Page:1954 Juvenile Delinquency Testimony.pdf/95

Rh Delinquencies against property; delhnqaueney associated with vio- lence; offenses connected with sex, and then miscellaneous, consisting of fire setting, drug addiction, and ehtldhood prostitntion.

J may say the latter isa very hushed-up subject. Tam not referring to what young girls do with young hoys, but I am referring to 10-, 11-, 12-, 18-year-old girls prostituting themselves to adults.

Now, nobody versed in any of this type of clinical research wonld claim that comic books alone are the cause of juvenile delinquency, Tt is my opinion, withon{ any reasonable donbt, and without any reservation, that comie books we an important contributing factor In many cases of juvermmle delmanency.

There arises the question: What kind ef child is affected? I say again without amy reasonable doubt and based on hundreds and hun- dreds of cases of all kinds, that it is primarily the norma] child.

The. American children are wonderful children. If we give them a chance they act right. It is senseless to say that all these people whe get into some kind of trouble with the law must be ab- normal or there must be something very wroug with thein.

As a matter of fact, the most morbid children that we have seen are the ones who are less afleeted by conic books because they are wrapped up in their own phantasies.

Now. the question arises, and we have debated it in our group very aften and very Jong, why does the normal child spend so much time with this smnt and trash, we have this baseball game which I would like you to serntinize im detaal.

They play baseball with a deadman's head. Why do they do that?

The. Doctor, do you want to put this up here on exhibition and explain it?

Dr. . Yes, sir.

Mr. Chairman, I can't explain for the reason that I can't say all the obseene things that are in this picture for little boys of Gand 7. This is a baseball game where they play baseball with a man's head; where the man's intestines are the baselines. All his organs have some part to play.

The torso of this man is the chest protector of one of the pinyers. There is nothing left to anybody's morbid imagination.

Mr. . That is from a comie book?

Dr. . That is from a comic book.

I will be glad to give you the reference later on. It is a relatively recent one,

Senator. Mr. Chairman, may I ask the doctor a question at that point?

The. The Senator from Missouri.

Senator. Doctor, I think from what you have said so far in terms of the value and effectiveness of the artists who portray these things, that it might be suggested implicitly that anybody who can draw that sort of thing wonld have to have some very singulur or pecnliar abnormality or twist in his mind, or am I wrong in that?

Dr. . Senator, if T may go ahead in my statement, I would like to tell you that this assumption is one that we had made in the beginning and we have found it to be wrong. We have found that this enormous industry with its enormous profits has a lot of people to whom it pays money and these people have to make these drawings