not want to get
caught
with it ?"
A.
"How much did you "A dollar eighty."
Q.
"At the store
Q.
on
get for
it ?"
Market Street ?"
A.
"Yes,
sir."
Q.
"How
soon
A.
"ISText
morning."
did you
get caught ?"
It had been
reported to me that Harry had gone to revival meetings held shortly before in Philadelphia, and had been converted, confessing his crimes after the manner of "Sentimental Tommy". I questioned him about this. Q. "Why did you go to revival meetings?" (ISTo answer.) "You believe in God ?" A. "Yes, sir."
Q. A.
"Do you believe there is such "Yes, sir."
a
place
as
hell ?"
CRIMINALS IN THE MAKING.
Q.
"What is hell ?"
A.
"Where the devil is."
Q.
"What does he do to you ?" "Don't know."
A.
Q. A.
Q. A.
Q.
meetings
"Didn't you hear about hell at the "No, sir." "Are you ever afraid of "I never think of it."
going
227
meetings ?"
to hell ?"
"Didn't you think about it when you went to the revival ?" sir."
A.
"No,
Q. A.
"Aren't you afraid you may die and go to hell ?" "I never think about it."
Q.
"You
got
A.
"Yes,
sir."
Q.
"What does
A.
"When
converted at the
getting
Q. A.
"Yes,
Q.
"Did you go up on the "!No, he came down."
Q. A.
Q. What
didn't
you?"
converted mean?"
take your "Is that all?"
A.
meetings,
they
name
down."
sir."
platform?"
"Did you tell him how bad you had been ?" "No, sir." "What did he ask you when you gave him your supposed to be giving; your name for ?"
name
?
were you
"To go to Jesus." "When you gave your wanted to go to Jesus?" A.
Q.
did you
name
"Yes,
Q. A.
"Did you really want to go to Jesus ?" "Yes, sir."
Q.
"Or did you
Q. you ?" A.
Q. 'A.
Q. A.
that you
name
down
sir."
A.
paper ?" A.
mean
simply
want to
get your
"I wanted to go to Jesus." "You felt that way because he had been
"Yes,
sir."
"Do you go to "Yes, sir."
Sunday-school ?"
"Do you like Sunday-school?" "I think it's all right."
preaching
on
to
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
228
Q. "Do you like to hear about school, or doesn't that interest you?" A.
"That's all
Q.
"Does it interest you ?" "Yes, sir."
A.
Jesus and God in
Sunday-
right."
I could not discover that the
had any real appreciation He showed great sensia of bility during part my arraignment, first beginning to sniffle and finally crying outright. He claimed he had no idea of taking
boy
of the seriousness of his misconduct.
the money until he read in the newspaper about the soldiers being at Pine Plains. Although he wept copiously, ten minutes was inquiring eagerly about going over to the gymnasium enjoy the swimming pool. Even after I explained to him that boy of his reputation could not be trusted there and that he
later he to a
would have to wait until he showed
no
doubt that he
could be found to go with him, appeared injured. There was no
some one
shame but rather
regarded his own wishes as imperative and that he regard for the opinions of others. This may have been the result of defective home training, but it may also have been due to the possession of a volatile conscience and a temperament bordering on the pathological. He avoided, whenever possible, facing his trouble or thinking of unpleasant things. He was friendly, pleasant, and thoroughly at ease, carrying the conversation along lines which interested him personally and appearing astonishingly independent for twelve years old. He had the not uncommon boyish trait of boasting of his accomplishments, but he was large for his age and perhaps his easy domination of other boys had given him a high opinion of himself and his powers. Mentally precocious, he was nevertheless backward in the ordinary school subjects. Harry had originally been sent to the Psychological Clinic the by committing magistrate at the House of Detention. He was brought to us in the custody of his mother for the purpose of making an examination as to his mental status, in order that the magistrate might have the benefit of our opinion in reaching a final disposition of the case. The boy's mother claimed that his actions could be explained only on the principle of mental deficiency. She seemed to think that Harry was a case of "Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde": sometimes he was very good for as long a period as three months, and then he would have a more or less protracted outburst of lawlessness. had little
229
CRIMINALS IN THE MAKING. Our first brief examination made clear the until after the
pending judgment under observation.
The medical and other
University Hospital reported mic,
but otherwise
ment, but
tory
no
normal,
dispensaries
and recommended
even as a
small
a
boy
never
sus-
time
at the
and
anse-
tonic and treat-
enlarged tonsils. he
of
some
boy poorly developed
for catarrh and
operation,
revealed that
the
necessity
had been for
boy
His his-
wanted to
play
home, preferring to wander off, but he was ten years old before he actually ran away. When he was seven, his aunt who was paying them a visit, took him on her lap and allowed him to play with her pocket book. Later when she wanted to go home, both Harry and the purse were missing. He had gone to a shop in the neighborhood, had ordered ice-cream, and presented a dollar in payment. The shopkeeper brought Harry and the dollar
near
home.
According to the mother's story he had always been a heedless boy, busy with his own affairs to listen to what was said to him, given to lies and the invention of sensational stories, subject to crazes and fads, always wild about something and willing to go to any length to get it. If he had been the son of well-to-do parents, this natural craving for a bicycle, a cowboy outfit, a knife, and excursions into the country, would have been amply gratified. The family, however, were wretchedly poor, and his desires not being deadened by poor food and deprivation, nor choked by fear, which is usually the case, he took what he wanted regardless of the law. He was really making an effort in his own poor way to too
escape from the terrible conditions which surrounded him. Underfed, under-exercised, under-stimulated mentally, he endeavored to cut his way out from the boredom of his existence. He came to us without a toothbrush, necktie or collar, and during the hot
weeks he
his
wore
was one
mother
energetic vealed
seven
well intentioned woman, but unable to cope satiswith the task of rearing and managing seven alert and
was
factorily
of
heavy
winter
underclothing. children, all living and none of them Harry markedly degenerate. The younger children, however, showed the degenerating effects of the family's struggle for existence. The summer
a
children
nothing
on
a
meagre income.
cipline, inadequate
guide
the
family history
family
school in the
or
re-
moral de-
product of his environment,? food, poor care, insufficient disfacilities, and lack of expert assistance art of controlling a difficult boy.
generacy. I consider Harry the the very natural product of poor to
The
to account for any inherited mental
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
230
To whom should the
family of a
troublesome
boy
turn for this
expert assistance? To the physician? To the psychologist? To the officers of the Juvenile Court? To the Children's Aid SoAll these
agencies are consulted when the father and mother make their last fight to save an erring son from the reform school or some penal institution. Why do they so often neglect to consult the only accredited authority on public and private morals?the nearest representative of the church, their personal pastor, who might be expected to respond with a well considered plan for the moral regeneration and development of each individual child ? Harry's parents, for example, were religious people, ciety?
members of
a
Protestant
church,
and
we were
told that their min-
good deal about the case. The boy also liked to attend Sunday-school, said his prayers willingly, and took kindly His case was one which might have to religious instruction. been greatly helped by proper religious instruction, but the parister knew
a
ents had never taken the minister into their
the minister
ever
situation in my est or
talked to the
boy
about his
confidence,
nor
waywardness.
had The
does not indicate any great lack of interthe part of the clerical profession, but it does
opinion
sympathy
on
reveal the very natural result of too much Greek and Hebrew to the exclusion of psychology and sociology.
special class, after he had run away to a decided change in behavior. He bePlains, Harry other and toand the children, disobedient, nagged plagued
On his Pine came
return to
ward the latter
the
showed
part
of his
stay he
uncontrollable in the school
room.
rectly traced to his boredom and one thing only interested him in ing of a wicker basket, and yet I individual instruction and
was
insolent to the teacher and
His bad behavior could be dilack of interest. his school am
life,
I believe that
work,
the mak-
confident that under careful
discipline he
missive to the constraint of school
room
would have become sub-
and would have made
rapid
The concentration and persistence Harry so obviously lacked in the school room, were noticeably present while reading a book which told how to make a boat out of logs and how We were unable to to set traps for catching pickerel in the ice. provide for the needs of this boy and others like him, because we lacked the financial resources and equipment. In the summer of 1910 we undertook an educational experiment with a group of these boys under conditions which more nearly met their require-
improvement.
