Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-11-21
Psychic Aftermath
of War
The New Order and the Criminal
by Fred rie J. ,faskin
By Fred rie ]. Tia skin


ment. For one thing many trained minds
will be focused upon the problem, and
for another, the public will arrive at
better understanding Of the nature nf
mental disease and it's relation 10 crime
and social unrest
Thia is one regard IN which Amerlca
is conaplcliuusly behind the times long
after leading European countries had
effected scientific treatment OF crime,
this country was stumbling along with
statutes modelled after The archaic
covenants nf the Old Testament and
impregnated with blcxandrian theories
OF good and evil
Only recently has change IN the trend
of American criminal Jurisprudence be
come apparent within the last four or
five years Before this 1t ls true, juvenile
courts were established IN some ctlos.
but not until short time before the war
was any provision madc for dealing scicn-
tiheally with the adult male criminal.
Crime ecicure has shown, " n manltesta-
ton " the abnormal or auhnormal re-
s,lting from abnormal or subnormal con
ditions IN the criminal or hIs environ
rnent Not all who commit crlncR havc
mental arrangements. hut exports are
agreed that vast majority Of rcclilvists.
or habitua criminals, arc mentally dc
fcctlve and should be trcated accordingly
This rremise must hc recognized before
anv adequate methods for the clcmina
tlon of crime can be developed
Dr Bernard Ghcck, director III the
psychiatric clinic at Sing sing Prison,
after study of 6S3 prisoners, admiitCd
up 70 December l. 1917. stnfee TINT IS
per cent not merely prisoners, but ndl-
vldualg who have shown throughout life
a tendency 10 behave in manner at
variance with thc behavior of the averaRc
normal person. and this deviation had re-
pcafedly manifested itself N criminal
acts fightv-eix per cent ~ MI the
prisoners were rccldlVlsfs. who had spent
from one term to seven ~ some corrective
institution Twelve per cont were par
nome or otherwise mentally dlsoasod
Ycf within FIVE years I'll ~ these prison
prs wil be discharged again INTO the
community
Dr Gllcck in report n the Commit
toc on Mental Hygiene, presents sketch
af \ typicn old offender The subject
II ~ yoars old, serving seventh torn ior
burglary His father was 4 chronic Al
cohollc As boy, the subject had com
Portable home surroundings but hc carly
manifested instability and an inclination
ta trtlancy winch resulted ln expulsion
from school ~ tic age Of eleven hen
he was Is. lob was found ior bIm, but
IN n short timc he gave il ~ and began
to frequent pool rooms and saloons At
10 he took to drink, and shortly alter
ward vas committed tn = penltrn'iary
for assauIt Since then he hes been con
yicttd So times for various ol1cusee
In the fabric 1t TINS mans career the
strand II mental instability is clearly
81 a. n \ I t.rra 80
YIlI ever revert to q normal rclatoHhlp
- 4ocIcty Punishment Will have no
effect besldes keeping hIn for short per-
ods from dong harm 70 others
PECULIARLY AMERICAN.
The abortlvcnea7 Or the present Amerl-
can legal machinery in dealing with -
serious Il problem the prevention q
crime IL becoming obvious 10 socioioglsts
In no other country would the silly ami
futile third degree and the InsId ous
gentlemen agreement between prose
cutor and defendant bc tolerated
/. Is desirable Or C5Iueck comments.
that the agltatIo which one meets on ali
sides lor reform n thIs important social
problem should occupy Itself Nlih the
agcncles which handle the prisoner betor"
hls arrival IN PRISON. u much A. It son
! Germs itself q present with PRISON reform.
4 have n mind i hardened and thor
oughly experienced burglar who h al
ready served IN 4 number oi penal Insti-
tutIpns He deliberately tells me that hc
has no intention whatever 70 do anything
but thlcvlng on hIs release and dIsiain-
fully refuses the offer which might tent
to change his mode OF living Yet We are
compelled "a release tins man within a
| few weeks because his sentence expires
| Inquiry reveals the unsavory fact
| that the prosecuting attorney, - whom
| this mans criminal record IS veil known,
! deliberately enters into bargain with,
| for example, a seventh offender, - plead
guilty rs a second offender, n return foT
/ which the habltual criminal escapes with
/ a definite sentence OF tyo or three years
This deliberate participation IN a
crime through sanctlonIng perjury on the
| part of the offender neither serves to pro
| tcct society nor to inStll into the criminal
a respect for the law Instances OF TIN,
nature are not at all rare IN oar experiences
At SIM, Sing
It must be remembered that the factor,
| of hcredity and environment, though
tremendously important, are not the only
! ones responsible for crime NIereiy
establishing the fact that SO many crim
mails are insane or detective, Or. Glueck
points cut. will avail nothing, II w remaII
! blind To the physical rs well as the socia
| factors responsible.
There are unqucStlanab more dc
! fective and insane outside Of prison walk
| than within Because an Individual is lie
fectiye or insane does not mean that he /,
destined to be criminal But an uniu-
telligent and sometimes vicious handling
| Of such petsouS MAY well serve 10 make
! criminals Of them 70 that extent the
psychiatrists 5 concern with problems q
administration Is not only justified but
Imperative.
| The point Is that d very conalderapl,
proportion Of cur population IS made VI
| of persons who are defective or inferior
| IN nervous balance In most eases tn.
detect IS 50 slight ls not to be apparent
! to any bur al expert Most Of these per
! sons have their adjustment g life 10 a
! manner more or less satisfactory MOI at
{ detectives are iucurahle, and sometimes
nothing more than a physical optr-tIon
Is needed TO remove the defect.
IndiscrlmInatc punishment however
i will tend to develop latent pruehyitier
toward crime The whole problem must
he taken al its root and the delinquent
child must be handled carefully and scien-
tificallv The establishment OF juvenile
psyehiatric cllnlcs IN Boston, Chicago
! and other large cItIcs has done much al
ready hut there is great need tor more
such institutions PsychlatrIc education
Of school teachers, settlement workers