The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-08-16
The Offender Group
By R. ADDrN6ToN BRUCE

From the psyehopathic clinic of the record CTS court in. Detroit has lately come most lssuggestive report on the findings of a sta tistical study of large number of offenders against society. It emphasizes, to state the matter in a very few words, the great im- portance of regarding crime as an index, not of innate depravity, but of unfortunate per- sonal and social conditions.
 And inferentiaIly it points to measures which undoubtedly will have to be taken fl the occurrence of crime is ever to be appre. ciabfy lessened.
 Altogether the four specialists making this report-T. Raphael, A. L. Jacoby, W. w. Harryman and M. M. Raphael-studied near ly two thousand offenders. They were offend CTS of all degrees, from mere violators of traf- fife regulations to sex offenders, burglars, and murderers. To all of them sundry tests were applied, and inquiry made into their family and social history.
 It was found, for one thing, that more than 50 per cent. of the offenders examined were under thirty years of age. Also it was found that the foreign born, contrary to a wide spread belief, were proportionately no more numerously represented than the native born. In fact, commenting on this aspect of the sit. uation. the specialists say:
 Both groups fall very well within quota as allowed by the general population statistics, point definitely in favor of immigrants and individuals of foreign percentage, who, in spite of the admitted strain attendant upon recent and radical mileu shift nevertheless far aa regards crime, at least-manage to. keep extremely yell within their population frac- tion quota"
 But, whether foreign born or native born, these Detroit offenders showed, as regards the immediate family situation, deplorably high percentage of handicapping conditions. No fewer than 41.T per cent. had been mark edly disadvantaged by such conditions in their home life as poverty, disease, dissolution, lack of training.
 Educational deficiencies also were much in evidence. The majority were found to have less than an eighth-grade education, while, in the negro representation, the majority had less than five grades, with an illiteracy rate of about 65 per cent.
 Ten per cent. of all the nearly two thou sand offenders, white and negro, had no ed ucation whatever. Only 13.6 per cent had been in high school, and hardly more than per cent. had entered college. In other words, 'his netroit crime group was a distinctly un- dereducated one.
 nnlcil, ot course, would help to explain the failure of large proportion to meet the intelligence tests applied to them by the four specialists. No fewer than 52.2 per cent
  these almost 20 per cent. were classified as feeble-minded.
 On the other hand, contrary to what one might expect, the physical status of the group was satisfactory enough, only 8 per cent suffering from il-health of such degree as to constitute a serious social handicap. In the matter of psychic makeup, however, 36.8 per cent. showed mental abnormality of one kind or another, and about 15 per cent of these were regarded as insane.
 Bearing in mind that both insanity and feeble -mindedness may be a product of reme- diable as well as irremediable causes, the whole trend of the report is to stress the ne- cessity for improving the living conditions of the masses as a first step in genuine preven- tion of crime And this is assuredly a step that must be taken.
 Until the slum menace is abolished and until education is made more truly available for all, we can hardly expect the crime prob lem to be other than constantly acute.