CRIMINALS IN THE MAKING.
ments,*
but
conduct the
we
still await the financial
experiment
with
an
231 necessary to and organiza-
resources
adequate equipment
tion.
Opinions may differ in regard to the diagnosis of this boy's condition. There was undoubtedly a nervous and emotional instability which the examining neurologist thought might possibly be "hysterical," but attaching a pathologist's tag does not wipe out the fact that this boy's history, barring the few flagrant offenses, is the history of hundreds of boys who turn out well, and that there was in his case a failure to provide the essentials of a wholesome mental and moral discipline. I considered the boy very well worth the effort and pains necessary to turn him good stuff, into a useful man. His crazes, his imagination, his love of wandering, the nerve and courage which took him to the camp at Pine Plains, ISTew York, are all of them excellent traits to serve as a foundation for the building of character. Perhaps fate was kind to this boy. In the month after he left the care of the Psychological Clinic, he ran away from home for the last time. Stealing a long ride on a freight train, he fell under the wheels and made the as
he,
finest
tramp,
under
the
was
hobo,
Of such material
killed.
and the habitual criminal.
slightly different circumstances,
specimens
Fatalism is
of manhood the human
race
are
as
he
are
Prom such
developed
the
affords.
philosophy, that it amounts to a mental habit. Rooted up, it grows again in new places and in new forms. The Oriental lies down upon his bed of sickness and pain and resigns himself to death because it is the will of God. We take a more kindly view to-day of the actions of Divine Providence, and ascribe to man's ignorance and inertia some of the diseases and ills of life. Keligious fatalism, however, is no sooner eradicated from the human mind, than a scientific fatalism takes its place. Heredity is now the fatalist's "Deus ex machinaThe physical and moral ills of an individual are not ascribed to the so
common
a
forefathers, but rather Feeblemindedness, insanity,
sins of his
to
their diseases and defects.
moral
degeneracy,
these
are
doubtless in a certain proportion of cases the direct result of an inherited factor. ISTevertheless, mental and moral degeneracy are just as frequently the result of the environment. In the absence of the most painstaking investigation, accompanied by a determined effort at remedial treatment, it is usually impossible to de*An Educational Experiment with Troublesome Adolescent Boys, by Arthur Holmes, Ph.D. The Psychological Clinic, Vol. IV, No. 6, Nov. 15, 1910, p. 155.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
232
when confronted
cide,
the environment has
by an individual case, played the chief role.
man's inheritance? In
bettered?
place
stantly emphasize we prefer the
whether Who
can
And what man's environment
heredity or improve a
can
not be
fatalism of those who
of the
conhopeless in of the the hereditary impotence presence hopeful optimism of those who point out the
our
factor,
activity of the environment. To ascribe a condition to environment, is a challenge to do something for its ameliora-
destructive the tion
or
fold
our
cure; to ascribe it to heredity too often hands and do nothing.
means
that
we
Take for instance the belief in human depravity and crimiPublic opinion, even scientific opinion, is clearly fatalistic. In this country the treatment of the criminal is still nal instinct1?.
conducted with
a
view
only
to
punish
or
segregate, scarcely
ever
A much discussed theft brought out the following headlines and phrases in the local newspapers,?"this boy whose criminal tendencies," "some queer mental characteristics," "the propensity for evil," "criminal instincts," "a rare specimen of juvenile depravity." Head these and then consider that the boy at whom these phrases were directed was not yet ten years old. This congenital monster, a bom criminal, was only a little boy whose disposal was giving the Children's Aid Society in Philadelphia so much concern, that he had been sent to the Psychological Clinic for examination. Was he a bad boy, a moral imbecile, criminally insane, feebleminded, or merely untrained, uneducated, undisciplined? In a case of this kind the question cannot be answered without keeping the boy for a month or more under observation and training in the proper surroundings. A brief examination could to educate or cure.
and did determine that he
was
mentally
normal.
To
care
for
a
expensive and the resources of the Hospital School at the time were not adequate to provide for his board and training. It was then determined to place the boy at an insti-
lively
and
energetic boy
is
tution which is often used while
as a
substitute for the reform school, and institution, he was boarded by a private home. One Sunday after-
to be entered at this
waiting Society for a few days at noon he brought to the house another boy somewhat older than himself, and together they planned to break into a desk containing some jewelry and money and use the proceeds to go to the circus. Some time after midnight the two boys got a hatchet from the kitchen, broke into the desk and after securing the jewelry and money,
the
CRIMINALS IN THE MAKING.
decamped.
George
not of
ring, ring and
captured the
was
night. He
had sold
a
for three cents.
great value,
the rest of the
next
233
jewelry,
He gave away a diamond all of which were brought back by
among whom they had been distributed. He also took a five dollar gold piece which he had induced some one to change for him, and when caught he still had left about two dollars and a the
boys
half. Let
portion
us admit the seriousness of this offense, but some proshould be maintained between the offense and its puni-
tive consequences, between even a crime and the spiritual flaying to which our objurgatory epithets subject the offender. What parnine year old boy would care to have him publicly branded thief possessed of criminal instincts, because he took a few ar-
ent of a
a
jewelry and some money to obtain the wherewithal to go to the circus ? There are many nine year old boys living in respectable homes in the city of Philadelphia who steal, in the course ticles of
of
single
a
boy
has had
year, from their parents and others, more than this In wellan opportunity to take in his whole lifetime.
to-do homes the
peculations
of childhood
are
made
good by
the
child's protector, and the child is subjected to the kind of home discipline which in time educates him to an understanding of the
significance
of his actions and to
a sense
of
personal responsibility.
Circumstances alter cases, and regrettable as it may appear, it is nevertheless true that the financial standing of a family often determines whether the false ered
a
criminal act
or
step of one of its members shall be considmerely a more or less trifling transgression.
Some time ago at the Juvenile Court I saw a child held for taking an aunt the sum of five dollars, which he had promptly spent
from to
This money represented the acof several years of hard work, and its loss was
give his playmates
cumulated
savings
a
good
time.
very serious matter. The boy was a menace to the very existence of that family, not because he was so bad but because the a
family was to
was so
put the
poor. The only remedy which society had to offer boy in the House of Refuge. This is said in no wise
reflection upon the House of Refuge, for this institution provided him with a better home, a better school and a better playground than he had previously enjoyed, but the same boy in a as a
different environment, if he had taken this money from the well
pocketbook of a relative, would have been soundly spanked given such punishment as commended itself to the family, and there the matter would probably have ended.
filled or
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
234:
public comments upon George's offenses, to which I referred, it was said that he had "manifested a criminal bent at an early age." George was indeed handicapped from the start. While an inmate of the Philadelphia Hospital, a homeless waif of eighteen months, his future foster mother was so much attracted by the boy's appearance that she persuaded her husband to adopt him against his better judgment and the wishes of his family. This alone was enough to give George that bent which public comment spoke of as criminal, for constant bickering is not a favorable soil for the growth of mentally and morally normal children. To add to George's difficulties his foster mother died insane when he was five years old, and George not only lost his In the
have
but it would appear that his life and behavior had been for some time in the charge of a woman who was growing
protector,
gradually
insane.
