Page:1954 Juvenile Delinquency Testimony.pdf/23

Rh I think it is fair to say at the outset that there are not many data from experimental sources which answer the question at hand, Let me first cite some rather old analogical evidence. A study was made several years ago on the effects of movies upon the behavior of children and it was concluded that motion pictures have a deleterious influence on 10 percent of males and 25 percent of females, It has also been shown that movie attendance by children results in disturbed sleep, as indicated by increased motility durng sleep, This effect sometimes perseveres for 2 or 3 nights. It can therefore be concluded that viewing motion pictures is not a neutral event in the case of children. In the absence of similar studies concerning comics, I am inclined to extrapolate by saying that I believe reading comics may well have similar influences upon children to that that have been demonstrated for the movies.

One can approach this problem also by attempting to indicate what the comics really represent. It is clear that they represent stories about people and their relationships. It is also clear that the relationships are not tranquil, that they are in effect aggressive and hostile. However, children view aggressiveness and hostility in many of their daily experiences, and they themselves show aggressiveness and hostility, The comics of the kinds discussed here are exclusively preoccupied with relationships of this kind, and exclusive reading of this material is therefore a kind of unbalanced intake for a child. It should he noted, however, that all literature, including children's fairy tales, are characterized by treatment of the aggressive and hostile, and that the comics perhaps distinguish themselves only in their rather exclusive interest in situations portraying this kind of behavior.

It has been suggested by some psychiatrists that comic books may have some value in that they represent a source of fantasy material to the child, and children use fantasy to work out some of their problems and some of their feelings toward other persons. Working out these feelings through fantasy may not be as undesirable as working them out through misbehavior or open acts of hostility. This point of view can be accepted with some reservations. It is mv impression that there are other ways of working through problems, such as other kinds of reading, play activities with one's peers, activities with adults and the like. It seems preferable that the child at least utilize several of these methods. There probably is some cause for concern if the child devotes himself in a rather excessive manner to comic books as a source of fantasy.

Comic books may well also be significant with respect to psychological difficulties the child already possesses. Hostile feelings toward his parents, for instance, may be brought to the surface through the reading of these books, releasing the children's anxiety, and this result is not desirable, Furthermore, since the violent behavior of the comic books is not limited to the villain of the piece, the child may feel that he secures some sanction from this source for the open expression of his own tendencies toward violent behavior. Neither of these statements can be interpreted as meaning that the pathology of the child is necessarily initiated or caused by the comic book, but that there is a significant relationship between the child's problems and how he reacts to them and the content of these materials. It is perfectly fair to say that this is not always a salutory result.

ln your letter you ask several specific questions to which I shall attempt to give answers. One question deals with the reactions to comics of the disturbed versus the normal child. The emotionally disturbed child may show a greater reaction to comic books of this type than will the normal child. Perhaps it would be better to say that the emotionally disturbed child may show a greater tendency to read books of this kind than will the normal child. The child with difficulties may find in these books representations of the kinds of problems with which he is dealing, and they will therefore have a value for him which will be nonexistent or minimal in the ease of the child who is relatively free of these troubles. In other words, it might be suggested that the kinds of comic books a child chooses could provide to the child psychiatrist some clues with respect to the kinds of problems faced by the child.

Your letter also asked about differential effects of the comics upon delinquents and nondelinquents. I doubt that the comic books can be blamed for originating delinquent trends as such in children, but they might well be instructive in the techniques of delinquency and criminality since they do portray techniques of criminal activity and of the avoidance of detection.

It is not my feeling that the solution to delinquency or emotional disturbances in children is to be found in the banning or elimination of comic books. Rather,