El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-06-08
OLD METHODS OF
PUNISHMENT BAD
Reforms Are Urged in Deal
ing With Juvenile
DelinouentS.

Boston Mass, June Especial treat
ment of each criminal as an individual
as opposed to the old system of herd
ing criminals together and treating
them in a mass either from the point
of view of punishment or reform. was
urged by superintendent Frank Moore
of the New Jersey reformatory in an
address before the section on Law
Breakers of the National Conference
of Charities and Correction here this
morning Mr.. More described a num-
her of systems which have been de-
welcomed recently which if applied to
each prisoner in an institution will
determine whether he is mentally nor
NAL or sub-normal Each inmate OF
the reformatory of New Jersey received
during the last year has been subject
ed to one Of these tests, and by thus
determining his psychological age, II
has been established that 46 percent
of the inmates so received are mentally
sub-normaI. The physical age at which
delinquents may be legally committed
to the reformatory is from 10 to 70
years. but by examination, according
to superintendent Moore, it has been
discovered that the mental age OF al
most one-half the prisoners was below
u years while in one case It was less
than five. In other words is percent
knowledge and ability were only equal
TO the mind of a child from five to IL.
years old
HeaIy On Juvenile Crime.
Life sentences or permanent guar
dianship by the state was urged for
certain class of offenders against
law by DR. William Healy, director OF
the Juvenile Psychopathic institute OF
Chicago. The institute is part of the
machinery of the juvenile court of chi
cago and DR.. Healy as its director has
had wide opportunity to analyze the
causes which bring children into that
court. He made certain comparisons
between the manifestations of delin-
uuency in children and criminalfty IN
adults and pointed out that children
who came back to the Juvenile court
again and again are usually OF the
same type as older offenders who have
become habitual criminals and who are
committed to prison repeatedly
Coulter on Old Methods.
Ernest K Coulter, clerk Of the chill
dren's court Of New York, in an ad-
dress before the section on Law
Breakers" said that the most impor-
tant step to be taken by the state In
IT'S slow abandonment Of antiquated
methods of treating child Offenders
and victims of bad environment and
neglect must be the establishment OF
institutions for the special training Of
the mental detectives of this class.
The speaker. who has seen at close
range more than 10000 children pass
through the largest children's court III
the world, denounced as sentimental
lists those who claim that most juve-
nile delinquents are mentally defect
i've but concluded that the most con-
seYvatfve observers must agree that
there are certain well defined cases OF
exceptional children, victims Of envir-
onmental or congenita1 causes which
irresistibly predispose them 10 crime
Some Of these children" said Mr.
Coulter, Ct have seen come back TO
the court five or six times after they
had spent years in the ordinary re-
formatories all before they reached
the age of 16 In forcing the commit
ment of the defective child in the ordl-
nary reformatory. the state is blind TO
its cruelty to the children, the injustice
TO the institution. and the menace to
the community"