He
was
then
placed
in
a
children's
home, where
he remained for two years, until the foster father married and once more gave the boy a home. After
again
few months
George proved himself quite unmanagecomplained that the boy had an uncontrollable temper, and was obsessed with the idea of playing on the railroad. He was picked up repeatedly by the police and taken to different station houses. When told to do anything he did not like, George would kick and scream, making enough noise to attract the neighbors to the house to see what was the matter. His teacher at school sent word that he did not attend regularly. In other words, George at a very early age showed enough independence to try to get his own way and to roam about in search able.
a
His second foster mother
of adventure.
Brought at the age of eight before the Juvenile Court of Philadelphia, George was held on a charge of incorrigibility and committed to the custody of the Children's Aid Society with instructions to place him in a country home. A good home was found for him but he continued hard to manage, and addicted to the habit of taking things from the house to give to the children in school.
The
Society,
wanted to
woman
in whose
charge he
him up
was
several
give boy was so attractive. was brought to Philadelphia, on
relented because the
placed to board by the occasions, but always Finally she did give
him up, and he where the Children's took to secure the best physical attention Aid Society every means and to obtain for him the right kind of home. While in their care
he was
frequently caught taking
small
sums
of money.
The
more
CRIMINALS IN THE MAKING. serious theft of
and money from his last caretaker brought before the Juvenile Court.
j ewelry
him at the age of nine
once more
study of criminology
The
235
in this
is still in its in-
country
fancy. Indeed it has not advanced very far even in the countries of Europe, where several journals are devoted to its study. For the present the of
only safe
appreciation of
attitude for the
of its
the
majority
we
shall be at least in
tainly
cases we a
If
we
do not know what
position
the attitude of the
to assume is one
community
ignorance.
own
to learn
Psychological
only recognize
that in
criminal
actions,
causes
something.
This is
cer-
Clinic with reference to
this and many another boy's offenses. No one ought to decide why a bo/ steals, from the mere recital of his actions and history, nor yet from
a
brief mental and
doubtful at
physical
In
examination.
a
difficult and
it may take months of careful study with an attempt before we can be at all certain of his characteristics
case
training
and of their effect in
determining
may
give expression, tentatively,
boy's
moral status.
his behavior.
Nevertheless,
to certain conclusions
as
one
to this
George steals because he wants the money and his social interinclude his moral nature, have not yet been sufficiently which ests, awakened to
cause
him to have much
I do not believe that there is such
There is,
perhaps,
a
instinct of
an
regard for the rights thing
as
a
of others.
criminal instinct.
appropriation
which
George
with every other member of the human race? the instinct to take what you want when you see it. This is not a crime, nor is the instinct criminal. Society makes the crime by
shares in
common
determining what acts of appropriation are illegal. It is immoral and illegal to appropriate jewelry and money which doesn't belong to you, but a nine year old child is not expected to have a full realization of the moral judgments or legal enactments of the community. In fact, it is only gradually that the child can be made to appreciate the distinction between "mine and thine" and in a broader sense to recognize the rights and feelings of others. We admit that circumstances alter
College
mature years.
athletic
victory
nothing
more
whereas if it
tory,
on
than
cases even
students
are
with children of
permitted
the streets, and the disturbance is an
were a
ebullition of
it would be called
regarded
an as
and energy, a strike vic-
youthful spirits organization celebrating riot and anarchy. The institution
labor
more
to celebrate
of the
Juvenile Court for offenders under sixteen years of age is evidence that the community has begun to recognize that the human infant
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
236
acquires only gradually
a
personal responsibility
A nine year old boy does not steal in the teen year old boy or a man may steal. It is
same
for his actions.
sense
in which
a
six-
that any
ordinary parent would have experidifficulty managing a boy like George. He was selfwilled and absolutely fearless. This was shown when he was received in a school where they had a swimming pool. The instructor asked George if he could swim. He said, "Oh, yes, I can swim." When the instructor's back was turned he jumped in and was almost drowned before they could get him out. When quesprobable
enced
in
tioned he said he had told the instructor he could swim because he
thought he on trying
keep
could if he tried.
He announced that he would
until he succeeded.
Upon
fear
as a
basis
develops
that wholesome respect for authority, which is the beginning of the individual's subjection to law and order. In the absence of fear the
only
other instinctive trait to which
one can
appeal,
is
love.
Most children under ten years of age have a lively sense of both fear and personal affection. Through their fear of authority, the fear of God or man, or through a strong personal regard persons, the child is usually trained to placed in authority over him. Home discipline is the chief factor in compelling a child to take the right path of moral development. In the case of George he had never known a real or permanent home nor anything resembling a discipline which appeals alternately and in due proportion to the instinctive emotions of fear and love. The well spring of love had never been tapped in this boy. To win love, one must make oneself indispensable to a child's happiness. It is reported by the social worker that George felt aggrieved at his foster father, maintaining that he should have come to see him. He also announced that he intended to keep on giving trouble until his father gave him an allowance of fifteen cents a month pocket money. Although only nine years of age George had a mental development beyond his years. He was alert and ingenious, always up to something, which according to circumstances might be either good or bad. For example, during the time he was at the private boarding house near the University, he spent part of each day in the University Library. He read books like Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper," and Andrew Lang's fairy stories. Once he came up to the desk and asked for Kipling's "Five Nations." for
some
obey
one
those who
or
more
are
When the attendant told him it
was
poetry
and that she did not
CRIMINALS IN THE MAKING.
237
think lie would like it, lie answered, "No, I don't want no I thought it was history." At my clinic I had him read of
graph
selection from
a
George
Eliot's "Mill
order to discover how well he could read. came
forward and asked in
a
on
When I
whisper, "May
the
poetry. a
parain
Floss,"
him he
stopped
I take the book and
finish that ?"
When I gave him the book and allowed him to adjoining room, he finished the selection. During his
go into an brief stay at the in the
library
boarding house he spent his free watching the trains from the
and
time
reading
South Street
bridge. He was one of those children for whom the operation of machinery has a peculiar fascination. That he had planned to rob an apartment house by climbing in through a kitchen window, as reported by a detective, is to my mind only an instance of imaginative enterprise. If this boy had been kept constantly employed at work which engaged his interest and stimulated his mind, he would have given very little trouble. George had so much energy and was so constantly in search of some form of activity that he could easily have kept one or perhaps two able-bodied persons busy finding sufficient
occupation
for him.
