Page:1954 Juvenile Delinquency Testimony.pdf/174

162 The committee will now recess until 2 o'clock. (At 1 p. m., a recess was taken until 2 p. m., same day).

The. The hearing will be in order.

Counsel, will vou call the first witness for the afternoon’s session ?

Mr. . Mr, Chairman, before proceeding to call the next wit- ness I would like to introduce in the record a letter received from the American Psychological Association at our request, commenting upon crime, horror comic books, signed by Carl H. lush, Jx., exccutive assistant.

The. Counsel has examined the communication carefully?

Mr. . Yes, sir.

The. It relates directly to the problem before us?

Mr. . Yes, sir.

The. Without objection the letter will be eluded and incorporated in the record at this point. Let that be exhibit No, 22.

(The letter referred to was marked "Exhibit No. 22," and reads as follows:)

, Washington, D C., April 20, 1954. Mr. ,
 * Subcommittee To Investigate Juvenile Delinquency,
 * United States Senate, Washington, D. C.

to address myself to the general problem under consideration by the snbcom- mittee whieh you represent. I have examined the comic books yon sent and, although my initial reaction was one of surprise and disgust, I shall attempt to give you my considered opinion of their potential impact npon the behavior of children with special reference to juvenile delinguency, At the outset I should point out that I haye had no direct experience with researc]: on this topte and bave arrived at the opinions contained herein only after careful examination of published research on the topic and a logical analysis of the problem. TI should also add that my comments represent the personal opinions of an indlividnal psychologist and not the consensus or official statement of the 12.000 members of the American Psychological Association.
 * In response to your letter of March 23, I should like

At first glance it seems utterly impossible that these so-called camie books eould serve any useful or functional purpose. They are lurid, splashy, sensa- tional, and fantastic, Lessons to be learned, if any, are obscured by the noise and violence of action. Whe language is ungranuuitical and crude, which, parenthetically, is true of a much broader class of such publications. In short, it is difficult to see why anyone would read such trash. Yet, there ts abundant evidence to the contrary, people do read these books or at least we infer that they do from the circulation figures. Phere appears to he a strange sort of fascination about such materials; violence or threat of violence seems ta pique the curiosity of humans, Furthermore, it is conceivable that this is a very general type of phenomenon that ts observed in many different sitnattons. People attending wild-west rodeos, racing events, daredevil shows, carnival exhibitions of frenks, and other such spectucles may he looking for a shock experience from which they derive a particular kind of transitory satisfaction. It is aluost as if the human organism has a need for periodie vitalization through the vicarious experience of 1 potentially traumatic, and indeed tragic eyent, But it is ulso possible that in all these things there ure no lnsting effects, nu learning of any consequence; these ave merely self-indulgences which excite for the moment and then are gane.

he fantasy life of an individual is probably facilitated by exposure te materials such as the lerror comies. Whey provide a mechanisin by means of which the person can escape from the pressures of reality which impinge upon