RESEARCH and ENQUIRY Physical Disability At

the

turn

and Crime

of the century

Charles

Goring1 concluded from his patient investigations?"On statistical evidence, one assertion can be dogmatically made: it is that the criminal is differentiated by inferior stature, by defective intelligence, and... by his antisocial proclivities." Whether criminals were different in those days or Goring's statistics were unreliable, the fact is that "defective physique and intelligence" can no longer be regarded as significantly correlated with crime; yet the antisocial proclivities, if only for tautological reasons, remain firmly and embarrassingly with us. Consideration of the relationship between physical disability and crime plunges us straight into the deep end of criminological research. Not least of the difficulties is that the physical disabilities themselves may depend on combinations of inherited and environmental factors some of which may also be playing a part in the causation of crime. Another constant methodological difficulty is to obtain adequate control groups. It is not surprising that there has been a tendency to split up the problem in some way: disorders of the central nervous system, anomalies of physique and nutrition, the influence of trauma before and after birth, and so on. A corner of the field which should be relatively easy to explore concerns those (usually cosmetic) anomalies which, since they cause no functional disability, must act, if they act at all, through their psychological effects. A recent paper by E. Lewison2 revives this approach. Over a period of ten years a total of 450 male prisoners were submitted to plastic surgery for the correction of misshapen noses, ears, and chins and for the removal of scars. The offenders were selected largely on criteria of youthfulness and good (criminological) prognosis. There was no control group. The study is reminiscent of that of D. A. Ogden3 in Portland Borstal Institution, though in his group in addition to the correction of cosmetic disfigurements 238

remedial surgery of a more general k'n carried out.... . Successive authorities have William Healy's dictum4: "It ought to b generally realised, in all common seflSe' that any physical peculiarities, defects, ? diseases of the offender which stand in way of social success should be as ciently treated as possible." would accept that, but when asked consider the possible causal relations!*1?, between these defects and crime we m3 was

eck?fe

^

Every0,j

with Sir Norwood East5: tinuous observation of adolescent an adult offenders not only shows the relation between the physical abnormal' and the crime, but also the importance ?f, caution in determining the association Neither Lewison nor Ogden offer

"C0lj

agree

j

able control

groups, so that

acCfn

uncertain'

remains on whether physical disabiH1' ^ cause crime or whether the correction them is the specific treatment. But t>?. ' studies report a notable improvement the attitude of the offender within ^ prison?"heightening of morale and rel' from hostility interest in learning trade and manifest desire to change tne way of life". Ogden, in particular, nised and deliberately exploited 1 psychological elements of the making the patient participate (by earn^ his recommendation for treatment), tfUS ing him with some responsibility, tfan ? ferring him to a warmly accepting

^

j.

...

reC?^e treatm^

vironment, and supporting him logically after the treatment was over. I1 of interest that not only the facial

?Pern.

tions but also correction of such m11 a dane disabilities as varicose veins claimed to improve the attitude. There is no need to justify the ' tion of cosmetic and other surgical abilities in offenders. It is indeed reg larly carried out at Grendon Prison ^ Britain and elsewhere. But these PaP give food for thought. Does the change ^ attitude occur before the operation? the whole procedure having its maj effect on criminality by changing

c?r^5.

lender's relationship with authority? If 3 by what other means could a similar ^

ect be obtained for the benefit of those

Jfh straight noses

and no varicose veins? 'U other dramatic measures to which ./fenders are submitted prove to be acting a similar manner? The final answer v probably be that there may be some 0rt cuts in the correction of chronic but it is still likely to be a long

s,1"

Renders, uHiey,

and

Sprinted

mostly uphill. from the British Medical

Journal of June 5th, 1965, with acknow-

ledgments. REFERENCES 1.

Goring,

H.M.S.O.

C.,

The

English

Convict,

1913.

2. Lewison, E., Can. med. Ass. J., 1965, 92, 251. 3. Ogden, D. A., Brit. med. J., 1959, 1, 432. 4. Healy, W., The Individual Delinquent, 1915, p. 216. London. 5. East, W. N., The Adolescent Criminal, 1942. London. 6.

Middleton, P. McK., "Paralysed Awareness". Paper presented to the 1st International Congress of Social Psychiatry, London, August, 1964.

Research and Enquiry: Physical Disability and Crime.

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