A well
planned
theft
was
in his
His initiative and mental the result of misdirected energy. far the development of his moral perdevelopment outstripped
case
ception
and
It was, therefore, a case of uneven developcondition in troublesome moral cases. Owing to
judgment.
ment, a common the desultory character of his school instruction, George was not up to boys of his own age, but he showed himself quite capable of
handling
the
(Subtraction,
subjects. He did multiplication, and did them
ordinary and
school
sums
not
in
addition,
only quickly
way which showed that he had full mastery over his intellectual faculties. I asked him to write a sentence telling us
but in
a
something about the country, about the horses or the chickens. He previously written his name on the board at my request, saying, "I can't write very well." He wrote the sentence, "The hens eat up our money." Turning around and answering our look of incredulity, he said, "That's right, I'll show you how it is. We buy food for them with our money, and they eat the food, so they In response to the magistrate's eat up our money, don't they?" he described minutely how corn is planted, and when questioning, the magistrate said that New York was not a good state for corn, George volunteered, "I am sorry, Judge, but I will have to disagree There are those with you. New York is all right for corn." It a who consider precocity may be the startsign of degeneracy. had
238
TEE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
of degeneracy in some cases, notably where precocity is associated with backwardness and the child is unevenly de-
ing point
veloped, but precocity is no more a danger sign of degeneracy than genius is a symptom of insanity. George was committed by the Juvenile Court to a reform He has been in the institution almost two years. I am informed that his conduct has been exceptionally good?a record
school.
of which he is
shortly be discharged, remaining however under probationary supervision until he is twenty-one years of age. He may repeat the history of many men of eminence, influence, and respectability who were every whit as troublesome in their youth. The same qualities which make for a career of usefulness will help him to become an intelligent and member of the criminal class. Who is the arbiter of dangerous this boy's fate?the boy himself or the community which has controlled his life and nurture almost from the day of his birth? Committed to the care of the community before he was one year old, adopted at eighteen months under legal forms recognized by the community, returned directly to the oversight of the community by his foster father when he was haled before the Juvenile Court on a charge of incorrigibility, coming under the care of the Children's Aid Society, and finally committed to a reform school which is supported by private philanthropy and state aid, George is certainly to be looked upon as a product of this community, the ward of the city of Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania. I have never seen an instance where the intelligent portion of the community is so clearly on trial. If he takes the road that leads to a criminal career, and becomes for most of his life a charge upon the public, it will not be the fault of any one person or any one agency, for all have done their best; but it will most assuredly be the fault of society at large. It will mean that neither one nor all of the existing agencies are able to provide for the moral developTo discover what additional ment of this particular type of boy. and equipment must financial resources what are needed, agencies of methods and what be provided, orthogenic treatment must be is this cases of meet devised to kind, one of the problems of investigation undertaken by the Psychological Clinic. justly proud,
and that he will
Witmek,
Ph.D.
"Don't send me to a , Judge," said boy nine years of who had been haled the Juvenile Court. before "Send me age to the House of Refuge. The only place I can't stand is a place where there is
nothing doing." Nothing doing at home, and nothing doing at school, no playgrounds or other outlet for youthful energies,?this is driving many an active and vigorous boy, possessed of some of the best imin the
pulses
mately
to
a
world,
into the streets, on to the railroads, and ultiConservative opinion still holds fondly
life of crime. of
repression. If it were not so tragic, one could smile at the recent warning of a public school authority against making the truant schools too attractive lest boys should seek to be placed in them rather than remain in the ordinary schools. It is neither impossible nor impracticable for the public schools to provide interesting and instructive employment that will engage the best energies of our adolescent youth. Why then continue to look upon education as a semi-penal discipline, a disagreeable task whose achievement requires a high moral purpose'( Why not and employ games, occupations, gymnastics, anyadapt, organize thing to take these children off the streets and send them eagerly to
a
system
every
morning
to the school room ?
and conservative to
Our educational
systems
are
such work to educational
adapt public which supports our schools is too unenlightened to give adequate financial support to the proposals of the many progressive educators who have the requisite insight. If the truant schools prove more attractive to boys than the ordinary public schools, it is not difficult to see which is in need of reform. Why must a child be blind, deaf, feebleminded, or a truant to enjoy the advantages of the most approved educational methods, such as a proper amount of exercise, playgrounds, baths, and good food ? was one of the boys who is driven to crime by Harry B a very natural desire to gratify the normal instincts of childhood. He was twelve years old when I accepted him in July, 1908, as a
too
apathetic
purposes, and the
(221)
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
222
special class conducted for six weeks during the sumby the Psychological Clinic of the University of PennThe sylvania. Psychological Clinic hoarded him with a number of other children at a house nearby kept by Miss E. The influence here was very good and Miss E. was devoted to the children who were placed in her charge, but her home was not organized as a hospital school. The children were neither subjected to the restraints, given the personal oversight, nor provided with the occupations, which I consider desirable for the favorable treatment of troublesome boys. The treatment of this boy was a compromise, and eventually a failure, because our limited financial resources made it impossible to provide all that our scientific insight into the problem showed to be essential. Harry was a large boy for his age and many would have called him handsome. His was the kind of body that craved exercise, and his spirit no less than his body demanded suitable employment. Like so many boys of this type he was fond of machinery, eager to make things, and had a passion for soldiering and outdoor life. When taken with the other boys to the botanic garpupil mer
in the
school
dens,
he formed them into
taker
as
general,
and the others
day tles, He
as
himself
recruits,
as
company of soldiers with the carecaptain, one of the boys as lieutenant
a
and made them march in
step.
Another
he fixed up his room, arranging a little cabinet with ink botput a sign with his office hours on the door and played doctor. was
very fond of reading and read the papers through every to Miss E. about the things of interest he found in
day, talking
library and read a great deal, camping, machinery, and adventure. At especially boys' first he rendered willing obedience, taking some medicine uncomplainingly at each meal, although he said it was not good and them.
He took out books from the books
on
asked the caretaker to talk to him while he took
forget
about it.
school
subjects,
In school he
was
not
it,
so
that he would
interested in the
ordinary
but he showed sufficient intelligence, and if it had not been for his indifference he could have learned rapidly. He entered the school with his interest centered chiefly upon the
possibility
of
going
in to swim at the
University gymnasium.
Both in the school and at the boarding house he made a distinctly favorable impression. He was polite, courteous, and anxious to and be of service. He aroused no suspicion of dishonesty. On the folHe entered the school on a Monday morning.
please
lowing Saturday
at eleven o'clock in the
morning
some one
who
CRIMINALS IN THE MAKING.
223
previous record, gave him a cheque for $10.50 neighboring grocer's. He did not return with the money but went immediately to a department store in the heart of the city, bought a soldier's suit and took the one o'clock train from the Reading Terminal for New York. This twelve year old boy did not know his
to cash at
a
had
been in New York but nevertheless he succeeded in
never
finding tion.
the shortest and
Here he took
a
quickest
route to the Grand Central Sta-
train for Pine Plains where
a
Philadelphia
regiment was in encampment. He became the mascot of one of the companies, and one of the men who knew his parents took city with the regiment, having subsequently gained, by questioning him, quite a stock of information. He reached Philadelphia military large his on Wednesday of the week hasty exit. Afraid to following care
He returned to the
of him. as
I
learned
home, he put in the time going about wagons, sleeping in one of them at night.
go
with the newspaper On
Sunday morning
he took the last of his money and spent it on a trip to Washington Park. That night, tired and hungry, with all his money gone, he district station house and gave himself up. They Detention, but as no charge was made him on account of the theft, he was given again into the
walked into
a
sent him to the House of
against custody
of his parents and returned to Miss E.'s, where he relonger. On his return I talked to him most
mained three weeks
seriously
and for the first time about his offenses. notes of
Q. A.
Q.
"Why are you sorry?" "Because I don't want to face them."
Q.
"Why
A.
