Evening star., 1933-04-23
Youth and Crime.

Justice indicates that young people are
responsible for approximately forty per
cent Of all the crime in the United
States. That. in any case, is the easy.
superficial view of the results Of a
study which the departments bureau
of investigation has been making Of
the records Of 80,785 arrests between
January 81 and March 81 this year.
But further consideration suggests q
series Of reservations which 1t may be
proper to entertain in the circumstances
In the first place, 1t Is fair to disre-
gard arrests for vagrancy. A homeless
boy may be q social danger, but it does
not invariably follow that he is al
ready a criminal. Just now, because
of the worldwide depression, there are
literally thousands Of lads who have
no permanent shelter. They wander
about the land in search Of opportuni-
ties of employment. Granted that they
may be ripe for conflict with the law,
it also must be conceded that their
availability is their major offense in
States where new recruits for the
chain gang are being sought by officers
somewhat too jealous in their search
for free labor.
Again, it must be remembered that
young amateurs are much more apt to
be arrested than old professionals. The
inexperienced lawbreaker lacks the
technique for deception and escape
which the confirmed criminal has de-
veloped. He does not know how to
cover" or to perform his getaway"
often. too. he is merely tool. prompted
to crime by . stronger nature than his
own and then in an emergency delib-
erately abandoned. Recently in . town
IL Pennsylvania two boys were arrested
for participating In an attempted hold
up. Investigation disclosed that they
we're but the younger pair in quartet
Of which the other half consisted of
man Of fifty-four years and one OF forty
seven, both Of whom successfully ran
out" ON their junior partners. In such
. case which individuals should be held
most directly responsible? Obviously,
justice would punish those mature
enough to know better rather than
those unwise in the worlds ways. unde-
veloped in power Of discrimination be-
tween good and evil. But the boys
went to jail, and the modern Fagins
who inspired their wrongdoing re-
manned free to find new pupils.
Finally, it should be noted that young
criminals are largely the result Of .
process of mis-education for which So
ciety in general is to blame. If adults
unhesitatingly take chances with the
law. it is inevitable that adolescent boys
and girls will be guided by their ex-
ample. Adults cannot pick and choose
as to which laws they will obey and
which ignore without young people do
ing likewise. The children of a nation
cannot be expected to practice a higher
standard Of morals than their parents.
1t Is an axiom Of sociology that many
so-called bad" sons and daughters
have had that kind Of fathers and
mothers. Complaints against youth,
then, are in effect complaints against
the homes from which they come.
Good home conditions produce good
citizens. II there is an occasional ex-
ception, the fault usually can be traced
to the contagion Of companions care
lessly chosen. themselves the victims Of
imperfect training.
Young criminals, certainly, deserve no
apology, nor will they be accorded any.
But before the entire youth Of the
country is indicted for anarchy 1t would
be well for its critics to examine with
scrupulous care the background against
which the misdemeanors occur and from
which, in some portion at least, the bulk
of them derive. Crime does not simply
happen by accident: it is not spontane-
ously generated. On the contrary. 1t
has promoting causes which too fire.
quently lie deeply hidden in social
character.