Page:1954 Juvenile Delinquency Testimony.pdf/143

Rh Senator. We all know in the actual working of the mat- ter ihe committee comes in, the stalf director who is giving it full iime is actually the one who does the research and reuding aud has the principal hand in guiding and directing what is in ile reports. Is that not true?

Mr. . Senator Kefauver, I wish

Senator. Try to tell me.

Mr. . I wish you could within 15 minutes wo to 152 Bast 74th Street where you would meet 20 ladies of varying ages, social posit ions, professional background, and number of chitdren, engaged, if not in phy sical, at least in yerbal combat about the children's books they have read in the past week, Tis is an active comiuuttee and al- ways las been whieh meets weekly, which has 20 to 50 nelive mem- bers, nevertheless, and 15 or 20 w ould be present al any one meeting.

Senator. Anyway, Miss Frank is the head of the staif that, handles the comies and places evaluation on them 4

Mr. . That is right.

Senator. Who is Lauretta Bender, M, D.?

Mr. . She is a senior psychiatrist at Bellevue Hospital, which is one of the institutions. I think she is one of the most distin- guished personages in the field of child psychiatry.

Senator. She has something to do with this?

Mr. . She was one of many people whom we mn those days asked for their opinion and Lauretta Bender is in this partienlar study, inatched. for instance, by Der. Alpert, who had a radically different point of view from Dr. Bender,

None of these people was connected

Senator. Well, we are beating around the bush about this. In the child-study format here you have, and Jet me read a little part of this which you put out to the children:

A discussion of children's fears; Child studics have suggested inquiry into the possible relation of movies, radiv, comie thrillers to fear in childhood, Acvard- ingly, the following psychiatric opinious have heen gathered by Josette Prank und ave presented bere fur the guidawce of parents. Miss Frank is cdneativunal assuciate on the Child Study Association stall and cansultant on children's books, radio, and comics.

Nathan W. Ackerman, ML D.. psychiatrist, is director of the Child Development Center in New York Citv. Lauretta Bender, M. D., is the associate professor of psycliatry, New York Univer sity, Medical School.

Then you go on with some other people. Now, i. is strange to me how. if you are giving out directions to parents, how frankly your associate is taking the part of the comic-book industry. Why do you not sey here that Josette Frank. in addition to heme with Clild Study Association. is also the consultant on the children's reading, or con- stitant on the editorial advisory hoard of Superman, D, C., National Comics. and is paid by the comies-book industry ?

Mr. . Wait a minute, sir. Please don't say that she is paid by the comic-book industry. This is not so. She is paid by a particular comic-book publisher. L want to put this on the record very strenuously which is quite a difference,

When I work for the Schlitz Brewing Co. I don't work for the beverage industry. I work for one particular company and I may have my good reasons why I work for Schlitz and not for Ballantine.