"I .
am
don't you want to face them ?" ashamed."
'
"Why?"
A.
"Because I had
Q. A.
"Did you know that when you took it ?" "Yes, sir."
Q.
"Then
A.
Q.
no
right
to take the
money."
why did you take it ?" "I wanted to go to Pine Plains." "Would you rather face it out or go to the House of
Tlefuge ?" A.
following
a
A.
Q.
The
part of the conversation: stenographic "Are you sorry you took the money ?" "Yes, sir." (Beginning to cry.)
is taken from the
"Face it out."
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
224
Q. that you A.
"Do you think if you keep from taking
can
"Yes,
here
couple
a
of weeks
more
money?"
sir."
Q.
"Is there
A.
"For
forgot
stay
anything you want money for now ?" writing paper. I meant to ask her for some
and I
it."
"What did you want paper for ?" "To write to my mother. We got at the house and I want to tell her."
Q.
A.
Q. A.
"Do you like better to work or to "Oh, I like some light work."
a
"Have you "Yes, sir."
Q.
"What at?"
A.
"Running errands, serving circulars,
ever
earned any
dogs
play ?"
A.
Q.
of little
couple
money?"
and
working
around stores." A.
"When you earned money what did you do with it?" "Spent it."
Q.
"Having
Q.
good
time ?"
"Yes,
Q.
"For
A.
"I divide up with the fellows." "Have you ever taken any money before this ?"
Q.
answer.) A. rifle
a
A.
sir."
candy?'"
do you take "Don't know."
"Why
Q.
"I have been told you
was
it?"
A.
"Thirty-two
Q.
"From whom did you steal that ?" "An old man."
A.
Q. A.
Q. A.
once
stole
a
rifle.
What kind of
calibre."
"Did you take the rifle to shoot "To shoot."
or
to sell ?"'
"Where did you shoot it ?" "Out in the country."
A.
"How did you get to the country ?" "Walked out there and tried it."
Q.
Q.
"When
they catch you ?" standing on a street." was that? Was it right after
A.
"No,
couple
Q.
"Did you have the rifle with
Q.
"How did
A.
"As I a
(!N"o
money?"
was
of weeks after that."
you?"
you took it?"
225
CRIMINALS IN THE MAKING. A.
"No,
Q.
"What had you done with it ?" "Sold it to a man for twenty cents and spent the money." "What did you want money for?" (No answer.)
A.
Q.
told
"Somebody A.
sir."
"Yes,
me yon took sir."
a
horse once."
Q.
"How
A.
"I rode him out to Norristown for
was
that?" a
man."
Q.
"How
A.
"From six o'clock until nine."
Q.
"When you got out there what did you do ?" "Put him in the stable, then the man went out
A.
long
did it take
you?"
on
his
farm and I went to him and
said, 'What are you going to give going to give you nothing,' and I said, my carfare home,' and he said, 'What do you want with So I went down to the stable, put the saddle on the
and he
me,'
'Give
me
carfare ?'
said,
'Ain't
horse and rode him home." "When you got to the city what did you do with him ?" "Left him on a side street and was walking down Broad
Q. A.
Street when he
Q.
caught me." "Who caught you,
A.
"Yes,
sir."
Q.
"Did
they
the
man
you stole the horse from ?"
take you to the House of Detention that
time ?" A.
"Yes
Q.
"Did you tell them the story of his not paying you ?" "Yes, sir; the man said it was all a lie, he would have
A.
given
me
Q. A.
"No, sir;
a
sent
me
there."
carfare home." "Would he?"
Q. stole
sir, they
he said he wouldn't."
"What else have you stolen?" bicycle once, didn't you ?"
A.
"Yes,
(No answer.)
"You
sir."
"Did you take it to sell?" A. "No, sir; the boy who owned it lent it to me to ride home from school, and instead of going to school I rode it around
Q.
the
park.
to have
I
a
thought it was a good bicycle bicycle like that." I
Q.
"You tried to sell
A.
"A fellow said he would it
thought bicycle anyway."
was a
it, didn't
good bicycle
and that I would like
you ?"
give
me some
and I would
money for it, but it. I wanted a
keep
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
226
Q. A.
"How long did you ride it around ?" "All afternoon."
Q.
"When did the
A.
"When I
was
offer you money for it ?" riding it around the park." man
Q. "What did you ride it down Market Street for ? To see if you could sell it?" A. "Because I did not want to get caught with it on my hands." A.
didn't you take it back to the boy ?" "Because he would give me a good licking."
Q.
"Why
Q.
"Why?"
A.
"Because I had
Q. A.
"Didn't you know you hadn't any "Yes, sir."
Q.
"Why
A.
"Because I
kept
it out."
right
to
keep
it out ?"
not?"
promised
to
it to him when I
give
got
back
to school in the afternoon."
"You knew you "Yes, sir."
Q.
"What did you do with the money you
Q.
cycle
wrong then ?"
A.
were
doing
got
for the bi-
?" A.
it."
"Spent
Q. "Didn't you sell it because you thought of all the things you could buy with it." A. "Yes, and another reason was I did not want to get
caught
with it ?"
A.
"How much did you "A dollar eighty."
Q.
"At the store
Q.
on
get for
it ?"
Market Street ?"
A.
"Yes,
sir."
Q.
"How
soon
A.
"ISText
morning."
did you
get caught ?"
It had been
reported to me that Harry had gone to revival meetings held shortly before in Philadelphia, and had been converted, confessing his crimes after the manner of "Sentimental Tommy". I questioned him about this. Q. "Why did you go to revival meetings?" (ISTo answer.) "You believe in God ?" A. "Yes, sir."
Q. A.
"Do you believe there is such "Yes, sir."
a
place
as
hell ?"
CRIMINALS IN THE MAKING.
Q.
"What is hell ?"
A.
"Where the devil is."
Q.
"What does he do to you ?" "Don't know."
A.
Q. A.
Q. A.
Q.
meetings
"Didn't you hear about hell at the "No, sir." "Are you ever afraid of "I never think of it."
going
227
meetings ?"
to hell ?"
"Didn't you think about it when you went to the revival ?" sir."
A.
"No,
Q. A.
"Aren't you afraid you may die and go to hell ?" "I never think about it."
Q.
"You
got
A.
"Yes,
sir."
Q.
"What does
A.
"When
converted at the
getting
Q. A.
"Yes,
Q.
"Did you go up on the "!No, he came down."
Q. A.
Q. What
didn't
you?"
converted mean?"
take your "Is that all?"
A.
meetings,
they
name
down."
sir."
platform?"
"Did you tell him how bad you had been ?" "No, sir." "What did he ask you when you gave him your supposed to be giving; your name for ?"
name
?
were you
"To go to Jesus." "When you gave your wanted to go to Jesus?" A.
Q.
did you
name
"Yes,
Q. A.
"Did you really want to go to Jesus ?" "Yes, sir."
Q.
"Or did you
Q. you ?" A.
Q. 'A.
Q. A.
that you
name
down
sir."
A.
paper ?" A.
mean
simply
want to
get your
"I wanted to go to Jesus." "You felt that way because he had been
"Yes,
sir."
"Do you go to "Yes, sir."
Sunday-school ?"
"Do you like Sunday-school?" "I think it's all right."
preaching
on
to
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
228
Q. "Do you like to hear about school, or doesn't that interest you?" A.
"That's all
Q.
"Does it interest you ?" "Yes, sir."
A.
