Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 2.djvu/754

 73$ THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

From comparison of death rate, number of orphans, measurements of stature and weight, and observed abnormalities, it is shown that juve- nile crime is largely due to degeneration. The vagrant boy comes into collision with a competitive world with which he is not able to cope. The study of mental condition is more difficult and more important. The conclusion is reached that the physical inferiority of the class is necessarily accompanied by mental defect.

On the basis of wide induction the author concludes that the domestic environment is decisive in giving direction to abnormal con- duct. Parents of criminal youth are, eighty of them in every hundred, addicted to vicious, if not criminal, habits. The economic condition of juvenile offenders might be inferred from their physical, mental, and domestic conditions. As a rule they are not trained for any occupa- tion and belong to the class of unskilled laborers. Society never attempts to instruct them in the art of making an honest living until it arrests them and places them in reformatory schools ; then it is too late.

Having studied the personal and social causes of juvenile crime, the author directs Part II to the subject of its repression. First of all he considers the method of admonition and conditional release. The Massachusetts system of placing hopeful cases under the care of a pro- bation officer is highly commended. Mr. Randall's article in the AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY, May 1896, is used as the basis for a description and commendation of the Michigan system of child-saving work. When the parents are fit persons to train their children the method of admonition gives them additional control. In cases of children whose homes are immoral this method has little value.

Fining is undoubtedly one of the best and most effective forms of punishment. It is almost the only form of punishment which is not irremediable. When corporal punishment is resorted to, or where a sentence of imprisonment is imposed, it is almost impossible to repair the injury to the individual if it is afterward discovered that he has been unjustly convicted. But the fine should be largely in the nature of reparation to the injured party. In case of poor parents who must pay the fine for their offending children the sum should be accepted in installments. In some situations the fine can be worked out without imprisonment, and this should be done whenever possible, since pris- oners are a costly burden to the state, and prison life depraves those subjected to it.

Whipping is still legal in England, but magistrates shrink from