Page:1954 Juvenile Delinquency Testimony.pdf/133

Rh the medium, che changes from month lo manth in any one miugezine, or in the titles ov in the publishing houses thetuselves, this proved nunpracticable.

Tt was therefore decided to Itst categories, and eriterta for judging, wlich might be useful to parents in guiding thetr children's selec- tions, So far as § know, onrs was the first ageucy te concern itself with ¢his whole subject, and we surely found onrselyes groping in an uucharted field.

I should like to place this survey in evidence here, quoting frem it now only that part which relates to the subject of your inquiry, crime colles.

The. Thank you very much, sir. Without objection, this document will be made a part of our permanent. files, the entire docu- ment, It will be exhibit No, 15.

(The document referred to was marked "Exhibit No, 15," and is on file with the subcommittee.)

Mr. . I might say this study was divided into two parts, an analysis of content and according content evaluation. On crime and detective comies this was said in 1945:

Stories featuring erime, G-men. and potice run through many of the magns Asa rue the crimes are on a grandiose seale involving elaborate plotting such as bunk robberies, hijacking, smuggling, gang wars, sabotage, and, currenthy, black- market racketeering. The inevitable pattern is that the eriminals are killed or brought to justice and the law emerges triumphant. Crime dees net pay in fhe comics, Modern inethods of ¢rime detection are played up in some storics, A few are mystery stories, but rarely of the detective type depending rather ou speed and guuplay than on unraveling the mystery. VPotice and G-men are usually (but not always} represented as being ou the job and competent.

Comment and evaluation:

Children are fascinated by tales of wrongdoing and evil. The avenging of wrongs and the punishment of evildoers is a child's own fantasy pattern and Such themes run through much of their literature as well as their play. Ube modern setling of these stories, however, has given rise to a fear that they may "give children ideas" of things to de. The motivation towird vnsocial acts Hes much deeper than aay casual contact with ideas on a printed page, Neverthe- jess, lest children already ou the verge of unsocinl behavior ay find here a blue- print for action, pelty erimes, such as pocket picking, shoplifting, et cetera, should he omitted, From the point of yiew of sound ethics, chitdren are best served if crime is made unattractive and unsuccessful. The vhild reader is likely to be less burdened when crimes remain entirety in the adult workt—commilted neither by children nor against children. Such crimes as the kiduaping of a child, for example, are definitely threatening to yuung readers.

Mr. . I got lost. You seem to say that there is no competent evidence that what appears in the crime comics has any effect upon the child and yet you seem to say also that children should be kept away from these crime comics which serves as a blueprint for a child who is maladjusted.

Mr. . First of all, Mr. Counsel, I emphasize this was 1943. Teach time very carefully document the year in which the statement. has been made.

The. Mr. Dybwad, you were talking about the strip comics, were you not?

Mr. . No, in 1943 by that time there were comic books.

The. Your discussion started out about the strip comics.

Mr. . In 1937 it was primarily strip comics. In 1943 we already had the beginnings of a comic industry. You will see as I