Jesus and God in
Sunday-
right."
I could not discover that the
had any real appreciation He showed great sensia of bility during part my arraignment, first beginning to sniffle and finally crying outright. He claimed he had no idea of taking
boy
of the seriousness of his misconduct.
the money until he read in the newspaper about the soldiers being at Pine Plains. Although he wept copiously, ten minutes was inquiring eagerly about going over to the gymnasium enjoy the swimming pool. Even after I explained to him that boy of his reputation could not be trusted there and that he
later he to a
would have to wait until he showed
no
doubt that he
could be found to go with him, appeared injured. There was no
some one
shame but rather
regarded his own wishes as imperative and that he regard for the opinions of others. This may have been the result of defective home training, but it may also have been due to the possession of a volatile conscience and a temperament bordering on the pathological. He avoided, whenever possible, facing his trouble or thinking of unpleasant things. He was friendly, pleasant, and thoroughly at ease, carrying the conversation along lines which interested him personally and appearing astonishingly independent for twelve years old. He had the not uncommon boyish trait of boasting of his accomplishments, but he was large for his age and perhaps his easy domination of other boys had given him a high opinion of himself and his powers. Mentally precocious, he was nevertheless backward in the ordinary school subjects. Harry had originally been sent to the Psychological Clinic the by committing magistrate at the House of Detention. He was brought to us in the custody of his mother for the purpose of making an examination as to his mental status, in order that the magistrate might have the benefit of our opinion in reaching a final disposition of the case. The boy's mother claimed that his actions could be explained only on the principle of mental deficiency. She seemed to think that Harry was a case of "Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde": sometimes he was very good for as long a period as three months, and then he would have a more or less protracted outburst of lawlessness. had little
229
CRIMINALS IN THE MAKING. Our first brief examination made clear the until after the
pending judgment under observation.
The medical and other
University Hospital reported mic,
but otherwise
ment, but
tory
no
normal,
dispensaries
and recommended
even as a
small
a
boy
never
sus-
time
at the
and
anse-
tonic and treat-
enlarged tonsils. he
of
some
boy poorly developed
for catarrh and
operation,
revealed that
the
necessity
had been for
boy
His his-
wanted to
play
home, preferring to wander off, but he was ten years old before he actually ran away. When he was seven, his aunt who was paying them a visit, took him on her lap and allowed him to play with her pocket book. Later when she wanted to go home, both Harry and the purse were missing. He had gone to a shop in the neighborhood, had ordered ice-cream, and presented a dollar in payment. The shopkeeper brought Harry and the dollar
near
home.
According to the mother's story he had always been a heedless boy, busy with his own affairs to listen to what was said to him, given to lies and the invention of sensational stories, subject to crazes and fads, always wild about something and willing to go to any length to get it. If he had been the son of well-to-do parents, this natural craving for a bicycle, a cowboy outfit, a knife, and excursions into the country, would have been amply gratified. The family, however, were wretchedly poor, and his desires not being deadened by poor food and deprivation, nor choked by fear, which is usually the case, he took what he wanted regardless of the law. He was really making an effort in his own poor way to too
escape from the terrible conditions which surrounded him. Underfed, under-exercised, under-stimulated mentally, he endeavored to cut his way out from the boredom of his existence. He came to us without a toothbrush, necktie or collar, and during the hot
weeks he
his
wore
was one
mother
energetic vealed
seven
well intentioned woman, but unable to cope satiswith the task of rearing and managing seven alert and
was
factorily
of
heavy
winter
underclothing. children, all living and none of them Harry markedly degenerate. The younger children, however, showed the degenerating effects of the family's struggle for existence. The summer
a
children
nothing
on
a
meagre income.
cipline, inadequate
guide
the
family history
family
school in the
or
re-
moral de-
product of his environment,? food, poor care, insufficient disfacilities, and lack of expert assistance art of controlling a difficult boy.
generacy. I consider Harry the the very natural product of poor to
The
to account for any inherited mental
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
230
To whom should the
family of a
troublesome
boy
turn for this
expert assistance? To the physician? To the psychologist? To the officers of the Juvenile Court? To the Children's Aid SoAll these
agencies are consulted when the father and mother make their last fight to save an erring son from the reform school or some penal institution. Why do they so often neglect to consult the only accredited authority on public and private morals?the nearest representative of the church, their personal pastor, who might be expected to respond with a well considered plan for the moral regeneration and development of each individual child ? Harry's parents, for example, were religious people, ciety?
members of
a
Protestant
church,
and
we were
told that their min-
good deal about the case. The boy also liked to attend Sunday-school, said his prayers willingly, and took kindly His case was one which might have to religious instruction. been greatly helped by proper religious instruction, but the parister knew
a
ents had never taken the minister into their
the minister
ever
situation in my est or
talked to the
boy
about his
confidence,
nor
waywardness.
had The
does not indicate any great lack of interthe part of the clerical profession, but it does
opinion
sympathy
on
reveal the very natural result of too much Greek and Hebrew to the exclusion of psychology and sociology.
special class, after he had run away to a decided change in behavior. He bePlains, Harry other and toand the children, disobedient, nagged plagued
On his Pine came
return to
ward the latter
the
showed
part
of his
stay he
uncontrollable in the school
room.
rectly traced to his boredom and one thing only interested him in ing of a wicker basket, and yet I individual instruction and
was
insolent to the teacher and
His bad behavior could be dilack of interest. his school am
life,
I believe that
work,
the mak-
confident that under careful
discipline he
missive to the constraint of school
room
would have become sub-
and would have made
rapid
The concentration and persistence Harry so obviously lacked in the school room, were noticeably present while reading a book which told how to make a boat out of logs and how We were unable to to set traps for catching pickerel in the ice. provide for the needs of this boy and others like him, because we lacked the financial resources and equipment. In the summer of 1910 we undertook an educational experiment with a group of these boys under conditions which more nearly met their require-
improvement.
CRIMINALS IN THE MAKING.
ments,*
but
conduct the
we
still await the financial
experiment
with
an
231 necessary to and organiza-
resources
adequate equipment
tion.
Opinions may differ in regard to the diagnosis of this boy's condition. There was undoubtedly a nervous and emotional instability which the examining neurologist thought might possibly be "hysterical," but attaching a pathologist's tag does not wipe out the fact that this boy's history, barring the few flagrant offenses, is the history of hundreds of boys who turn out well, and that there was in his case a failure to provide the essentials of a wholesome mental and moral discipline. I considered the boy very well worth the effort and pains necessary to turn him good stuff, into a useful man. His crazes, his imagination, his love of wandering, the nerve and courage which took him to the camp at Pine Plains, ISTew York, are all of them excellent traits to serve as a foundation for the building of character. Perhaps fate was kind to this boy. In the month after he left the care of the Psychological Clinic, he ran away from home for the last time. Stealing a long ride on a freight train, he fell under the wheels and made the as
he,
finest
tramp,
under
the
was
hobo,
Of such material
killed.
and the habitual criminal.
slightly different circumstances,
specimens
Fatalism is
of manhood the human
race
are
as
he
are
Prom such
developed
the
affords.
philosophy, that it amounts to a mental habit. Rooted up, it grows again in new places and in new forms. The Oriental lies down upon his bed of sickness and pain and resigns himself to death because it is the will of God. We take a more kindly view to-day of the actions of Divine Providence, and ascribe to man's ignorance and inertia some of the diseases and ills of life. Keligious fatalism, however, is no sooner eradicated from the human mind, than a scientific fatalism takes its place. Heredity is now the fatalist's "Deus ex machinaThe physical and moral ills of an individual are not ascribed to the so
common
a
forefathers, but rather Feeblemindedness, insanity,
sins of his
to
their diseases and defects.
moral
degeneracy,
these
are
doubtless in a certain proportion of cases the direct result of an inherited factor. ISTevertheless, mental and moral degeneracy are just as frequently the result of the environment. In the absence of the most painstaking investigation, accompanied by a determined effort at remedial treatment, it is usually impossible to de*An Educational Experiment with Troublesome Adolescent Boys, by Arthur Holmes, Ph.D. The Psychological Clinic, Vol. IV, No. 6, Nov. 15, 1910, p. 155.
