Evening star., 1936-08-23
CRIME PREVENTION DRIVE
CARRIED TO RURAL AREAS
National Institution Is Organized in
Effort to Reach and Bring Solution
for 'PrOblem Child"

may not pc Que 10 trudncy, IOr ex-
ample, but may be the fault Of parents
who keep their children out of school,
either to work or for some trivial
reason. There are about 40 indications
Of social maladjustment as shown by
bad temper, quarrelsomeness, bullying,
supersensitiveness, to mention q few.
Fully a score of adverse factors are
found under the heading of defective
home conditions, such as poverty.
family discord or divorce. low moral
standards or the inability to rise
above the influences of bad neighbor-
hoods or slums. A major factor in
starting children on the wrong path
is the resentment they feel because of
ridicule or the dislike they engender
because of physical defects or abnor-
malities.
Treatment Benefits Emphasized.
Surveys show that if children who
have such hardships are carefully
treated and helped they can be pre-
vented from drifting into conditions
which will bring them into conflict
with the law. Fifty child welfare or
ganizations. as shown by one survey,
listed thousands of children as posi-
BILE delinquents and did what they
could to assist them through advice
or by removing their handicaps as
much as possible.
The percentages Of those actually
arraigned in the courts for delin-
quency after having been listed,
averaged 33 per cent for the seven
years, 1928 to 1894, inclusive. The fig
ures were, 1928, 3 per cent; 1929, AZ
per cent; 1881, "A per cent; 1882. 81
per cent; 1888. 81 per cent: 1884, 2
per cent. 1t will be noted that since
1881 there has been a steady decline
in juvenile delinquency, and the last
figure is less than half of what 1t was
before the decrease began.
If one studies the population Of the
country as a whole, counting all
classes, the ratio of the normal to
those with the abnormal tendency
toward unsocial acts is relatively
small. There are approximately 1885,
900 inmates of Federal and State
prisons. There are thousands Of other
persons who have been punished for
minor offenses which are not listed in
the prison records. It is estimated by
sociologists that / per cent of the
juvenile population needs special
guidance to avert criminal lapses.
Would Combat Evil Tendencies.
Crime prevention, as seen by ofii-
cials of the institute, should be de-
voted largely to aiding one child out
Of 100 to overcome evil tendencies.
The institute does not contemplate
performing such task by itself, but
by co-ordinating its efforts with all
other agencies, while it acts as a
clearing house for the gathering of
information, the study Of methods
and the diffusion Of knowledge in its
special field.
Among the research projects already
undertaken Is q survey of the theo-
logical seminaries Of the United States
with the view Of finding out to what
extent they instruct students in
criminology and allied sciences.
Whether a young man is preparing for
eAAS AAAAAAAoeAys A3NctAAOOQ VI VIC IApo
binate, modern methods seem to re-
quire he should know q great deal
more about the temptations and the
environment Of his fellow mortals
than has been provided In typical
training schools for the clergy in the
last century. Catalogues Of all theo-
logical seminaries in the United
States and Canada have been collected
for preliminary study. On the sub
committee on the seminaries, several
bishops of various faiths will serve.
The Police Committee includes
criminologists and police officials, both
active and retired. Police depart
ments Of many cities have expressed
deep interest In the plans Of the
institute.
On the Police Committee are several
heads Of departments who have been
especially successful In building up
bureaus or divisions devoted to crime
| prevention.
tcepy1ishs. lseeJ