Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-04-23

But. unfortunately, discipline is of little
avail Tor the monomaniac. Discipline
preSuppoSes reason which can de-
cipher right and wrong, cause and effect
1t also takes for granted that the indi-
vidnal stands responsible for his or her
conduct.
Take. for example, what appears to be
a typical case OF defective inhibition
(kleptomania) recently reported from a
New England college for women AS
the dispatches report the affair:
The student when arragned in the dis
trict court admitted taking the various
articles, including two gold watches. an
ivory tray and sealskn coat, all valued
at $500. She said she did not know why
she took them"
II is impossible, OF course to base a
scientific diagnosis upon a newspaper re-
port but the surface facts in this affair
furnish US with a typical case of klepto-
mania. OF course, the young woman
could not explain why she took the ar
ticles. That fact alone, the fact that she
had no excuses for her theft. should
have led the authorities to call in an
alienist In place Of the police.
Again, admit that the situation be-
comes increasingly difficult for the lay
man to grasp. 1t is normal to reason
that If young woman, who has been a 4,
college favorite. who has been a leader
In her studies. prominent in college the
atricals and member of the most e1-
elusive societies, 1t is only reasonable,
we say, to believe that with the mental
equipment which such accomplishment
Dresupposes, the girl was responsible for
her conduct. Then Immediately our own
reason jumps TO the other side Of the
problem: Why should girl who has all
that wealth can supply steal three hun
dred dollars worth of odds and ends?
The truth OF the matter is. that the
Will, the policeman of the mind. some
times strikes a quicksand in his beat
which he cannot patrol. He can keep law
and order in every other nook and COR
ner Of his domain except that one rotten
spot which will not support his feet. In
this hole he has no jurisdiction. He
stands helpless and wondering. utterly
confounded at the rim OF the quicksand
('she said she did not know why she
took the articles"0. T. S. Clouston, F. r.
c. p. F., in his book "Mental Diseases"
(chapter IN), treats of this defect Of
mind under the general head OF "Defec.
tive Inhibition" "Inhibition," translated
TO popular terms. means 'the power Of
self control" The tendency of all other
wise normal mind to steal is disorder
of the self-controlling functions of the
brain.
The subject Of self control is best stud
led in children. Clouston takes n child
OF SIX months for an example. A child OF
th'o o5o Hao ho ouCH DIdlu power eH-
istant as mental inhibition. No desire or
tendency is under the control of a mental
act. When a child is a year old the rudi.
ments Of the faculty Of self control are
apparent They will resist the desire to
grab the stove and they will not upset
the milk jug. But the power Of control
is just as gradual a development as the
motions of the hands.
There is no day in the year when a
child's natural impulse to take his sisters
apple is stealing. After the child has
grown, physicians and psychologists dis
Copyright. 1915. by the Star compa