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
232
when confronted
cide,
the environment has
by an individual case, played the chief role.
man's inheritance? In
bettered?
place
stantly emphasize we prefer the
whether Who
can
And what man's environment
heredity or improve a
can
not be
fatalism of those who
of the
conhopeless in of the the hereditary impotence presence hopeful optimism of those who point out the
our
factor,
activity of the environment. To ascribe a condition to environment, is a challenge to do something for its ameliora-
destructive the tion
or
fold
our
cure; to ascribe it to heredity too often hands and do nothing.
means
that
we
Take for instance the belief in human depravity and crimiPublic opinion, even scientific opinion, is clearly fatalistic. In this country the treatment of the criminal is still nal instinct1?.
conducted with
a
view
only
to
punish
or
segregate, scarcely
ever
A much discussed theft brought out the following headlines and phrases in the local newspapers,?"this boy whose criminal tendencies," "some queer mental characteristics," "the propensity for evil," "criminal instincts," "a rare specimen of juvenile depravity." Head these and then consider that the boy at whom these phrases were directed was not yet ten years old. This congenital monster, a bom criminal, was only a little boy whose disposal was giving the Children's Aid Society in Philadelphia so much concern, that he had been sent to the Psychological Clinic for examination. Was he a bad boy, a moral imbecile, criminally insane, feebleminded, or merely untrained, uneducated, undisciplined? In a case of this kind the question cannot be answered without keeping the boy for a month or more under observation and training in the proper surroundings. A brief examination could to educate or cure.
and did determine that he
was
mentally
normal.
To
care
for
a
expensive and the resources of the Hospital School at the time were not adequate to provide for his board and training. It was then determined to place the boy at an insti-
lively
and
energetic boy
is
tution which is often used while
as a
substitute for the reform school, and institution, he was boarded by a private home. One Sunday after-
to be entered at this
waiting Society for a few days at noon he brought to the house another boy somewhat older than himself, and together they planned to break into a desk containing some jewelry and money and use the proceeds to go to the circus. Some time after midnight the two boys got a hatchet from the kitchen, broke into the desk and after securing the jewelry and money,
the
CRIMINALS IN THE MAKING.
decamped.
George
not of
ring, ring and
captured the
was
night. He
had sold
a
for three cents.
great value,
the rest of the
next
233
jewelry,
He gave away a diamond all of which were brought back by
among whom they had been distributed. He also took a five dollar gold piece which he had induced some one to change for him, and when caught he still had left about two dollars and a the
boys
half. Let
portion
us admit the seriousness of this offense, but some proshould be maintained between the offense and its puni-
tive consequences, between even a crime and the spiritual flaying to which our objurgatory epithets subject the offender. What parnine year old boy would care to have him publicly branded thief possessed of criminal instincts, because he took a few ar-
ent of a
a
jewelry and some money to obtain the wherewithal to go to the circus ? There are many nine year old boys living in respectable homes in the city of Philadelphia who steal, in the course ticles of
of
single
a
boy
has had
year, from their parents and others, more than this In wellan opportunity to take in his whole lifetime.
to-do homes the
peculations
of childhood
are
made
good by
the
child's protector, and the child is subjected to the kind of home discipline which in time educates him to an understanding of the
significance
of his actions and to
a sense
of
personal responsibility.
Circumstances alter cases, and regrettable as it may appear, it is nevertheless true that the financial standing of a family often determines whether the false ered
a
criminal act
or
step of one of its members shall be considmerely a more or less trifling transgression.
Some time ago at the Juvenile Court I saw a child held for taking an aunt the sum of five dollars, which he had promptly spent
from to
This money represented the acof several years of hard work, and its loss was
give his playmates
cumulated
savings
a
good
time.
very serious matter. The boy was a menace to the very existence of that family, not because he was so bad but because the a
family was to
was so
put the
poor. The only remedy which society had to offer boy in the House of Refuge. This is said in no wise
reflection upon the House of Refuge, for this institution provided him with a better home, a better school and a better playground than he had previously enjoyed, but the same boy in a as a
different environment, if he had taken this money from the well
pocketbook of a relative, would have been soundly spanked given such punishment as commended itself to the family, and there the matter would probably have ended.
filled or
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
234:
public comments upon George's offenses, to which I referred, it was said that he had "manifested a criminal bent at an early age." George was indeed handicapped from the start. While an inmate of the Philadelphia Hospital, a homeless waif of eighteen months, his future foster mother was so much attracted by the boy's appearance that she persuaded her husband to adopt him against his better judgment and the wishes of his family. This alone was enough to give George that bent which public comment spoke of as criminal, for constant bickering is not a favorable soil for the growth of mentally and morally normal children. To add to George's difficulties his foster mother died insane when he was five years old, and George not only lost his In the
have
but it would appear that his life and behavior had been for some time in the charge of a woman who was growing
protector,
gradually
insane.
He
was
then
placed
in
a
children's
home, where
he remained for two years, until the foster father married and once more gave the boy a home. After
again
few months
George proved himself quite unmanagecomplained that the boy had an uncontrollable temper, and was obsessed with the idea of playing on the railroad. He was picked up repeatedly by the police and taken to different station houses. When told to do anything he did not like, George would kick and scream, making enough noise to attract the neighbors to the house to see what was the matter. His teacher at school sent word that he did not attend regularly. In other words, George at a very early age showed enough independence to try to get his own way and to roam about in search able.
a
His second foster mother
of adventure.
Brought at the age of eight before the Juvenile Court of Philadelphia, George was held on a charge of incorrigibility and committed to the custody of the Children's Aid Society with instructions to place him in a country home. A good home was found for him but he continued hard to manage, and addicted to the habit of taking things from the house to give to the children in school.
The
Society,
wanted to
woman
in whose
charge he
him up
was
several
give boy was so attractive. was brought to Philadelphia, on
relented because the
placed to board by the occasions, but always Finally she did give
him up, and he where the Children's took to secure the best physical attention Aid Society every means and to obtain for him the right kind of home. While in their care
he was
frequently caught taking
small
sums
of money.
The
more
CRIMINALS IN THE MAKING. serious theft of
and money from his last caretaker brought before the Juvenile Court.
j ewelry
him at the age of nine
once more
study of criminology
The
235
in this
is still in its in-
country
fancy. Indeed it has not advanced very far even in the countries of Europe, where several journals are devoted to its study. For the present the of
only safe
appreciation of
attitude for the
of its
the
majority
we
shall be at least in
tainly
cases we a
If
we
do not know what
position
the attitude of the
to assume is one
community
ignorance.
own
to learn
Psychological
only recognize
that in
criminal
actions,
causes
something.
