Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-02-26
CRIME WAVE: IS
NATURAL AFTER
WAR, IS CLAIM!

CHICAGO.-"The crime wave is
the logical and expected aftermath
of war" according to Clarence A.
Neymann, head of the Cook coun-
ty Psychopathic hospital, and pro-
fessor of psychiatry at Rush Med
ical college.
He blames all crimes to psy-
chopathic personalities.
THE crime wave," he said. in
an interview, lis not confined to
the large cities of the United
States. 1t is observed in every coun-
try which was a belligerent The
Paris, Berlin, Rome, and London
newspapers are filled with stories
of crime on an almost unprecedent-
ed scale. This is because
The war taught men the use
of firearms,
"The war taught men the cheap
ness of human life.
There is a financial readjust-
ment in progress made necessary
by the war.
And there is a social readjust-
ment in progress made necessary
by the condition of peoples dur
ing the war.
when 1 say that the war taught
men the use of firearms I do not
soy lIldL Tie LpSlIdIOIS OIL the
vast number of crimes now being
committed were in military service.
Very few were. But those who
stayed at home, especially those
who were on the borderland of
criminality, were taught these
things.
Fighting and Killing
For four years the newspapers
were filled with accounts of bat
ties, wholesale homicides.
people came to look upon these
tremendous daily killings as a sort
of game.
Human life came to be a mat
being blotted out in blocks of ten
thousand or more in a day.
Then there were accounts of in
dividual killings in which the kill
ers were quite naturally acclaimed
as heroes-exploits of daring avia-
tors, bombers, and scouts, men who
faced danger and killed men, and
were decorated for it.
Gwen enemy aviators were cheer
ed and honored as game and
sportsmanlike.'
THE grim fact of death was
lost track of.
'Borderland psychopaths heard
tions, sniping, and individual kill
ings. They visualiZed the war as
an animated Diamond Dick detec-
tive yarn, and, fed up with the
daily war thrillers, they took to
killing and footing.
After War Situation
There are the establishments nee
essary after war which also cause
crime. For a long time men of all
kinds received high wages. Then
many were thrown out of jobs. They
got hungry. They robbed and kill
ed.
Men with high wages acquired a
taste for things they never wanted
before.
Thrown back again into their
old lives of toll at low wages, OF
thrust out of employment, some of
them became embittered against So
ciety.
"Hence they took to crime,
"All crimes are committed by
personality. Given the right educa-
ton, the right direction for their
abilities, the right environment, and
the right external psychic factors
and many of them would lead peace
full. honorable, and respectable
lives.
''Under the pressure of unem-
p1oyment, bad associates. hostile
environment, hunger real or fan
cied injustice, and they break out
as criminals.
Cure for Situation
"Psychopathic personality Is
something which can be detected
in puberty.
"if child with psychopathic
personality is taken early enough
and given the right sort of care
he will turn out a good citizen:
eff, on the other hand, he is
thrown into a reformatory for his
first offense, he is ruined for life
eff society is to protect itself
against the criminal, it must begin
to take notice of the youths and
girls who are unable to adjust
themselves to life, and to help
these youths and girls to adjust
themselves and become useful and
peaceful members of society"