This is
cer-
Clinic with reference to
this and many another boy's offenses. No one ought to decide why a bo/ steals, from the mere recital of his actions and history, nor yet from
a
brief mental and
doubtful at
physical
In
examination.
a
difficult and
it may take months of careful study with an attempt before we can be at all certain of his characteristics
case
training
and of their effect in
determining
may
give expression, tentatively,
boy's
moral status.
his behavior.
Nevertheless,
to certain conclusions
as
one
to this
George steals because he wants the money and his social interinclude his moral nature, have not yet been sufficiently which ests, awakened to
cause
him to have much
I do not believe that there is such
There is,
perhaps,
a
instinct of
an
regard for the rights thing
as
a
of others.
criminal instinct.
appropriation
which
George
with every other member of the human race? the instinct to take what you want when you see it. This is not a crime, nor is the instinct criminal. Society makes the crime by
shares in
common
determining what acts of appropriation are illegal. It is immoral and illegal to appropriate jewelry and money which doesn't belong to you, but a nine year old child is not expected to have a full realization of the moral judgments or legal enactments of the community. In fact, it is only gradually that the child can be made to appreciate the distinction between "mine and thine" and in a broader sense to recognize the rights and feelings of others. We admit that circumstances alter
College
mature years.
athletic
victory
nothing
more
whereas if it
tory,
on
than
cases even
students
are
with children of
permitted
the streets, and the disturbance is an
were a
ebullition of
it would be called
regarded
an as
and energy, a strike vic-
youthful spirits organization celebrating riot and anarchy. The institution
labor
more
to celebrate
of the
Juvenile Court for offenders under sixteen years of age is evidence that the community has begun to recognize that the human infant
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
236
acquires only gradually
a
personal responsibility
A nine year old boy does not steal in the teen year old boy or a man may steal. It is
same
for his actions.
sense
in which
a
six-
that any
ordinary parent would have experidifficulty managing a boy like George. He was selfwilled and absolutely fearless. This was shown when he was received in a school where they had a swimming pool. The instructor asked George if he could swim. He said, "Oh, yes, I can swim." When the instructor's back was turned he jumped in and was almost drowned before they could get him out. When quesprobable
enced
in
tioned he said he had told the instructor he could swim because he
thought he on trying
keep
could if he tried.
He announced that he would
until he succeeded.
Upon
fear
as a
basis
develops
that wholesome respect for authority, which is the beginning of the individual's subjection to law and order. In the absence of fear the
only
other instinctive trait to which
one can
appeal,
is
love.
Most children under ten years of age have a lively sense of both fear and personal affection. Through their fear of authority, the fear of God or man, or through a strong personal regard persons, the child is usually trained to placed in authority over him. Home discipline is the chief factor in compelling a child to take the right path of moral development. In the case of George he had never known a real or permanent home nor anything resembling a discipline which appeals alternately and in due proportion to the instinctive emotions of fear and love. The well spring of love had never been tapped in this boy. To win love, one must make oneself indispensable to a child's happiness. It is reported by the social worker that George felt aggrieved at his foster father, maintaining that he should have come to see him. He also announced that he intended to keep on giving trouble until his father gave him an allowance of fifteen cents a month pocket money. Although only nine years of age George had a mental development beyond his years. He was alert and ingenious, always up to something, which according to circumstances might be either good or bad. For example, during the time he was at the private boarding house near the University, he spent part of each day in the University Library. He read books like Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper," and Andrew Lang's fairy stories. Once he came up to the desk and asked for Kipling's "Five Nations." for
some
obey
one
those who
or
more
are
When the attendant told him it
was
poetry
and that she did not
CRIMINALS IN THE MAKING.
237
think lie would like it, lie answered, "No, I don't want no I thought it was history." At my clinic I had him read of
graph
selection from
a
George
Eliot's "Mill
order to discover how well he could read. came
forward and asked in
a
on
When I
whisper, "May
the
poetry. a
parain
Floss,"
him he
stopped
I take the book and
finish that ?"
When I gave him the book and allowed him to adjoining room, he finished the selection. During his
go into an brief stay at the in the
library
boarding house he spent his free watching the trains from the
and
time
reading
South Street
bridge. He was one of those children for whom the operation of machinery has a peculiar fascination. That he had planned to rob an apartment house by climbing in through a kitchen window, as reported by a detective, is to my mind only an instance of imaginative enterprise. If this boy had been kept constantly employed at work which engaged his interest and stimulated his mind, he would have given very little trouble. George had so much energy and was so constantly in search of some form of activity that he could easily have kept one or perhaps two able-bodied persons busy finding sufficient
occupation
for him.
A well
planned
theft
was
in his
His initiative and mental the result of misdirected energy. far the development of his moral perdevelopment outstripped
case
ception
and
It was, therefore, a case of uneven developcondition in troublesome moral cases. Owing to
judgment.
ment, a common the desultory character of his school instruction, George was not up to boys of his own age, but he showed himself quite capable of
handling
the
(Subtraction,
subjects. He did multiplication, and did them
ordinary and
school
sums
not
in
addition,
only quickly
way which showed that he had full mastery over his intellectual faculties. I asked him to write a sentence telling us
but in
a
something about the country, about the horses or the chickens. He previously written his name on the board at my request, saying, "I can't write very well." He wrote the sentence, "The hens eat up our money." Turning around and answering our look of incredulity, he said, "That's right, I'll show you how it is. We buy food for them with our money, and they eat the food, so they In response to the magistrate's eat up our money, don't they?" he described minutely how corn is planted, and when questioning, the magistrate said that New York was not a good state for corn, George volunteered, "I am sorry, Judge, but I will have to disagree There are those with you. New York is all right for corn." It a who consider precocity may be the startsign of degeneracy. had
238
TEE PSYCHOLOGICAL CLINIC.
of degeneracy in some cases, notably where precocity is associated with backwardness and the child is unevenly de-
ing point
veloped, but precocity is no more a danger sign of degeneracy than genius is a symptom of insanity. George was committed by the Juvenile Court to a reform He has been in the institution almost two years. I am informed that his conduct has been exceptionally good?a record
school.
of which he is
shortly be discharged, remaining however under probationary supervision until he is twenty-one years of age. He may repeat the history of many men of eminence, influence, and respectability who were every whit as troublesome in their youth. The same qualities which make for a career of usefulness will help him to become an intelligent and member of the criminal class. Who is the arbiter of dangerous this boy's fate?the boy himself or the community which has controlled his life and nurture almost from the day of his birth? Committed to the care of the community before he was one year old, adopted at eighteen months under legal forms recognized by the community, returned directly to the oversight of the community by his foster father when he was haled before the Juvenile Court on a charge of incorrigibility, coming under the care of the Children's Aid Society, and finally committed to a reform school which is supported by private philanthropy and state aid, George is certainly to be looked upon as a product of this community, the ward of the city of Philadelphia and the state of Pennsylvania. I have never seen an instance where the intelligent portion of the community is so clearly on trial. If he takes the road that leads to a criminal career, and becomes for most of his life a charge upon the public, it will not be the fault of any one person or any one agency, for all have done their best; but it will most assuredly be the fault of society at large. It will mean that neither one nor all of the existing agencies are able to provide for the moral developTo discover what additional ment of this particular type of boy. and equipment must financial resources what are needed, agencies of methods and what be provided, orthogenic treatment must be is this cases of meet devised to kind, one of the problems of investigation undertaken by the Psychological Clinic. justly proud,
and that he will
